Women’s roles in the performance of family functions: The case of Coastal districts of Ben Tre province, Vietnam
Main Article Content
Abstract
Due to its terrain being below mean sea level, its extensive estuaries, and the influence of the East Sea’s tidal regime, Ben Tre is one of the provinces along the Mekong Delta that is most severely impacted by saltwater intrusion from the sea into its four rivers. The coastal districts of Ben Tre have experienced increasingly severe saline intrusion in recent years due to the severe climate change situation, which has changed the economic structure, industry and income levels. The main purpose of this study was to explore an understanding of how women undertake duties related to the family, including economic function, family organization, population reproduction, child care, and education function. A qualitative study employed with 52 in-depth interviews, selected in three coastal districts of Ben Tre Province in 2022, with representatives from households and local leaders. The study's findings demonstrate that while women in Ben Tre are still subject to social norms and expectations that apply to women in traditional societies, they have gained independence, adaptability, and diversity in performing these functions.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
- for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
-
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
How to Cite
References
Adams, R. (2008). Empowerment, participation and social work (4th ed.): Red Globe Press.
Andersen, M. L. (2014). Thinking about women: Sociological perspectives on sex and gender (10th ed.): Pearson.
Anh, N. T. (2022). Overview of gender equality in Vietnam in the fields of politics, economy, healthcare, education, information, communication and family life. In. Women in Vietnamese society (pp. 47-55). Ha Noi: Thanh Nien Publishing House.
Ashton-Jones, E., Olson, G. A., & Perry, M. G. (1999). The gender reader (2rd ed.): Pearson.
Bengtson, V. L., Acock, A. C., Allen, K. R., Dilworth-Anderson, P., & Klein, D. M. (2005). Sourcebook of family theory and research. In Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi: Sage.
Binh, N. T. (2012). The division of household labor in Vietnamese families at present time. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 2(5), 59-68.
Blossfeld, H.-P. (. (1995). The new role of women: Family formation in modern societies. Boulder, San Francisco, Oxford: Westview Press.
Christens, B. D. (2019). Community power and empowermen. Oxford University Press.
Dan, N. T. (2011). A Vietnamese family chronicle: Twelve generations on the banks of the Hat River: McFarland.
Dung, P. T. T (2021). Migration of labor from rural to urban areas - Strategies to escape poverty or multidimensional poverty of Vietnamese women? [Di cư lao động từ nông thôn ra thành thị - Chiến lược thoát nghèo hay sự nghèo hóa đa chiều của phụ nữ Việt Nam?] Family and Gender Studies, 31(1), 53-65.
E. Kalaivani (2019). Women’s Role in Society and Family. International Journal of Arts, Science and Humanities, 6(S1), 187-189.
Finch, J., & Kim, S. K. (2016). The Korean family in transition. In Routledge handbook of Korean culture and society (pp. 134-148): Routledge.
Hang, N. T. T (2022). Today’s role models for Vietnamese women and the role of media. In. Women in Vietnamese society (pp. 33-45). Ha Noi: Thanh Nien Publishing House.
Hiep, L. H. (2016). Living next to the giant: The political economy of Vietnam's relations with China under Doi Moi. (Doctoral dissertation, University of New South Wales, Sydney). DOI: https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/2774.
Hirschman, C., & Minh, N. H. (2002). Tradition and change in Vietnamese family structure in the Red River Delta. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64(4), 1063-1079.
Huou, T. D. (1994). From the modern to tradition [Đến hiện đại từ truyền thống]: Ha Noi: Culture Publishing House.
Khanh, D. C. & Quy, L. T. (2009). Family studies [Gia đình học]. Publishing House of Political Theory.
Khanh, V. N. (2023). Vietnamese family culture [Văn hoá gia đình Việt Nam]. Hong Duc Publisher.
Khieu, N. L. (2003). Researching on women, gender, and family [Nghiên cứu phụ nữ, giới và gia đình]: Social Sciences Publishing House.
