騎過半世紀：台灣機車性別文化史，1930s-2007

Gender, Class and the Making of Motorcycle/Scooter Users in Taiwan, 1930s-2007

駱冠宏(Kuan-Hung Lo)

指導教授 ： 王秀雲

高雄醫學大學/護理學院/性別研究所/碩士(2007年)

https://doi.org/10.6832/KMU.2007.00023

摘要

本論文探究台灣過去七十年來，機車使用者的性別、階級關係之轉變，及機車/使用者/性別階級腳本相互形塑的過程。分析的材料包括使用者、設計者、銷售商的口述史訪談，並搭配機車廣告、報導及其他相關文獻。

本研究發現，1930年代機車的主要使用者為男性菁英，時至今日則擴大為遍及各階層的男男女女。使用者群體的擴充，顯示機車的階級性與性別關係都有其轉變。為了解此一複雜的歷史轉變，我將1930年代至2007年間區分成三個時代：1930年代到1963年的稀有年代裡，摩托車(motorcycles)的擁有者多是富裕者或男性菁英，極少數的女人有機會駕駛機車。第二時期為1964年到1976年之間，我稱之為轉變的時代，摩托車使用者的階級由上層菁英逐漸轉變為中下階級，而速克達(scooters)更是成為中產階級喜愛的私人交通工具，也有越來越多的女人開始為了工作與家務而成為機車使用者。第三時期，1977年到當代，我稱之為普及的時代，摩托車雖成為勞工階級的生產工具，但部份中產階級也以摩托車的使用展現有別於一般中產階級的陽剛氣質；而速克達成為無論男女老少在經濟上與操作上都可以輕易擁有、駕駛的機車。由此可知，早期擁有摩托車足以彰顯所有者的社會地位與陽剛特質，時至當代，機車的使用者乃透過其他的方式(如所使用機車的種類、外型、顏色、及技術細節等等)來展現性別特質與社會地位。同時，不同時期的男/女機車使用者也個別展現迥異的陽剛/陰柔氣質，顯示性別氣質並非固著不變的狀態，是具有歷史性與多樣性。

機車文化意涵轉變的產生，不只是因為使用者群體的變化，技術物本身也會影響技術物的性別關係與階級性，尤其以女性機車的出現更為重要，因其不僅複雜化機車的種類與機車內部系統，更重要的是讓過去無須宣稱使用者性別的機車也需要表明它的性別，因此機車及其內部系統的性別意涵也在在影響機車使用者的性別關係。例如，自動離合器、CVT自動打檔系統讓操作機車成為簡單的技術，因此使得部份男人樂於使用無自動離合器與CVT系統的機車，以習得困難操控技術來展現陽剛氣質。

過去七十餘年的歷史顯示，台灣的機車是深具性別與階級關係的技術物。在不同時間，台灣機車展現不同的性別、階級、技術物交織狀況，例如稀有年代中讓某些男性展示個人的地位，轉變裡時代有些機車可展現文人氣質，普及時代的某些機車則強調女性的淑女氣質，也增加女人的家務勞動。這些轉變不僅是使用者形象的轉變，它同時也是技術物及其技術的轉變。每一次的轉變都影響人們的生活與移動力、日後的機車類型與技術系統、性別與階級等權力關係的交織。

關鍵字

機車 ； STS ； 性別 ； 階級 ； 使用者 ； 陽剛特質

並列摘要

Motorcycles and scooters are a remarkable phenomenon in Taiwan. This thesis examines the history of motorcycles/scooters in Taiwan in the period between 1930s and 2007. Drawing on oral history interviews with 24 users of different generations, 2 owners of motorbike store, a scooter designer, and a manager of motor company and various printed materials, this thesis traces the historical shift of the user population and how scooters have come to populate Taiwan.

In the 1930s when the majority of the people were poor, most of the motorcycle users/owners were well-to-do male elites. By 2007, after Taiwan had been through industrialization, not only the number of motorcycles/scooters users has increased greatly, the users have also expanded to include both men and women, who may be rich or poor. This shift points to the fact that both gender and class relations have changed in the society.

The history of motorcycles/scooters in Taiwan can be divided into three periods. The first period, when motorcycles were a luxury, the users were predominantly the rich or elites, and women users were a minority. In the second period, the social meanings of motorcycles/scooters went through a change: motorcycle users were no longer exclusively elites and included the working class and peasants. Middle class users had a preference for scooters, particularly Vespa. In addition, increasingly women also used motorcycles/scooters for going to work or domestic chores. In the third period, scooters reached a status of extreme popularity. With several major technological improvements, scooters became very easy to operate and the most popular personal transportations. While motorcycles had become the working class’ common means of production, some middle class men also ride on motorcycles to show a supposedly working class kind of masculinity in order to distiguish themselves from the regular middle class man. The differences in terms of the strategies of using motorcyclse/scooters in these historical periods indicates the historicity of masculinities and femininities.

Not only did the increase of user population bring about changes in gender and class relations, the changes in technology itself also introduced new dynamics, especially the emergence of motorcycles/scooters for women users, which not only complicated the types and internal systems of motorcycles/scooters, but also forced other motorcycles/scooters to code the gender of their intended users. Therefore, new technological inventions changed gender scripts/implications of motorcycles/scooters. New technologies, such as automatic clutch and continuous variable transmission, had made scooters very easy to use, which is one of the reasons why scooters became so popular. However, this popularity did not apply to a few men users who wanted a challenge when operating a vehicle. They turned to motorcycles/scooters that were more challenging than the regular scooter in order to prove their masculinity.

Gender and class relations are embedded in the social history of motorcycles/scooters in Taiwan. Initially, the use of motorcycles by a few men meant social status and masculinity. Later on, certain type of scooters was associated with men of the well-educated class or men who did not engaged in physical labor. Finally, we also see the emergence of the women’s scooters that claimed to allow women to perform their femininity. In addition to the changes in users and their relationship with motorcycles/scooters, the transformation of motor technologies and internal systems are also critical to our understanding of scooters in Taiwan. Both exerted a great impact on the lives and mobility of people, and therefore the gender and class aspects of the society.

並列關鍵字

motorcycle ； scooter ； STS ； gender ； class ； users ； masculinity

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