英文摘要 |
This article is the fourth installment of the "Moving House" series. The first piece of the series examined how Taiwan's social welfare devices, in particular those regarding housing and medical care, discriminate implicitly against older lesbian tomboys owing to their deep entrenchment in the social logic of the heteronormative household. It was followed by the second installment that addresses issues of negotiating "in-circle" friendships in the face of heterosexual birth family members. The third piece of the series tracked queer ethics practiced by two generations of lesbian tomboys, with a particular focus on how to give and receive gifts in intimate relationships. With a continuing interest in exploring notions of intimate ethics, this fourth piece analyzes the extraordinary experience of mental engagement with, and witnessing the dying of, the loved one, as experienced by the two generations of informants. It examines also the potentiality of the present perfect progressive tense of "having been old" - an expression lesbian tomboys have fairly often utilized in intimate discussion with each other. It concludes with a discussion of the possibility of queer caregiving with hope. |