The second cause of sex discrimination in Vietnam is the lack of knowledge of Vietnamese people. First, many Vietnamese married couples, whose knowledge is very limited, do not know that practicing birth-control is extremely importance to women. Without family planning, women do not have freedom because they can not escape from the endless cycle of childbearing and rearing. To illustrate, a woman who has to stay at home to take care of her children and do housework daily can not enjoy herself in anything else. Second, because lack of knowledge, a lot of Vietnamese people do not understand clearly about Vietnamese law, which is protect women’s right, so that women are treated very badly in many families. For instance, many Vietnamese women, who are hit ruthlessly by their husband everyday, dare not to resort to the help of the law because they do not know if the law protects them or not. In brief, the deficiency of Vietnamese knowledge makes a woman working as a slave and prevents her from defending herself in many partial cases.
Finally, one of the biggest causes of sex discrimination in Vietnam is the requirement of farming career. It is generally believed that most of Vietnamese people are doing farming today. However, farming is a very hard work so that men have to do most of the work whereas women only can help some light pieces of the work. Consequently, the main income of family relies on the husband who has the right to keep all the family’s money and decide how to use it. To illustrate, in a lot of Vietnamese families, the woman always have to ask her husband for money if she wants to buy anything. In short, the characteristics of farming career force women rely on men, and regard man as the main support of the family.
At the same time, the effects of sex discrimination in Vietnamese society are more obvious than ever before. Sex discrimination affects on three sides of the society: in the home, in the job site and in the society.
The first effect of sexual differentiation can be felt in the home. First, it is widely thought that most of Vietnamese men read newspaper or watch television after going back to home from their offices. In contrast, women have to do house works and look after children after working. As a result, women do not have even a second to relax to recover their strength. Second, many men use violence to women in their families as a way to discipline women. For instance, a large number of Vietnamese men hit or slap their wife in conflicts between them everyday without being judged by the law. To sum up, the sexual differentiation makes women be flooded in house works and give men the power to use violence to women in Vietnam families.
Another field affected by sex discrimination is job site. Most of Vietnamese women still work in low-paying, low-status occupations as secretaries, salesclerks or elementary school teacher even though they have more abilities than men in the same fields. In addition, women almost have no chance to gain promotion to be mangers in Vietnam. For example, nearly all Vietnamese companies choose men as managers when they have to choose between a man and a woman, who have the same capacities. In brief, Vietnamese women get less money and chance of promotion than men in the same jobs because of sex discrimination.
Finally, the effects of sexual differentiation are not only being felt in the home, in the job site but also at the social field. First, almost all Vietnamese people can not accept a woman as a leader of Vietnam government. For example, the number of women holding importance positions in Vietnam is very few today. Second, in Vietnamese society, men are also esteemed than women because according to Vietnamese cultural attitudes, only men can worship their ancestral altar as family’s heirs. To illustrate, Vietnamese families want to bear boys, who can maintain continuity of their family line, than girls. In short, the status of Vietnamese women in society is very low because the sexual differentiation has affected on the thoughts of Vietnamese people.
In conclusion, the appearance of sex discrimination in Vietnam to day is caused by three reasons: the remainder of feudalistic custom still affecting Vietnamese society, the lack of knowledge in opinions of Vietnamese people and the requirement of farming career while the effects of sex discrimination can be easily felt in these fields: the home, the job site and the society. The sexual differentiation is a very serious problem of mankind society, which we need to solve as soon as possible for the sake of mankind’s progress and for women’s liberation.
