Navigating Intimacy and Queer Entrepreneurship: Relational work in Taiwanese Lesbian Couples’ Business Endeavors

The Centre of Taiwan Studies is delighted to welcome Professor Hong-zen Wang to give a talk as part of this year’s Centre of Taiwan Studies Summer School on queer entrepreneurship, intimacy, and relational work among Taiwanese lesbian couples.

This talk will address the significant gap in the entrepreneurship literature concerning the experiences of sexual minority groups, particularly Taiwanese lesbian entrepreneurs. The prevailing focus on heterosexual men has overshadowed the distinct motivations and dynamics in queer entrepreneurship. This investigation explores how Taiwanese lesbian couples engage in entrepreneurial pursuits in unique local gender culture. In addition, lesbian entrepreneurship is often overlooked and subsumed under gay entrepreneurship, leading to the assumption of ‘gay ordinariness’.

Taiwan’s gender cultural context, mainly shaped by Confucianism and Taoism, contributes to the relative acceptance of lesbian relationships and marriages, reducing social criticism. By skillfully utilising the cultural repertoire of filial piety, lesbian entrepreneurs strengthen their bonds with parents, facilitating both their business endeavors and intimate relationships.

The study also highlights a significant difference between Taiwanese lesbian entrepreneurs and gay counterparts; the former perform intimate relational work and prioritise emotional ties in entrepreneurial pursuits, while the latter emphasise rational economic outlook.

The findings underscore that entrepreneurial motivations are multifaceted, encompassing liberation, empowerment, family bonding, and self-identity construction. Taiwanese lesbian entrepreneurs exemplify the importance of intimate relational work, challenging the dominant masculine economic orientation in entrepreneurship.