What was the role of women in the national movement in Vietnam?

The Vietnamese women played an important role during the anti-colonial movement. Their role can be well understood from the following:

a. Women as Rebels:

1. The Vietnamese women did not enjoy public life and had limited freedom.

2. The growth of the nationalist movement started changing the status of these women.

3. Women who rebelled against the social norms were idealised by the writers.

4. Trung sisters was a play written by Phan Boi Chau in the year 1913.

5. The Trung sisters had fought against Chinese domination.

6. He had portrayed them as patriots.

7. They were also portrayed as the symbol of patriotism in many of the novels, paintings and plays.

b. Women as Warriors:

1. Women were also portrayed as brave warriors in the leading magazines.

2. They were very dedicated, sincere and young.

3. They had strong willpower.

4. Nguyen Thi Xuan was famous for gunning down a jet with just twenty bullets.

c. Women as workers:

1. Women were also seen as workers during the anti-imperialist movement.

2. They nursed the wounded, helped in constructing underground rooms and tunnels.

3. They were seen with a rifle in one hand and a hammer in the other.

4. Nearly seventy to eighty per cent were women among the seventeen thousand who were killed between 1965 and 1975.

d. Women in times of peace:

1. The image of women as workers predominated when the peace talks began in the 1970s.

2. Women were working in agricultural co-operatives and other production units rather than fighters.

Thus, the role of women was significant in the anti-imperialist movement in Vietnam even though they did not enjoy much liberty before the advent of the movements.