Komalasari, N., & Agustin, M. (2022). The Role of Women in the Family as Mompreneur According to Islamic View. Yinyang: Jurnal Studi Islam Gender dan Anak, 89-106.
Korinek, K. (2004). Maternal employment during northern Vietnam's era of market reform. Social Forces, 2(83), 791-822. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/ zenodo.2556577
Macionis, J. J. (2012). Sociology (14th ed.). Pearson.
March, C., Smyth, I. A., & Mukhopadhyay, M. (1999). A guide to gender-analysis frameworks. Oxfam.
Minh, N. H. & Phuong, N. T. (2021). Gender division of labor in the family in Ho Chi Minh City [Phân công lao động theo giới trong gia đình ở thành phố Hồ Chí Minh]. Tạp chí Phát triển bền vững vùng (Regional Sustainable Development Journal), 11(11), 99-109.
MOLISA, & ActionAid. (2016). Research Report "Unpaid work: Love is sharing.
Ngoc, N. Q. (1993). About some trading villages in the Northern Delta in the 18th and 19th centuries. [Về một số làng buôn ở đồng bằng Bắc bộ thế kỷ XVIII-XIX]: Vietnam Association of Historical Sciences.
Phillips, A. (2010). Gender and culture: Polity.
Phuong, T. & Tu, D. (Eds.). (2001). Ben Tre Geography: Social Science Publishing House.
Phuong, T. P. (2007). Work and Family Roles of Women in Ho Chi Minh City. International Education Journal, 8(2), 284-292.
Rajkai, Z. (2021). The Role of Family in Modern China: A Blended Compressed Transformation of the Private and Public Spheres. Távol-keleti Tanulmányok, 13(1), 241-254. doi:10.38144/TKT.2021.1.15
Rebick, M., & Takenaka, A. (Eds.). (2006). The changing Japanese family. Routledge.
Teerawichitchainan, B., Knodel, J., Loi, V. M., & Huy, V. T. (2010). The gender division of household labor in Vietnam: Cohort trends and regional variations. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 41(1), 57-85. DOI: 10.3138/jcfs.41.1.57
Them, T. N. (Ed.) (2022). Vietnamese culture in Southwest region [Văn hoá người Việt vùng Tây Nam Bộ]: Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House.
Thuan, D. D & Ngoc, N. V (2022). Roles of Vietnamese Women in the Society. In A Historical Perspective. Ha Noi: Thanh Nien Publishing House.
Tien, N. M. (2017). Life in traditional market. Writers Association Publishing House.
Truong, D., Giao, N., & Ly, L. (2020). Factors affecting the role of women in the economic development of rural household families in Vietnam: A case study in Trieu Son district Thanh Hoa province. Accounting, 6(3), 267-272. DOI: 10.5267/j.ac.2020.2.009
UN Women. (2022). UN Women Viet Nam. Key Results and Highlights 2017-2021. Retrieved from Ha Noi: https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/vn-UNWomen-Vietnam-Results-2017-2021-EN-compressed.pdf
Van, L. N. (2012). Family and family changes in Vietnam [Gia đình và biến đổi gia đình ở Việt Nam]: Social Sciences Publisher.
GSO & ILO. (2016). Report on informal labor 2016. (GSO & ILO) Retrieved from https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---ilo-hanoi/documents/publication/wcms_638334.pdf
Mai, N. X. & Thu, T. N. M. (2014). The Informal Economic Sector from an Economic Sociological Perspective [Khu vực kinh tế phi chính thức từ góc nhìn xã hội học kinh tế]. Journal of Sociology, 1.
Anh, K. D. (2022). Women in the informal labour market in. Women in Vietnamese Society. Ha Noi: Thanh Nien Publishing House.
Women Union of Ben Tre province. (2020). Report on implementation of national strategies on gender equity in the period of 2011-2020 [Báo cáo về việc thực hiện các chiến lược quốc gia về bình đẳng giới trong thời kỳ 2011-2020].