Proceedings of the 2017 International Conference on Data Mining, Communications and Information Technology, 2017
The language of social interaction is rich in spatial metaphor, such as looking down upon somebod... more The language of social interaction is rich in spatial metaphor, such as looking down upon somebody, or keeping someone at arm's length. Physical space also enables or constrains our social behavior, as environmental psychologists have illustrated. We used to interact with other people in the immediate environment for a long history until the internet pervades in our lives in which we can communicate with many other people at the same time. In this digital age, could we imagine the virtual world in a spatial way? To deal with this issue, we design a user behavior model by crawling user data in Facebook to predict user's space type. Results show that our approach is able to do well on prediction accuracy of user's space type.
Spermarche (first penile ejaculation) is a physiological event that many boys experience as part ... more Spermarche (first penile ejaculation) is a physiological event that many boys experience as part of the onset of puberty. However, there is little qualitative research on how they themselves experience and interpret it. Based on interviews with 26 Taiwanese men, experiences of spermarche occurred due to: (1) sexual behavior; (2) nocturnal emission; (3) naïve self-exploration; and (4) masturbation were identified and examined. Findings reveal that ejaculation was experienced as a complex and dynamic process with diverse emotions which were entangled. In addition, it was understood not just as a biological phenomenon, but there are broader social, cultural and medical discourses that shape how these men feel and reflect on their first ejaculation experience. In the end, the contribution of this study to the research field of spermarche is suggested.
This study investigated the role that objects have in helping people adapt to a new environment. ... more This study investigated the role that objects have in helping people adapt to a new environment. Fourteen Chinese postgraduate students were interviewed one semester after their arrival in New York City. The meanings they attached to objects, and how the meanings of objects changed during the students' adaption to their new environment are discussed. The discussion is placed in the
The purposes of this paper are to analyze the progression of Taiwan’s gender-equal toilet movemen... more The purposes of this paper are to analyze the progression of Taiwan’s gender-equal toilet movements, experiences of sexual minorities in using public toilets, and attitudes of the general public toward using unisex toilets. In 1996, some feminist students groups in Taiwan launched the Women’s Toilet Campaign using the slogan and action of “Occupying Men’s Toilets. ” They successfully attracted public and media attention, and the government promptly amended the related building codes. Concerns of number and quality of women’s toilets, however, presupposed the legitimacy of sexual segregation of public toilets without challenging the dichotomy of sex, the reinforcement of stereotypic gender performance and the inconvenience for transgender people. In 2009, several LGBT groups initiated another toilet campaign advocating for unisex toilets in public space. It has not earned any response from the government yet, but how the general public and transgender people react to unisex toilets i...
ABSTRACT Aluba is a campus activity popular among adolescent males in Taiwan in which four boys l... more ABSTRACT Aluba is a campus activity popular among adolescent males in Taiwan in which four boys lift up another boy by his arms and legs and make a show of pushing or rubbing his genitals against a pole-shaped object. The ‘alubaee’, nearly always a willing participant, is expected to put up a show of resistance for the satisfaction of all involved. It is a type of play for males that promotes closeness as well as competition. This study combines interviews, photographs and video materials with experiential descriptions to describe the aluba process, and analyses the fluidity of participant roles, the subtleties of the interaction among males, and the specific meaning of ‘high’ culture of adolescent males as reflected in the process of aluba.
Feminism and women's studies have been making ground in Taiwan for two to three decades. How... more Feminism and women's studies have been making ground in Taiwan for two to three decades. However, research on the topic of women and housing policy remains limited. Feminist research in Europe and North America found that the social designation of ...
Proceedings of the 2017 International Conference on Data Mining, Communications and Information Technology, 2017
The language of social interaction is rich in spatial metaphor, such as looking down upon somebod... more The language of social interaction is rich in spatial metaphor, such as looking down upon somebody, or keeping someone at arm's length. Physical space also enables or constrains our social behavior, as environmental psychologists have illustrated. We used to interact with other people in the immediate environment for a long history until the internet pervades in our lives in which we can communicate with many other people at the same time. In this digital age, could we imagine the virtual world in a spatial way? To deal with this issue, we design a user behavior model by crawling user data in Facebook to predict user's space type. Results show that our approach is able to do well on prediction accuracy of user's space type.
Spermarche (first penile ejaculation) is a physiological event that many boys experience as part ... more Spermarche (first penile ejaculation) is a physiological event that many boys experience as part of the onset of puberty. However, there is little qualitative research on how they themselves experience and interpret it. Based on interviews with 26 Taiwanese men, experiences of spermarche occurred due to: (1) sexual behavior; (2) nocturnal emission; (3) naïve self-exploration; and (4) masturbation were identified and examined. Findings reveal that ejaculation was experienced as a complex and dynamic process with diverse emotions which were entangled. In addition, it was understood not just as a biological phenomenon, but there are broader social, cultural and medical discourses that shape how these men feel and reflect on their first ejaculation experience. In the end, the contribution of this study to the research field of spermarche is suggested.
