Hard Work, Beauty, Refined Speech and Excellent Conduct: The Role of Women In Vietnamese Society

During my travels around Vietnam between 2019/2020 I have been able to explore many places between the North West mountainous regions of Lào Cai and Ha Giang (3 kilometres away from the Chinese border) and Ho Chi Minh City in the south. One thing I noticed whilst travelling was the strong presence of Vietnamese woman in all sorts of businesses. They were omnipresent and seemed involved in a variety of jobs. This realisation made me wonder where Vietnam sits with gender equality in terms of careers and social interactions nowadays and where it stood traditionally. This started a whole research process which led me to this project. There is an old saying in Vietnam that goes: “One boy, that’s something; ten girls that’s nothing”. Although strong female figures have always been part of Vietnam’s history, traditionally, the role of Vietnamese women in society was one of oppression. In many parts of Vietnam this is still the case today with a patriarchal society is still reigning undisputedly. A traditional Vietnamese woman is governed by three basic Confucian tenets named “three obediences”: She should submit to her father; She should obey her husband; and If widowed, she should obey her eldest son. By tradition, a woman is expected to put their family as the first priority, over things such as education, passion, or hobbies. In Vietnam a woman has many duties to her family. A wife is the centre of the household. It’s the women who constantly cares for the family and manages finances. In Vietnamese society, although women have been formally belittled for decades, they have always upheld an important role. Notably, during the various wars that Vietnam endured, women were expected to serve for their country and have played an integral role during various conflicts. Nowadays, Vietnamese women play an increasingly important role in the nation’s development. The traditional gender roles have been blurred. Within one generation Vietnamese women, passive and subservient at home, have entered business, politics and other professions with a great amount of success. Assuming much of the work force in Vietnam, their jobs typically are in the clothing and footwear sector, however women with secondary education can now hold jobs as doctors, teachers, and engineers. In more rural villages, women help their husbands to run their everyday business. Whilst this might be a common sight in other countries, in Vietnam this is amongst one of many signs of the changes that are taking place at the moment. This series of images documents my travels across Vietnam and the lovely people I met. It also serves both as raising awareness about current issues when it comes to societal roles of women in Vietnam but also as a strong celebration of Vietnamese women’s achievements in what will be still an ongoing battle in the future to achieve cultural changes and shape the country’s development.