Mapping Pornography:exual Representation andegal Regulation in Postwar Taiwan

This thesis attempts to discuss sexual representation and legal regulation of pornography in postwar Taiwan on focus of Criminal Code Article 235, by analyzing the sex, gender and sexuality perspectives behind relative legal knowledge, legislators’ discussions and interpretations of Justices of the Constitutional Court, Judicial Yuan, in order to observe how the continuing dialectics of different mainstream and feminist discourses dynamically represent the “realities” of pornography, sex, gender and sexuality, and also introduce the positive strategy to resist the existing sex, gender and sexuality culture and power relations by alliance of marginal groups. After the Cultural Sanitation Campaign under the structure of Anti-communism and Restoration in 1940s-50s, the morality-first discourse of 1960s, the emergence, concretization and inter-construction of child-protection, morality discourses and the intensions of normal/abnormal division, gaze at female body and regulation logics within the legislators’discussions of first-time amendment of Article 235 in 1969, and under perspectives of virtue discipline and national security interest of 1970s, medical, scientific and education discourses of 1980s. In post martial law era of 1990s, not only the knowledge production, but Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 407 in 1997 and legislators’discussions of second-time amendment of Article 235 in 1999 as well, all manifest that, within the continuing concretization of structure of freedom of speech, the dialectics of different regulation logics and demonstration of medical, educational discourses by the professional, the concept of child-protection, with its morality metaphor, is closely connected with the more and more undoubtedly intensions of normal/abnormal division, heterosexual norms of sex, gender and sexuality. After year 2000, in the context of positive governance of technology, and child-protection perspective by obtaining an independent legitimacy and still connecting with the morality metaphor and existing sex, gender and sexuality norms, the concept of pornography regulation in the 21st century is much more intense and sophisticated. Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 617 in 2006 also manifests the still lack of equality perspective and the remaining heterosexual ideology. By analyzing the government statistics and court judgments regarding Article 235, we can once again observe that, with the augment of substantial reasoning, concretization of liberty structure, but still lack of equality perspective, how the judicial system also helps to construct a picture of pornography with heterosexual patriarchy ideology. Under the mainstream construction of picture of pornography, with the equality perspective, the emergences of feminist discourses which acknowledge female subjectivity, existing sex, gender and sexuality power relations, their arguments about women to pornography as victims and/or as agents, and also the challenges they face of heterosexual patriarchy with discriminations against female and other marginal groups who all as strategic actors in the dialectic process of victimization and agency, introduce the intertwining relation between female and other marginal groups, and the possibility and necessity of their alliance.