{"id":153,"date":"2021-03-08T16:11:56","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T16:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/?p=153"},"modified":"2022-02-28T03:24:47","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T03:24:47","slug":"international-womens-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/vietnamese\/international-womens-day\/","title":{"rendered":"International Women\u2019s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image by Mark\u00e9ta Machov\u00e1 from Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

March 08 is International Women\u2019s Day. In Vietnamese, it is called Ng\u00e0y Qu\u1ed1c T\u1ebf Ph\u1ee5 N\u1eef<\/em> and it is celebrated. Generally speaking, it is a global day to celebrate the achievements of women, as well as a day to mark the revolution of women striking for equality in all aspects of life. Individually, for the Vietnamese, or at least to me, its meaning has been diluted to be just another Valentine\u2019s Day, a costly day for the men financially. So, what does this day actually mean? It\u2019s different for men and women.<\/p>\n

For women, it is a day to expect to receive cards, flowers, gifts, compliments, and well wishes from the men in her life. For men, it is costly and a hassle. A man must buy gifts for his girlfriend if single, for his wife if married, for his mother and mother-in-law, for his female boss, co-workers, etc. Even for students, they may feel pressure to buy gifts for their female teachers, too. To me, it has become a commercialize day in Vietnam. It is a good business occasion for the flower shops, gift shops, and restaurants. People are too busy buying and receiving gifts and fail to demonstrate on behalf of victims of domestic violence, the sex trade, etc.<\/p>\n

Vietnam is a patriarchal country, but unlike others in Asia, discrimination against women has not been a major problem that prevents women from exceling alongside men. On the contrary, Vietnamese women have played an important role in the nation, and left an indelible legacy on Vietnamese society. Some even argue that early Vietnamese society was a matriarchal society. There are many well-known female figures in Vietnamese history, especially in warfare and politics. It is not surprising to hear that Vietnam is one of the countries in the world that has a high percentage of female representatives in legislative government.<\/p>\n

March 8 was also chosen as an anniversary of the Tr\u01b0ng sisters\u2019 upraising day. The Tr\u01b0ng sisters (? \u2013 43 C.E.) are considered the first female Vietnamese national heroes. They fought against Chinese domination of Vietnam. Between 40-43 CE, Hai<\/em> B\u00e0 Tr\u01b0ng<\/em> (the Tr\u01b0ng sisters) successfully won independence for Vietnam and established an autonomous state. The sisters were crowned as queens and reigned until they were defeated by a Chinese general.<\/p>\n

If you talk about all the well-known female figures in Vietnamese history, the list is pretty long. However, the most well known that appear in school text books include:<\/p>\n