有以臺灣法律體發展的歷史縱深為主軸，以殖民主義與法律、女性主義法常的批判性理論思考為橫軸，一般性地探討了近代西方法、在地父權體制與性別呯等的關係，並構思可能的改革策略。以日本在臺殖民統治為始的臺灣法律西方法化，一方面在統治者的近代化工程以及女人的實踐性參與下，創造了女權、並且拓展了法律上實踐性別平等改革的空間；另方面則促成了父權體制的轉化，在改變了傳統父權的型態的同時，更伴隨近西方法的引入而建立新的父權宰制模式。換言之，臺灣法律的近代西方法化與性別平等的關係，不能被簡化為單純的等同關係；相反地，相反地，是更加複雜化了的、壓迫與解放共生共存的糾葛網絡。而這壓迫與解共生的局面，正是殖民主義以西方法律帝國主義下、進步西方/落伍本土二元對立的產物。這種權力位置關係的陰霾，遮蔽了我們看清性別壓迫/父權宰制在地複雜面貌的視野，同時也將改革之路窄化為以近代西方法為參照指標的向西看齊單行為。因此，本文嘗試提出「地域化西方法學/女性主義法學」以超越此種難局，而以批判性的比較法作為具體的法學實踐策略，呼籲拆解西方理論的普同性、打破其壟斷地位，並強調進行本土研究的重要性。在批判性的比較法策略下，婦運法改革一方面要深入探究本土經驗、與之進行細緻協商，另方面則多元化改革的參照對象，從而尋求在地性別平等的實踐。

This paper tackles the issue of sex equality in the Jaw by exploring the entangled relationship between the imposition of Western laws, the changing faces of patriarchy, and promoting sex equality in a local context. In the legal academia as well as in the feminist legal reform movement, it is generally perceived that the Westernization of the Taiwanese legal system has brought about equality for women, and, a myth, that Western laws should serve as the key reference in promoting sex equality. Through a historical investigation, the author contests this prevailing myth, and argues instead that the Westernization of the laws has simultaneously facilitated sex equality by granting women certain modem legal rights and protection, while also reinforced male dominance by modernizing local patriarchy. Not only has the oppression of Western Laws often been overlooked, the power relationship between the Colonizer and the Colonized as well as the West and the rest, which created the myth, also remain uncontested. The process of Westernization has created a series of dichotomies, which turns into an Orientalist trap that reduces the Taiwanese society to the sole source of patriarchy and enhances the superior positionality of Western Laws. As a result, local faces of patriarchy cannot be accurately represented, and possible paths of women's liberation are reduced into a movement towards Westernization. To move beyond this impasse, the author suggests the strategy of provincializing Western jurisprudence and Western feminist jurisprudence, and propose the approach of critical comparative law in local feminist legal reform.