Some Words of Gratitude on Vietnamese Women's Day

There is an old expression that goes “Men make the house and women make the home.”

The implication is that men have traditionally worked with the bricks and mortar to build a shelter, while women have bought the warmth and happiness to make the shelters a place worth staying.

Those sorts of outdated gender roles no longer hold true. And in fact, in Vietnam, you just need to pass by a construction site to see that not only do women make a home, but they’re often literally building the house as well.

You will find Vietnamese women working in offices, factories and rice fields, and today they are even playing major roles in the governance of the country: Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh, acting President of Vietnam, and Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân is Chairwoman of the National Assembly of Vietnam. 

Today Vietnamese women form the backbone of the economy in almost every sphere and account for 25% of Board members and CEO's in the country. And while they play important roles in the workforce, they remain central to the family.

They are the mothers, wives, sisters and daughters of Vietnam and due to the strong influence of Confucianism in Vietnam, they often have been assigned the traditional domestic roles as caregivers. But the history of Vietnam has proven them to be also resilient and ferocious.

In fact, one of Vietnam’s earliest conflicts was led by two sisters, Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị who led a rebellion of 80,000 soldiers – including women – to rid the land of its corrupt Chinese overlords in AD 40.

Although they were eventually defeated, it was not before they had seen several victories against their enemies and had also established a capital from which they ruled. They continue to be seen as national heroines to this day.

One doesn’t need to look back thousands of years to see the impact that Vietnamese women have continued to play in shaping their country. Vietnamese women are famous for having fought alongside the men in some of the most bloody conflicts of history.

Most recently, in the American war, where they fought with great courage on the frontlines of the battlefield. Women also served to provide the demanding manual labor to keep the war effort going, working in the factories and toiling tirelessly in the rice fields to feed their families and the army.

They also kept the hospitals operating as doctor and nurses to help the injured and sick. Countless women died during these conflicts, but the resolve of Vietnamese women was never broken.

Of course, it’s not just in wartime that Vietnam’s women have proven their incredible strength. The many contributions of Vietnamese women go on and on.

The next time you see one of the many traditional Vietnamese dances, and you see Vietnamese girls in bright ao dai fluttering delicately with skillful and graceful movements, just remember this: While Vietnamese women possess great beauty, they also possess great strength and are a perfect reflection of what makes Vietnam so special – after all, they helped to make it.

This article was originally the cover story of the Autumn 2016 Edition of What's On Nha Trang.