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From the 2018 referendum to the Constitutional Interpretation No. 748 passed in 2019, and then to the Ministry of the Interior's approval of same-sex marriage in 2023, the journey has not only demonstrated the high level of attention that the Taiwanese people have towards diversity in forming families and gender issues, but also highlighted the increased intertwining and possibilities of gender and family in the new century. With the loosening of gender frameworks, modern women have broken free from traditional gender norms and established their own bodily experiences and language through writing. The previously exclusive relationship between "homosexuality" and "family" has undergone significant changes in both literature and society. The five lesbian essays in this study depict the authors' imaginings of gender and family through their personal growth histories and life experiences. In the new century, gender opposition and binary notions of male and female are no longer considered the norm, and the composition of families is constantly changing. The main focus of this thesis is to present the diverse facets of gender and family in the new century through lesbian essays. Chapter 2 of the thesis first reviews the development history of gender movements, LGBTQ+ movements, and LGBTQ+ writing in Taiwan, thereby highlighting the importance of the emergence of LGBTQ+ subjects in essays in the new century. In Chapter 3, the unique aspects of new century lesbian essays in terms of body and gender writing are presented through the reshaping of female images, self-awareness of gender, and the portrayal of lesbian desire. Subsequently, Chapter 4 points out that the modern "family" possesses dual characteristics of kinship and society, highlighting the weakening and strengthening of gender roles within the household, the subversion of traditional patriarchal family images, and analyzing how families are challenged by heterosexual family members through the lived experiences of lesbian individuals. Furthermore, based on the above content, an exploration of the diverse possibilities of the emotional "home" in the new century is attempted.
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