Submitted by Deniz Hatiboglu on the 2019 winter session program in Vietnam and Cambodia sponsored by the Department of Finance…
I made a new friend yesterday at one of our business visits. Ciara is a finance student at the banking university of Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City! She is very smart and extremely kind and generous. Talking to her and learning about all her ambitions showed me how many similarities there are between the women in Vietnam and the women in America. Women in Vietnam are very hardworking and motivated. Ciara was telling me how she thinks Vietnamese men are lazy because traditionally it is the women who wake up early to prepare the food for the day and lay out the husband’s clothes. This speaks to the relaxed nature of men in Vietnam and this is perpetuated by the culture and traditions. Stereotyping and misogyny seem to be rampant in this nation. Even our tour guides in Vietnam would make jokes about how women are washing machines and are chefs without even realizing the implications jokes like these can have.
During the business visits we went to, it was clear to see that women ran the show and were usually the smartest people in the room. Regardless, men would talk over them and answer questions that weren’t directed at them. Tradition and cultural norms let men walk all over women. This is something I hope will change over time for this beautiful, historic nation. The people of this country are extremely kind and forgiving and I am happy to know my new friend who opened my eyes even more to the injustices women of the country face everyday.