女性遊民研究：家的另類意涵

Research on Homeless Women: The Alternative Meanings of Home

我於1998年2月至6月間對女性遊民進行深度訪談，並且對生活於台北市遊民收容機構及街頭的女性遊民進行密集之參與觀察。本文主要目的在於藉由女性遊民生活之研究重新檢視家的意義。家，一向被視為充滿意義、讓人感覺安全及依戀的地方。這樣的敘述往往漠視了家庭中不同成員間不對等關係的存在，更忽略了女性在父權家庭制度中的真實生活。無堅不摧的家庭意識形態在主流社會的強力運作下，限定女人往特定的方向發展，窄化了女人可能扮演的各種角色。對女性而言，家不但不像書本、歌詞及廣告單上所說的那樣甜蜜，反而是壓迫及心力耗損之來源。女性遊民的被迫離家打破了父權家庭意識形態迷思。在對抗父權家庭意識形態的傳播與複製，不論是教育、法律、大眾傳播、論述及空間實踐上皆是我們可以施力之處。而在居住經驗上發展非父權家庭之另類家戶形式亦是對抗父權家庭意識形態之實踐。另外，常民更應在都市政策上取得正當性及發言權，讓所有的人都能夠進行選擇，進一步創造更合適、更有意義的地方作為居所。

This article focused on rethinking of the meanings of home by exploring the lives of homeless women. I interviewed 14 homeless women by using in-depth interview method, and explored the institution and street lives of homeless women by participant observation from February to June of 1998 in Taipei City. In general, the concept of home is associated with a meaningful and safe place that a person feels attached to. This kind of description neglects the unequal power relationship among family members, and it ignores the true lives of women in the patriarchal family. The ideology of the patriarchal family is enforced by mainstream society in every perspective thus restricting women’s roles in society. For homeless women, home is not a sweet place as described in books, lyrics and advertisements; rather it is a place oppresses them and exhausts their energies. Running away from home breaks the myth of the ideology of patriarchal family. People should be against the broadcasting and reproduction of the ideology of patriarchal family in education system, court of law and media. Fostering alternative households is one strategy to break away from the status-quo ideology. Besides, trying to influence the public policy and letting everyone make his/her own choice is the way to make a more meaningful and suitable place to live.