Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Extramarital Relationships, Masculinity, and Gender Relations in Vietnam

2009; Volume: 31; Linguagem: Inglês

1083-074X

Nguyen Khanh Linh, Dash Harris,

Migration and Labor Dynamics

In most of their forms, extramarital activities by Vietnamese men are not perceived as indelity or adultery. Extramarital relationships often facilitate male bonding and are important signiers of Vietnamese masculinity and male privilege. However, Vietnamese men face signicant role strain as their wives become better educated, more independent, and contribute greater amounts to the family income. This article, based on both primary and secondary data—including 220 survey interviews conducted by Nguyen and three assistants in all three regions of Vietnam in 2006 and 22 in-depth follow-up interviews in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Vinh Long by Harris in 2007—presents a typology of extramarital relationships in Vietnam and considers their development and further evolution vis-a-vis issues of masculinity, femininity, and gender relations.