This study investigated the role that objects have in helping people adapt to a new environment. ... more This study investigated the role that objects have in helping people adapt to a new environment. Fourteen Chinese postgraduate students were interviewed one semester after their arrival in New York City. The meanings they attached to objects, and how the meanings of objects changed during the students' adaption to their new environment are discussed. The discussion is placed in the
The purposes of this paper are to analyze the progression of Taiwan’s gender-equal toilet movemen... more The purposes of this paper are to analyze the progression of Taiwan’s gender-equal toilet movements, experiences of sexual minorities in using public toilets, and attitudes of the general public toward using unisex toilets. In 1996, some feminist students groups in Taiwan launched the Women’s Toilet Campaign using the slogan and action of “Occupying Men’s Toilets. ” They successfully attracted public and media attention, and the government promptly amended the related building codes. Concerns of number and quality of women’s toilets, however, presupposed the legitimacy of sexual segregation of public toilets without challenging the dichotomy of sex, the reinforcement of stereotypic gender performance and the inconvenience for transgender people. In 2009, several LGBT groups initiated another toilet campaign advocating for unisex toilets in public space. It has not earned any response from the government yet, but how the general public and transgender people react to unisex toilets i...
ABSTRACT Aluba is a campus activity popular among adolescent males in Taiwan in which four boys l... more ABSTRACT Aluba is a campus activity popular among adolescent males in Taiwan in which four boys lift up another boy by his arms and legs and make a show of pushing or rubbing his genitals against a pole-shaped object. The ‘alubaee’, nearly always a willing participant, is expected to put up a show of resistance for the satisfaction of all involved. It is a type of play for males that promotes closeness as well as competition. This study combines interviews, photographs and video materials with experiential descriptions to describe the aluba process, and analyses the fluidity of participant roles, the subtleties of the interaction among males, and the specific meaning of ‘high’ culture of adolescent males as reflected in the process of aluba.
Feminism and women's studies have been making ground in Taiwan for two to three decades. How... more Feminism and women's studies have been making ground in Taiwan for two to three decades. However, research on the topic of women and housing policy remains limited. Feminist research in Europe and North America found that the social designation of ...
This chapter examines mental tension and conflicts at both the macro and micro levels of Taiwanes... more This chapter examines mental tension and conflicts at both the macro and micro levels of Taiwanese men to identify ambiguities in Taiwanese conceptualization of masculinity. On the one hand, this research gives voice to those who have been silenced in East Asian studies of men and masculinities in the English-speaking world. Thus it expands and complements our understanding of the diversity of global masculinities. On the other hand, it draws attention to the development and transformation of this ambiguous Taiwanese masculinity. The construction of masculinities in Taiwan is discussed in the context of three popular and important gender practices which are fairly unique to Taiwan: aluba, doing soldier, and flower drinking, which are respectively associated with the adolescence, early adulthood and middle adulthood of Taiwanese men. We begin with a discussion of the similarity and inconsistency between Taiwanese and other East Asian masculinities, followed by a critical reading of Louie’s wen–wu masculinity as an analytic tool for Taiwanese/Chinese masculinities. We then present three examples of the abovementioned gender practices as a sequence, and emphasize their significance by comparing them with the Western pattern. We argue that the concern of guanxi (social networking) in Taiwan is the key to go beyond the scope shaped by compulsory heterosexuality, misogyny, and homophobia. Finally, the Taiwanese case leads researchers to scrutinize how masculinity in ambiguity has been manifested in four dimensions: international, institutional, interpersonal, and developmental. We call for a more global framework of studies into socio-psychological masculinity, considering international politics and the global economy, challenging presumed national categories, and articulating macro and micro levels of masculinities, while illuminating how men’s masculine identities evolve and are self-constructed over their lives.
Kao, Ying-Chao and Herng-Dar Bih. 2013. “Masculinity in Ambiguity: Constructing Taiwanese Masculine Identities between Great Powers.” Pp. 175–91 in Masculinities in a Global Era, International and Cultural Psychology, edited by J. Gelfer. New York: Springer. *
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Papers by Herng-Dar Bih
Kao, Ying-Chao and Herng-Dar Bih. 2013. “Masculinity in Ambiguity: Constructing Taiwanese Masculine Identities between Great Powers.” Pp. 175–91 in Masculinities in a Global Era, International and Cultural Psychology, edited by J. Gelfer. New York: Springer. *