「西裝與香花」藝術計畫於 2015 年起始，運用田野訪談與報紙檔案庫的資料，揭示了台灣早期酷兒―「穿褲的」（台語，tshīng-khòo-ê）女同志在 1950~1960 年代的身影。一九五０年代後期，一群彼此認同為「穿褲的」查某人一個帶一個，互相結識，在大稻埕結拜為「橋頭十三太妹」。「西裝」是這群「穿褲的」自身性別氣質的展現，「香花」則是她們以自我組織獲取經濟資本的方法。而我，又是怎麼與她們相遇的呢？
身為一個女性與女同志，多少在社會文化脈絡中總是對自身的存在與處境充滿困惑不解，難以自處。後來讀書識字，學會用酷兒（Queer）自我定位，嘗試汲取女性主義（Feminism）的論述來為自己言說。這些固然都給予了我紮實的力量，然而這些飄洋過海輾轉翻譯而來的理解與知識，要套用在土生土長於台灣的我身上，似乎總還是不那麼合身。
於是我開始叩問，在我容身的這座島嶼，有著如此蜿蜒的近代史、輾轉的現代性啟蒙，早在遲來的西方知識理論於八○年代的晚近飄向島嶼之前，我相信更早之前，島嶼上一定也有如酷兒的她們存在。於是我開始追索島嶼上的酷兒歷史，同時也追尋到島嶼過去的一段歷史曲折。我想知道與我同樣有著女性及酷兒身分的「她」與「她們」，究竟如何生活於島嶼的過去，從她們「穿的衣服」，或許我能找到屬於自己的剪裁。
2015 年，我正式開始了「西裝與香花」計劃，我開始田調這群以五、六○繁華大稻埕為華麗伸展台的「橋頭十三太妹」，展開一場與「她」們的相遇與對話。「她」們是查某人、「她」是太妹、「她」們是「穿褲的」。
1950 年代的大稻埕是台北當時最熱鬧繁盛的區域，南北貨批發、百貨、戲院、咖啡廳、酒家林立。十三個在此結拜的「穿褲的」，她們在狗標服裝行訂製全套西裝，去理髮廳梳上最流行的油頭，夜晚在大稻埕附近的「橋頭」聚會，或前往大稻埕提供的娛樂活動場所如酒家、舞廳、戲院。她們也運用大稻埕特殊的文化作為她們做生意的方法。她們會做香花給酒家，由她們賣給來此消費的顧客，或是賣私酒賣給圓環的小吃攤。或是運用她們的人脈，成為房子或土地買賣的中間人，介紹他人買賣。這些都是她們獲得展演自身性別氣質與娛樂活動的物質資本。
「穿褲的」不僅是「她」們使用島嶼在地語言作為指認彼此身分認同的詞彙，總是精心訂製的西裝和獨門的香花生意，更顯示她們主宰自身經濟資本的能動性。她們的行動與行為，與島嶼的社會變遷及傳統性別文化的流變息息相關，於是從她們的故事，我不只看見酷兒展演的本島剪裁，更看進島嶼幽微歷史的一段，從她們與個人情感鑲嵌的歷史，不僅是同志的歷史，也是女人的歷史，更是島嶼的歷史。
島嶼歷經政治與文化變遷的過程中，性別異議者如他們是如何衝撞，以外在的西裝與內裡的香花，華麗翩然轉身，卻又一定程度服膺在社會秩序裡，經營著「家外」的營生與情感生活。她們的瀟灑與壓抑，寫出精彩卻也暗藏遺憾的篇章。
「西裝與香花」藝術計畫仍在持續，我試圖以不同的創作形式與思維，裝禎出屬於這座島嶼女同志與酷兒的文化記憶。
「西裝與香花」藝術計畫於 2015 年起始，運用田野訪談與報紙檔案庫的資料，揭示了台灣早期酷兒―「穿褲的」（台語，tshīng-khòo-ê）女同志在 1950~1960 年代的身影。
“Suits and Flowers” depicts the “Thirteen Teddy Girls of Qiaotou” in Taiwan in the 1950s. The thirty teddy girls used suits as their expression of sexual orientation, and the Flowers can be referred to as their ability to gain their economic capital. But the real question is: How did I encounter these girls?
