Role Of Marriage In Vietnamese Marriage

Marriage

Before the 1950s, marriage was influence by Buddhist and Confucian beliefs. The Vietnamese believed that fate, wealth, and social status played a large role in marriage, and that personal choice played a much smaller role. It was custom for children to live with their parents until they got married, and then the couple would live in the home of the husbands father. These marriages were usually arranged with some input from the bride and groom, who, once engaged would not interact with each other very much until the marriage. Women would keep their maiden names, but use their husband’s name formally.

Western influence has shifted the dynamics of marriage in recent years. Family still plays a large role, but parents are now in a more consultative position, this has resulted in a heavy decline of the number of arranged marriages. Due to the emphasis of culture in Vietnamese society, individuals of high status, like

This can be connected to the reality that women in Canada have more social and financial freedom.

Gender Roles

Vietnamese gender roles are very similar to typical traditional roles seen Canada. Men generally work outside the home and women are responsible for duties around the home, such as raising children and cleaning. As stated before, Vietnamese culture is a patriarchal system, so men make most major decisions, manage money, and support the family.

In recent years, the gender gap between men and women has closed. This is partly due to the Vietnam War, where many men left home to fight, and wives would become the head of the household. Western influence has also played a role in this, for example men used to have more education than women, but equal opportunity initiatives by the Vietnamese Government and schools funded by Canada and the United States has narrowed that