Women in the Vietnam War were active in a large variety of roles, making significant impacts on the War and with the War having significant impacts on them.[1][2][3]
Several million Vietnamese women served in the military and in militias during the War, particularly in the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (also known as the Viet Cong), with the slogan "when war comes, even the women must fight" being widely used.[4] These women made vital contributions on the Ho Chi Minh trail, in espionage efforts, medical care, logistical and administrative work, and, in some cases, direct combat against opposing forces.[5][6]
Civilian women also had significant impacts during the Vietnam War, with women workers taking on more roles in the economy and Vietnam seeing an increase in legal women's rights.[7] In Vietnam and around the world, women emerged as leaders of anti-war peace campaigns and made significant contributions to war journalism.[8]
However, women still faced significant levels of discrimination during and after the War and were often targets of sexual violence and war crimes.[9] Post-war, some Vietnamese women veterans faced difficulty reintegrating into civilian society and having their contributions recognised, as well as some advances in women's rights made during the War failing to be sustained.[10][11] Portrayals of the War in fiction have also been criticised for their depictions of women, both for overlooking the role women played in the War and in reducing Vietnamese women to racist stereotypes.[12][13] Women continue to be at the forefront of campaigns to deal with the aftermath of the War, such as the long-terms effect of Agent Orange use and the Lai Đại Hàn.[14][15][16][17]
- ^ "From hidden resistance to peace talks: Women in the Vietnam War". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 4 November 2015.
- ^ "Exhibition honors Vietnamese female soldiers in Vietnam War". 8 April 2015. Archived from the original on April 13, 2015.
- ^ "Vietnamese women in wartime – Press Photos – Femmes et guerres".
- ^ Windschuttle, Elizabeth (February 15, 1976). "Women in the Vietnam War". Australian Left Review. 1 (53): 17–25 – via ro.uow.edu.au.
- ^ "Portraits of Vietnamese Women At War". Progressive International. 2021-03-09.
- ^ Springer, James (2020-05-22). "Women in combat, from World War II anti-Nazi Greek resistance to Viet Cong to Syrian Kurdish militia". South China Morning Post.
- ^ Werner, Jayne (1981). "Women, Socialism, and the Economy of Wartime North Vietnam". Studies in Comparative Communism. 16: 165–90. doi:10.1016/0039-3592(81)90005-3.
- ^ Margaret Sullivan (March 28, 2021). "Three groundbreaking journalists saw the Vietnam War differently. It's no coincidence they were women". Washington Post.
- ^ Turse, Nick (2013-03-19). "Rape Was Rampant During the Vietnam War. Why Doesn't US History Remember This?". Mother Jones.
- ^ "Vietnam's Women of War". Los Angeles Times. 10 January 2003.
- ^ Healy, Dana (2006). "Laments of warriors' wives: Re-gendering the war in Vietnamese cinema". South East Asia Research. 14 (2): 231–259. doi:10.5367/000000006778008149. JSTOR 23750856. S2CID 30828054.
- ^ Ly, Lynn (2017). "(Im)possible Futures: Liberal Capitalism, Vietnamese Sniper Women, and Queer Asian Possibility". Feminist Formations. 29: 136–160. doi:10.1353/ff.2017.0006. S2CID 149380700.
- ^ Sara Pike (2008). "Racism at the Movies: Vietnam War Films, 1968-2002". University of Vermont.
- ^ Black, George; Anderson, Christopher (16 March 2021). "The Victims of Agent Orange the U.S. Has Never Acknowledged". The New York Times.
- ^ Visser, Nadette De (29 May 2021). "How Two Incredible Women Declared War on the Makers of Agent Orange Sprayed All over Vietnam and the U.S." The Daily Beast.
- ^ Cain, Geoffrey (13 May 2011). "Is Time Running Out to Find Soldiers' Remains in Vietnam?". Time.
- ^ "Vietnamese woman sues Seoul for 'wartime massacre'". DW.COM. 27 April 2020.