Is It My Job to Make Him Care? Middle-Class Women and Gender Inequality in Ho Chi Minh City

Abstract

Despite considerable material and social gains, urban middle‐class women in turn of the 21st century Vietnam continued to face gender inequality. Although the nature of gender inequality had certainly changed in the preceding approximately two decades, it nonetheless continued to impact these women's lives, showing little or no sign of abating. Investigating these developments for more than a decade, the research upon which this article is based provides ethnographic evidence of the persistence of gender inequality, documenting the disproportionate share of work or burden with which middle‐class women were shouldered. This burden came in three basic arenas: work outside the home, work inside the home, and sociocultural or symbolic work. Combined, these three pillars of inequality demonstrate that gender norms and expectations in Vietnam, while certainly not static, are best understood as a refashioned version of the longstanding imbalance between men and women in a society wherein healthy gender relations have remained at least partly illusive.

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

“…Hà, on the other hand, still had to do "tons of work" after returning home from her own job, including cooking, cleaning, and childcare. Her complaint echoes studies that foreground the unequal share of housework between men and women in Vietnam (Kelly, 2004;Ngo, 2004;Khuat et al, 2014;Higgins, 2015).…”

“…Nguyễn-võ (2008), Phinney (2009), andMurru (2018) contend that the government's neoliberal approach after Đổi Mới has led to the increasing commercialisation and sexualisation of leisure space, facilitating men's easy access to a growing sex industry. In addition, due to men's supposedly lesser aptitude for the domestic sphere, their lesser involvement in housework in both rural and urban areas has been highlighted (Ngo Thi Ngan Binh, 2004;Werner, 2009;Khuat et al, 2013;Higgins, 2015).…”

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

“…Vietnam's integration into global networks (Forbes et al, 1991;Turley & Selden, 1993;Werner & Bélanger, 2002;Hayton, 2010), and a more relaxed, flexible social life, especially in cities (Phuong An Nguyen, 2007;Martin, 2013). Scholars have termed contemporary Vietnam a "post-socialist" country for its embrace of capitalism and neoliberal values, characterised by the state's transfer of welfare issues to the market and non-state actors and its promotion of citizen self-responsibility (e.g., Higgins, 2008;Karis, 2013a;Hai Thiem Bui, 2015;Taylor, 2016, Nguyen-Thu, 2016Minh T. N. Nguyen, 2018b). Since Đổi Mới, a combination of factors, including the Communist party's endorsement of gender equality in political and social participation, rapid industrialisation, and globalisation, has exerted contrasting influences on men and women against the continued imposition of traditional gender ideals (Nguyen Bich Thuan & Thomas, 2004;Khanh Linh Nguyen & Harris, 2009).…”

“…Nguyễn-võ (2008), Phinney (2009), andMurru (2018) contend that the government's neoliberal approach after Đổi Mới has led to the increasing commercialisation and sexualisation of leisure space, facilitating men's easy access to a growing sex industry. In addition, due to men's supposedly lesser aptitude for the domestic sphere, their lesser involvement in housework in both rural and urban areas has been highlighted (Ngo Thi Ngan Binh, 2004;Werner, 2009;Khuat et al, 2013;Higgins, 2015).…”

“…urban educated middle-class younger people, enjoying a more relaxed, flexible life (Phuong An Nguyen, 2003;Higgins, 2008;Locke et al, 2014;Nguyen Bich Thuan & Thomas, 2004). For example, domestic helpers enable some married middle-class women to maintain a work-life balance while consolidating their husbands' masculine privilege, i.e.…”