As a female and a lesbian, I often felt that my existence and situation under this sociocultural context were a bit confusing and awkward. Throughout my education, I have learned to self-orient as a queer, and utilized the feminism discourses as my self
explanation. Thought to a degree I empowered myself with knowledge, since my experience strongly linked to Taiwan society, I found that those theories and knowledge after translation and reinterpretation did not fit me very well.
I couldn’t help but wonder whether there was any historical trace of queers on this island that I live on. Taiwan had been through many twists and turns in the modern history. I believe there must already have been queers on this island even before
western knowledge was introduced to Taiwan in the 1980s. So, I started to investigate the history of queers in Taiwan. As it turned out, the history was also full of twists and turns. I would like to know how she and they, as a female and queer like me, lived on this island in the past. Through the process, I might also be able to find
the tailor-made self from how they dressed up.
I officially started my “Suits and Flowers” project in 2015. I conducted field research on the “Thirteen Teddy Girls of Qiaotou” who made their glamorous debut in Dadaocheng in the 1950s and the 1960s. They were females, teddy girls, and “women in pants”, as they called themselves. “Women in pants” were not just a local
term for them to identify their gender identity. Their exquisite tailor-made suits and the unique corsage business also showed their agency to self-manage their economic capital. Their actions and behaviors were closely connected to the social shifts and the dynamics of traditional gender culture. From their story, I could not only see the unique performance of local queers but also a part of a minor history of the island. What their history of personal relationships reflects is not just the history of queers. It also presents the history of women and this island.
I aim to discuss how these gender dissidents fought against society during the process of political and cultural shifts in Taiwan. They made their stunning debut with their suits and the corsage lining. At the same time, they managed to obey a certain social order despite their business and relationships outside the family. With the chic look and suppressed ego of theirs, their story also ended up brilliant yet regretful. “Suits and Flowers” is still an ongoing project. I attempted to design an experiment of cultural memories about lesbians and queers of the island using different creative forms and concepts.
《生之慾》
The Desire to Live
2015，錄像裝置，Video installation
即使沒有陽光沒有水，衣櫃裡的種子依舊在陰暗角落中發出芽，開出炫麗的花朵，孤挺花象徵著酷兒的孤獨與挺立。
“Despite the absence of sunlight or water, the seeds in this closet would still germinate vigorously in its dark corners, blossoming into dazzling flowers, akin to the resilience and resilience of the LGBTQ+ community amidst loneliness and adversity.”
《日安午夜》
Good Night! My Rogue Girl!
2018，電影短片與數位攝影，Film & Digital Photography，24 min
阿寶與一群她們稱之為「穿褲的」的換帖，在五零年代台北結拜為「橋頭十三太妹」。夜晚，在大稻埕酒家歌舞與歡樂，那是她們展演自我的異質空間。白晝，姊妹們回到自己的生活，她們是女兒，妻子，與母親。
This film comes from my field research with sociological methods since 2015. A-Bao, born in 1939. She is a mother with four children. In the 1950s, A-Bao and her friends were women in pants who felt attracted to women. They named themselves the “Thirteen Rogue Girls “. At nighit, the clubs became the heterotopia wher they could be lesbians. However, in day, they’re just the decent women in the neighborhood, helping father with the store, or looking after the kids, and cooking at home.
《全家福》
The Family Portrait
2016，數位攝影，Digital photography
照片中間是阿寶，這是關於她的全家福。她在二十多歲結婚，與當時父母安排的相親對象，遵從父母的決定而結婚。牆上的照片是媽媽的女友們，那些只能在家外的親密關係。
In the middle of the photo is A Bao, which is about her family portrait. She got married in her twenties, and married a blind date arranged by her parents at the time, following the decision of her parents. The pictures on the wall are mom’s girlfriends, those who can only have intimate relationships outside the home, and the father who is not there.
