Women’s Day is a BIG THING in Vietnam and this year I took part in events held at Saigon Outcast in District 2. I decided to read the following as a speech even though it was an article I had originally written for Word magazine. 

Recently there have been charming little sayings in Asia that …..‘A hundred girls aren’t worth a single testicle’ (Chaliand 1969) and ‘one boy, that’s something; ten girls, that’s nothing’ (Le Thi Que 1976). Hard to believe then that all the way back in 40CE the Trung sisters (responsible for establishing what is now parts of Hanoi) were already fighting a cause that still rages on today; that of equality in the face of criticism from those all too keen to trot out the ‘Feminazi’ taunt as a defense mechanism.

Being a Feminist does not mean A) you are a necessarily a woman B) you are a misandrist (not sure what that means? Well I bet you know what a misogynist is so work it out) C) in a bad mood at the world in general. As Caitlin Moran pointed out so concisely and clearly in ‘How to be a Woman’: ‘Feminism is just equality. Would a man be allowed to do it? Then so should you.’ Thank the lord then for Vietnamese women such as the Trung sisters who symbolise the struggle for independence in general. In fact, if you are in any doubt about the pivotal part played by women in a country where traditionally they were regulated by ‘dieu’ and meant to be the weak ‘yin’ to the masculine ‘yang’, then just head down to Bui Vien and amongst all the vest wearing travelers you’ll spot shops selling old propaganda posters with heartening slogans such as: “Bao ve va xay du’ng buon lang’ (to protect and build village) emblazoned across images of women holding guns…and children, lending a whole new meaning to the term ‘multi-tasking’.

It is on such a fighting note as this that International Women’s Day takes center stage. Not only was it responsible for kicking off the Russian Revolution back in 1917 but it has evolved to raise awareness of women’s issues throughout the globe. And if you are one of those people reading this tutting and rolling your eyes to the ceiling wondering when women will stop whining then take a minute to ponder some of these statistics: 1 in 5 girls never finish primary school in the developing world; 14 million girls (some as young as 8) were forced into marriage in 2014 and 970,000GDP is the difference in earnings between men and women in the UK Financial sector. Similarly, one of the men involved in the appalling rape and murder of a young woman on a bus in Delhi back in 2012 is currently trying to overthrow his death sentence. He can only demonstrate bewilderment at the ‘fuss’ the rape has caused. In his own words he is documented as saying: ‘A decent girl won’t roam around at nine o’clock at night. A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy”  and “Housework and housekeeping is for girls, not roaming in discos and bars at night doing wrong things, wearing wrong clothes. About 20% of girls are good.” Until these numbers and cultural attitudes improve; there is a continued need for events such as International Women’s Day.

It’s all too easy to focus on what is negative but International Women’s Day and events such as ‘One Billion Rising’ acknowledge that there is much to celebrate. Celebrities such as Thu Minh and Thanh Bui are currently touring the country to raise awareness about the endangered Rhino and Mai Kieu Lien, Chairwoman and CEO of Vietnam Daily, was listed in Forbes ‘top achievers’ in 2013. It would be nice, however, if when you googled ‘Vietnamese Female Success’ more links like these came up rather than ‘How to Date a Vietnamese Beauty’ and others of their dubious ilk.

Even if, in some misty eyed version of the future, it is no longer necessary for institutions like the ‘Little Rose’ to exist, I do hope International Women’s Day continues, even if just to retrieve ‘cunt’ from its position as the ultimate profanity to one that celebrates females instead.