現代化背後的迷思：馬來西亞的兩性平權政策與政治菁英在公領域的性別歧視言論

馬來西亞政府自1970年代，為響應聯合國「婦女十年宣言」的號召，積極推行兩性平權政策、修訂法律條文以維護女性權利，同時鼓勵女性參政，從私領域走出來。就在這看似馬來西亞走向「文明化」的兩性平權進程中，卻頻頻發生政治菁英在公領域發表含性別歧視的言論。本研究藉由圍繞這些事件的言論，對照國家所秉持的兩性平權理念，分析這些事件在一個強調兩性平權價值的國家所代表的意涵。換言之，就是將圍繞性別歧視事件的言論以及各方的回應視為文本，再以政策裡兩性平權的相關論述作為參照，進行文本分析，詮釋其意義。文本的來源包括馬來西亞各語文報章所刊登的相關新聞報導，以及馬來西亞國會下議院會議記錄等。時間上從1990年代初期馬來西亞政府提出「2020宏願」至2010年5月為研究範圍。本研究論証，政治菁英在面對國家推動的兩性平等和文化上的父權時，存有一種意識上的混亂，這也是國家現代化之後的現象。換句話說，政治菁英在面對兩性平權的崛起時，代表的正是傳統父權的式微。當面臨這樣一個父權式微的狀況時，政治菁英處於一種「內在無依」的狀態，無根且漂泊不定，也沒有方向感，於是他們有意無意地呼喚那些讓他們可以安身立命的傳統價值，隱約是對性別平權潮流進行反撲。另外，政治菁英在公領域發表含有性別歧視言論，與國家奉行的兩性現代化形成強烈的對比，顯示法制上的現代化和在地的主流傳統文化之間存在明顯的斷裂與衝突。可見，馬來西亞的兩性平權運動，並非是發自於理性自省的自覺意識；換言之，馬來西亞的兩性平權運動只是移植西方的兩性平權制度作為國家「文明化」的標記，在相當程度上只是一種現代化背後的迷思，並不認同其作為兩性日常生活實踐的規範準則。

關鍵字

政治菁英；公領域；現代化；性別歧視；兩性平權；父權

並列摘要

The Malaysian government – in support of the Declaration of the Women's Decade by the United Nations (UN) in the 1970s – implemented gender equality policies and amended the Federal Constitution to protect women's rights, effectively encouraging women to emerge from the private sphere to participate in politics. However, while Malaysia is observed to be moving towards civilization and progressing towards gender equality, there are still numerous utterances of gender discrimination remarks in the public sphere by Malaysia's political elites in the very same government. This study will firstly examine the gender discrimination remarks made by the Malaysian government's political elites in the public sphere and contrast the differences between the remarks and the gender equality values promoted by the same government. It will also analyze the implications of political elites in the government uttering gender discrimination remarks in a nation that is emphasizing the value of gender equality. In other words, this study will use the discourse of gender discrimination remarks as a text and the discourse of gender equality policies as a comparison to carry out a text analysis and interpret its implications. The resources used in this study include news from Malaysian newspapers of different languages and the meeting minutes of the Malaysian House of Representatives. The timeline of these discourses ranges from early of 1990s – after the Declaration of the Vision 2020 by the Malaysian government to become a fully developed nation by the year 2020 – to May 2010. This study argues that when a government confronts the issues of gender equality policies and a traditional patriarchy at the same time, a sense of chaos will arise. This is a normal phenomenon encountered by a traditionally patriarchal nation progressing towards modernity, where a decline in traditionally patriarchal values occurs due to a rise in the level of awareness towards gender equality. In such a situation, traditional political elites will develop a certain sense of 'inner homelessness' – feeling vagrant, directionless and uprooted from their base values. In such situations, they will attempt to recall the traditional values that they feel secure and comfortable with. Yet, this very act will appear to oppose the gender equality values they are attempting to promote. Furthermore, the discourse of sexist remarks made in the public sphere by parliament members reveals a contradiction about the modernity being implemented by the country. It also illuminates the fracture within the modern legal system and local traditional culture and the conflict between the two. This brings to light the fact that the gender equality movement in Malaysia does not stem from self-awareness or rational thinking, but rather a diversion to bring the government relief from the anxiety of progressing towards modernity. In other words, the traditional parliament members display a front of promoting gender equality as a sign of Malaysia's civilized nature, which is just a kind of myth behind modernization, instead of actually embracing gender equality as a guideline in daily practice.