Gender role attitudes and the division of housework in young married couples in northern Vietnam

Abstract

This article investigates the gender role attitudes and domestic division of labour of young couples in northern Vietnam. Based on separate interviews with 30 couples living in rural and urban areas, it explores young people's thoughts about the roles of a wife and a husband and how these translate into their allocation of housework. Analysis of the interviews indicates that the perceptions and expectations of young people remain influenced by traditional gender ideology, in that wives are still considered mainly responsible for housework. However, in practice, gender roles are highly flexible and demonstrate significant mutual support. In addition, the similarities or differences between spouses in terms of gender role attitudes contribute to levels of relative satisfaction regarding the current division of labour in households.

Internal migration and earnings: Do migrant entrepreneurs and migrant employees differ?

“…These differences are presented in opportunities to access information and knowledge, local norms of doing businesses, and the levels of generalised trust (trust in strangers) in the local community. For example, within the north, people in the northwest and mountain areas have little opportunity to gain access to knowledge and information due to the less developed infrastructure and education systems (Vu, 2021), but they have a very high level of generalised trust, thanks to the closed community (Nguyen‐Anh et al, 2021). These institutional characteristics inevitably lead to a distinct way of doing business for entrepreneurs and the ability to think and approach issues for employees.…”

Nationalism in discursive legitimation: An analysis of the Vietnamese Communist Party’s ‘bamboo diplomacy’ discourse on digital journalism

“…Meanwhile, Vietnamese nationalism has been frequently examined in the social media context, namely in the work of Luong (2021), focusing on anti-China sentiments on Facebook, and that of Bao and Phan (2020), analyzing the characteristics of Vietnamese nationalism on Quora Digest. The work of Vu and Dang (2021) explored the tools and mechanism of digital nationalism during the first phase of the pandemic in 2020 via data from Vietnamese online newspapers and Facebook blogs, in addition to ethnographic interviews. Despite the country’s burgeoning digital sphere, the communicative role of Vietnamese nationalism on the party-state level in this context remained understudied.…”

Vietnamese Reception Of Soft Masculinities In Korean Television Dramas: Desires, Identifications, And Gender

“…In marriage, Vietnamese men tend to prioritise their role as breadwinner over emotional work, i.e. being romantic and expressive (Thanh Thi Vu, 2015;. Persistent male entitlement has led to relative tolerance of men's risk-taking or "inappropriate" practices such as extramarital sex, gambling, drinking, and domestic violence (Nghe et al, 2003;Nguyễn-võ, 2008;Phinney, 2009;Nguyen & Harris, 2009;Schafer, 2010;Horton & Rydstrom, 2011;K.…”

“…As An grew older, the pressure for her to marry grew, a common situation for Vietnamese women in their late twenties and thirty, as marriage is a "universal expectation" locally and those who do not marry and have children usually suffer from social stigma and isolation (Bélanger, 2004;Soucy, 2012;Earl, 2014;Gammeltoft, 2014;Thanh Thi Vu, 2015). An wanted to marry but could not find a suitable partner.…”

“…An unlikely love can be between the very rich and very poor or between those who are supposed to remain rivals for life; such love usually transgresses traditional values such as filial piety by defying parental opposition. As often seen in Korean dramas, parental approval is typically a prerequisite to marriage in Vietnam, though parental influence has waned in recent decades (Bélanger & Khuat, 2001;Nguyen & Belk, 2012, p. 113;Thanh Thi Vu, 2015). This theme of "rebellious" romantic individualism, according to Baldacchino (2014), "represents a deregulation of desire that threatens the social and moral order" (p. 15).…”