4 January 2023 | Report

Taming traditional gender norms and patriarchy on social media in Vietnam

Gender Norms

Summary

This study examines the intersection between social and gender norms, with specific emphasis on Facebook, in the Vietnamese context.

It demonstrated how gender is discussed on social media to evaluate the impact of Investing in Women (IW) and its supported campaigns in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. These locally-led campaigns highlight positive examples of gender equality to strengthen public support for women’s economic participation.

The study was conducted in the first half of 2022 through textual analysis, interviews, and focus group discussions.

This report shows the lingering resistance against gender equality and possible mitigation strategies. It has illuminated the continuation of offline traditional norms and patriarchal attitudes while identifying progressive forces advocating for equality in the online sphere. The universal benefits of living in an equal and just society needs to be communicated within the context of everyday life to gradually transform gender norms in Vietnam.

This study was published by RMIT University, with support from IW.

Highlights

  • Social media (i.e., Facebook Pages) amplified traditional gender norms, in addition to patriarchal beliefs and values, already pervasive in the offline sphere. These values and beliefs were observable in online discussions pertaining to gender equality. These include but are not limited to how women and girls continued to endure social pressures embedded in society.
  • Based on an analysis of six Facebook pages administered by IW partners, discussions related to gender norms can escalate to unnecessary debates and personal attacks. Stigmas towards gender equality supporters, users who share content that can be perceived as challenging the existing gender norms and roles, were observable. Examples of such stigmas include being selfish, ungrateful, and westernized
  • In response, supporters of gender equality exercised a range of agency, such as using content about the positive impact of equality in everyday life. At an organizational level, personal stories, pop cultures, and current events were content often used for campaigning on gender norm shifts in Vietnam.
  • Following these findings, the research recommend for programmers and community organizers to:
    • create opportunities for supporters and detractors to develop common grounds as to what gender equality means in everyday life, with specific emphasis on the economic benefits that accompany societies committed to gender equality and inclusion;
    • cater messages about collective struggles to better engage adherents to traditional gender norms, which tends to comprise of straight men and privileged women;
    • harness localized values and cultures for building alliances between different people of diverse gender identities; and,
    • promote intergenerational dialogues to break the circuit of misconceptions about gender equality among different age group.

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Published by: RMIT University

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