臺灣工會運動所展現出來的是一種戰鬥性男子氣概。男子氣概是一種關係性的社會組織，特定男子氣概的展現也是立基於特定的環境，並且因而產生性別政治的效果。本文提出兩個層次的解釋，以說明為何臺灣的工人需要依賴這種高度性別化的文化資源。(1)從歷史的角度來看，工人缺乏其他批判性的傳統可以援用。在長期的威權主義統治下，工人階級喪失了原先激進主義的集體記憶。因此，工人不得不借用最原始的共同男性身分，以強化彼此的凝聚力。(2)從勞動組織的角度來看，以往的國營事業體制下，父權主義的男性角色期待與工廠內部的階級支配是處於矛盾的狀態。階級體制閹割了工人，喪失尊嚴的工人無異是「女性化」的存在。因此，工人階級期待他們的集體行動能夠表達他們被壓抑的男子氣概，工會運動也進一步鞏固了既有的性別不平等。 The author analyzes why the Taiwanese labor union movement presents highly militant masculinity on two levels. Masculinities are a relational social organization. A specific form of masculinity arises from a specific environment and brings about effects on gender politics. Historically speaking, Taiwan's workers have been deprived of critical traditions that could have sustained their protests, since authoritarianism brought about mass amnesia concerning previous waves of radicalism. Workers have had but relied on the most primordial common maleness in order to maintain and strengthen their solidarity. In terms of labor organization, patriarchal expectations of male superiority stand in stark contrast to the reality of class domination, at least in state-owned enterprises. Class division consequently castrated male workers. Without dignity, they were reduced to what they perceived as a feminine existence, and thus relied on collective action to express their suppressed manhood. The labor movement further consolidated pre-existing gender inequalities.
