The Construction of the Modern Women in Taiwan’s Fashion Magazines

I examined women’s fashion magazines as a window to look into the construction and propagation of Taiwanese modern womanhood in the 1980s and 1990s. Women’s fashion magazines were able to come into existence in Taiwan beginning in the 1980s due to several factors. The government lifted the import restrictions and lowered tariffs in 1984, thereby allowing foreign goods to flood into Taiwan within a short amount of time, and the restrictions on establishing foreign-owned advertising operations were also lifted. The expansion of international advertising agencies, the easing of press restrictions, and the enforcement of intellectual property rights law brought about international women’s magazine’s visibility in Taiwan. Other factors for the rise of women’s fashion magazines included Taiwan’s economic boom, the resurgence of the feminist movement, and more women in the workforce.