Gender Practices in Contemporary Vietnam

edited by Lisa Drummond & Helle Rydstrom

  • Published:
  • Pages: 284 pp.
  • illustrated
  • Series number:
Available from NIAS Press in Europe

About the book

This volume examines negotiations, and transgressions, of gender within Vietnamese society, looking at gender family, social and work relations, bodily displays, body language and occupation of space. Of special interest is a discussion of sexual harassment in schools and the workplace, and the strategies women adopt to deal with it, the first discussion of this issue by a Vietnamese scholar.

  • Explores under-studied gender related topics in contemporary Vietnamese society
  • breaks new ground on Vietnamese society, this book will be of interest to both to non-specialists, and those studying gender topics


Confucianism, colonialism and socialism have all contributed significantly to gender relations in Vietnam. More recently, political and social change associated with modernization and globalization have also had an impact. How do the Vietnamese display their social positions and their identities as male or female?

This volume examines negotiations, and transgressions, of gender within Vietnamese society, looking at gender family, social and work relations, bodily displays, body language and occupation of space. Of special interest is a discussion of sexual harassment in schools and the workplace, and the strategies women adopt to deal with it, the first discussion of this issue by a Vietnamese scholar.

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Reviews

by
From journal:
Bruce M. Lockhart, National University of Singapore
"Gender-related studies on contemporary Vietna

"Gender-related studies on contemporary Vietnam are few in number, and most writing concentrates on socio-economic topics. This book’s focus on the fundamental issues of gender roles is a significant contribution."
by Kerstin Priwitzer
From journal:
ASIEN. The German Journal on Contemporary Asia. July 2006, 100

"The vast volume of empirical material is impressive, making the articles vivid and illustrative.  Furthermore, the analysis of the portrayal of women in movies and newspapers and the confrontation of women with these representations …is very illuminating.

"The vast volume of empirical material is impressive, making the articles vivid and illustrative.  Furthermore, the analysis of the portrayal of women in movies and newspapers and the confrontation of women with these representations …is very illuminating.

…This collection undoubtedly provides useful insights into the modernization of male and female behavioural patterns in a Southeast Asian context of Confucianism, patrilineage and Communism."