在異地為人母：從東南亞新移民女性的觀點探討其在台灣的母職經驗

Being a Mother in a Foreign Land: Perspectives of Immigrant Wives on Mothering Experiences in Taiwan

近年來，愈來愈多的東南亞籍女性以婚姻的方式移民至台灣，但其婚後生活卻容易在因種族、仲介操作及商品化婚姻等締連而成的結構環境中受到箝制，尤其是社會大眾對她們的母職實踐常抱持著憂心與疑懼的態度，擔心這群「次等母親」與「無能母親」所生養出的「新台灣之子」會拉低台灣人口素質、製造社會問題。本論文從新移民女性的主體經驗出發，探討其處於自身母職能力被污名的環境脈絡中如何理解母職經驗。研究結果發現，這群女性在母職的信念與實踐是受到「女人婚後本應生養小孩」的意識型態、爲解除在異地生活的孤單感受、台灣夫家傳宗接代的期待、其婚姻與商品化連結，以及台灣社會的歧視眼光等因素的影響。其次，生養小孩對於這群飄洋過海來台灣生活的新移民女性來說，有著落地生根的重要意義。而探討她們在污名環境中實踐母職的經驗，亦看到其展現因應協商污名的能力，以及其將原生文化融入親子教養的文化傳遞角色。本文研究結果能夠對於當前普遍疑懼新移民女性母職的既有認知提出反駁，亦能突顯出這群女性在台灣社會實踐母職的能動性。

This paper explores immigrant wives' mothering experiences in Taiwan. Recently, more and more women from Southeast Asia, mainly Vietnam, marry into Taiwan through the operation of profit-pursuing marriage agents. Due to the intertwining of race and gender, and their marriages associated with commodification, plus the perceived backwardness of their home countries, these women and now their children are increasingly being depicted as a social problem. Based on in-depth interviews with 18 immigrant wives, I reveal that these women's practices of motherhood in Taiwan are embedded in their motherhood ideology shaped by the gender culture in their homelands, in their transnational marriages associated with commodification, and in the patriarchal family lineage system prevalent in Taiwanese society. The common assumption indicating that immigrant wives are ”incompetent” and ”powerless” mothers has ignored the agency exertion of these women and simplified their strong tie with their children.