男性氣魄與可「娶」的跨國婚姻：為何台灣男子要與越南女子結婚？

Masculinity and Cross-Border Marriages: Why Taiwanese Men Seek Vietnamese Women to Marry?

本文探討國內婚姻移民研究上重要但卻少人研究的議題：為何台灣男子要跨海結婚？我們以台－越的婚姻關係為例來指出，一般論點認為出國結婚的台灣男子社經地位較低，在台婚姻市場屈居弱勢，因而轉向海外娶「越南新娘」，但常忽略了性別的文化因素：傳統男尊女卑的觀念。我們的研究發現，「台灣新郎」認為男性必須作為家庭經濟的提供者，越南女性應該是「依賴、不能自主、物質需求低」的妻子，如此才可以彰顯其經濟貢獻的價值。同樣受到此文化經驗影響的家人、朋友，對於「理想妻子」也有特定的認知與想像，尤其是這些社會網絡中的「顯著的他人」的意見，影響力更甚，不僅在跨國婚姻形成前對「台灣新郎」的決定有重大影響，在跨國婚姻建立後，夫妻間的關係也會受到影響。除此之外，婚姻仲介業者營造越南女性的傳統與順從形象，巧妙迎合了「台灣新郎」所需求的「傳統婦德想像」，將越南新娘呈現為如同三、四十年前的傳統女性。最後，台灣社會對於第三世界國家的想像，以及遠高於越南的所得、生活水準，讓這群台灣男性站在優勢的位置上去想像「依賴的」越南女性。這樣的結構性制度支持了「男性氣魄」的要求，也支持了台灣男性持續向外尋婚的動力。

This paper discusses a neglected issue in present-day research on cross-border marriages in Taiwan, i.e., why Taiwanese men seek to marry overseas women. A common explanation has been their disadvantaged social-economic status which has made it difficult for them to find a partner in the domestic marriage market. However, such an explanation subjects to criticism as it ignores the cultural factors which have motivated Taiwanese men to look overseas in their search for a partner. In Taiwan's male-dominated culture, the man is expected to be the provider of the necessities of daily life of the family, whilst the woman is expected to be merely a dependent wife. Family members and friends in this male-dominated social-cultural context have the same expectations as to what constitutes the 'ideal wife', and so exert influence on the man who plans to marry in this manner. They influence the potential groom's decision when seeking marriage with a foreign wife (from Viet Nam, or elsewhere) and also exert influence upon the ensuing husband-wife relationship after the marriage. In addition, the Viet Namese woman is represented as traditional Taiwanese woman in the 1950s by profit-oriented matchmaking agencies, so as to attract the potential bridegroom. Unequal economic development in the global economy has also had the effect to influence Taiwanese men to imagine that a similar hierarchy exists both in Viet Nam as in Taiwan, and so would then become the same situation following the arrival of the Viet Nam bride. All such social relationships as these have motivated Taiwanese men to seek for the ”ideal wife” from Viet Nam, which, in turn, reproduces the masculinity culture in Taiwan.