《西裝與香花：1950-1960年代「穿褲的」查某人的身影》
SUITS AND CORSAGES:
TAIWANESE WOMEN IN PANTS DURING 1950S TO 1960S
2021，書籍，中文與英文，Books，Chinese and English
摘要
本論文由 1938 年出生「阿寶」的生命史與其相關報紙中的檔案，探究台灣戰後初期，性別異議者如何身處於當時社會的性別文化之中，以及當時社會大眾如何看待與傳統性別文化不同的她們。
日治時期政策促使台灣女性就業風氣普及並延續至戰後，阿寶來到台北這個城市工作，因為工作認識了一群與她有著共同「穿褲的」認同的「換帖的」──一群喜歡女人的女人們，她們彼此結拜為「橋頭十三太妹」。「橋頭」位於台北的「大稻埕」，「橋頭十三太妹」的祕密社會與「大稻埕」這個城市的文化有著緊密關聯。大稻埕作為「橋頭十三太妹」主要的活動空間，她們不僅在此娛樂與消費，更在此城市中以自我組織的方式賺取金錢，獲得展演自身性別氣質的物質資本。
以「太妹」作為標題搜尋 1950 至 1969 年的報紙，我們看到其他「穿褲的」的身影。從中發現，「穿褲的」對傳統價值某種程度的反叛，與「太妹」、女流氓對社會秩序的反叛，對於當時社會來說，她們同樣都是某種程度的社會秩序的反叛者，「穿褲的」與「太妹」她們共有的反叛性在當時社會脈絡顯現
出一種「選擇性的親近」（elective affinity）。在當時的社會中，「穿褲的」所具有可指認或辨別的身分仍屬禁忌，「穿褲的」的許多對性別規範某種程度的反叛行為在當時被認定為不良如「太妹」的行為。另一方面，社會對於「太妹」為秩序「反叛者」的標籤，也賦予「穿褲的」具「反叛性」而能夠「有理」地展演自己性別氣質的自由，並給予她們做出不符合傳統性別價值行動的空間。台灣戰後初期，「十三太妹」以「穿褲的」的身分，展演著陽剛女同性戀作為傳統性別文化反叛者、社會性別異議者的能動性。
ABSTRACT
This study aims to discuss the gender dissidents and their situation under the traditional gender culture in the early post-war period. Also, we address how the public regarded these women as they were gender variants that challanged the traditional gender roles. These discussions are based on the related newspaper
archives as well as the life story of “A-Bao”, who was born in 1938.
The policies enacted during the Japanese ruling period had resulted in the trends of female employment. These trends had further extended to the early post-war period, which was also when A-Bao came to Taipei and sought employment. Through her job, she became acquainted with a group of friends who shared the same gender identity. They were women in pants who felt attracted to women. A-Bao and her friends named themselves the “Thirteen Teddy Girls of Qiaotou”. Qiaotou locates in Dadaocheng, Taipei.
The secret society of the Thirteen Teddy Girls of Qiaotou was also closely related to the culture of Dadaocheng. Dadaocheng was the main gathering place for the Thirteen Teddy Girls of Qiaotou. Not only did they recreate and shop here, they also earned profits here through self-organization. As a result, they had gained enough
physical capital to express their unique gender temperament.If we search the term “teddy girls” from the newspaper published between 1950 and 1969, we could also see other archives about women in pants. We have discovered that just as teddy girls were rebels for the social order, women in pants also rebelled against traditional values. To a certain extent, they were rebels to the social order as well. In the early post-war period, the mutual rebellion of women in pants and teddy girls presented certain elective affinity.
The recognizable identity of women in pants was considered a taboo in the society then. To the gender norms at that time, a girl wearing pants was regarded as an act of rebellion just as being a teddy girl. On the other hand, the “rebel” label on teddy girls also helped rationalize the rebellion of women in pants and allowed them to express their own gender temperament without being limited by the traditional gender values. As masculine lesbians, also known as “women in pants”, the Thirteen Teddy Girls expressed the agency as both rebels of traditional gender roles and gender dissidents during the early post-war period.