Women played a crucial role in the anti-imperial struggle in Vietnam. Women who rebelled against social conventions were idealized and rebel women of the past were likewise celebrated.

(i) Women in as rebels:

Women played a crucial role in the anti-imperial struggle in Vietnam. Women who rebelled against social conventions were idealized and rebel women of the past were likewise celebrated. Women in Vietnam traditionally enjoyed greater equality in comparison to that in China. They had only limited freedom to take decision about their future. They had no public life. But with the growth of nationalist movement the status of women improved. Writers and political thinkers began idealizing women who rebelled against social norms. This rebellion against social conventions marked the arrival of the new woman in Vietnamese society. They participated in wars with the men for the freedom of their nation. A play was written by the nationalist Phan Boi Chau in 1913 on the lives of the Trung Sisters who had fought against Chinese domination in 39-43 CE. In this play, he depicted these sisters as patriots paintings, plays and novels as representing the strong will and the deep patriotism of the Vietnamese.

(ii) Women as warriors/ fighters:

The new woman was inspired to action by early woman revolutionaries. In the 1960s, women were represented as brave fighters by magazines and journals. They were portrayed as young, brave and dedicated. Nguyen Thi Xuan was reputed to have shot down a jet with just twenty bullets. Trieu Au was a popular figure in nationalist tales.

(iii) Women as workers:

Women were also represented as workers. Many women joined the resistance movement in Vietnam as fighters and warriors when casualties increased in the 1960’s. They assisted in nursing wounded soldiers, constructing underground tunnels and fighting the enemy. Interestingly, between 1965 and 1975, 70-80% of the youth working on the Ho Chi Minh trail were women.

(iv) Women in times of peace:

By the 1970s, as peace talks began to get under way and the end of the war seemed near, women were no longer represented as warriors. Now the image of women as worker begins to predominate. They were shown working in agricultural cooperatives, factions and production units, rather than as fighters.

Comparison between the role of women in the anti-imperials struggle in Vietnam and that in the nationalist struggle in India-

In India women like Sarojini Naidu, Kamla Nehru and Kasturba Gandhi were keenly involved in politics but compared to the direct and active participation of Vietnamese women in the anti-imperial struggle, India women did not play a very dynamic role in the nationalist struggle of India against Great Britain. They followed Gandhian ideals of boycotting foreign goods and picketing liquor shops, but mainstream politics was controlled by men only.

Still there are some similarities such as:

(a) During the launch of the civil Disobedience Movement Indian women participated in it on a large-scale.

(b) During Gandhiji’s salt march, thousands of women came out of their homes to listen to him and to walk with him.

(c) They participated in protest marches and manufactured salt.

(d) They boycott foreign cloth and liquor shops. Many women went to jail also.

(e) They began to see service to the nation as a sacred duty of women.