Essay on the Role of Women in Vietnamese Culture

Every country, each nation has its own culture, characteristics, and traditional costumes. For example, Japanese women are proud of their beautiful kimonos with silky textiles, or Indian women always impress us with their colorful silky Sari. Then, Vietnamese women, from the past to the present, always walk along in the gracefully traditional long dress called “Ao Dai”. There are many different styles of Ao Dai from the past, but to the present, Ao dai is a long flowing dress worn over a pair of long palazzo pants. This beautiful soft speaking long dress was designed to express the perfection of the curves on a woman's body by the tight hugging bodice and the split extending into two long flaps in front and back. Even though ao dai has a variety of forms and designs, the formal dress most often used for competition is a form-fitting tunic that slit into the front and back from the waistline to the knees (Vu 3). This design is also the most iconic design when Vietnamese think of ao dai because it seems to have its own unique way to exaggerate the beauty of the small body of a Vietnamese woman.

Differing from the Japanese Kimono or Indian Sari, the Vietnamese Ao Dai has evolved to be able to suit both traditional and modern styles. Ao dai now can be used as a business dress, school uniform, or to receive a guest at a formal celebration. Women only need to pair it with white silky or soft fabric pants and a pair of high heels. The unique feature of this traditional costume is the upper part hugged tight to the body but the two flaps are loosely flowing down on a wide pair of silky pants making the dress effortlessly to wear. In these modern days, ao dai is not just a formal garment for holidays but it is also rising to become an iconic symbol to present Vietnamese businesses. For example, Vietnam Airline, a government corporation use ao dai with a sky blue collar and a Mandarin-style collar as their official uniform for flight attendants. In addition, many businesses in Vietnam including banks, hotels, and travel agencies encourage their feminine employees to wear ao dai because it certainly embraces a dignified and attractive image of a Vietnamese brand for the companies (Vu 3). Ao dai is also worn most of the time by female officials working in the government during press conferences or summits. Of course, ao dai not only represents the beauty of Vietnamese women, but it also becomes a symbolic design for Vietnamese Americans through the Vietnamese ao dai beauty pageants contests( Lieu 128).

Symbolically, ao dai always aroused the homesickness and timelessness that connected with the image of a beautiful “Vien Dong pearl” in the 1950s for which many Vietnamese throughout the fall of Saigon. Since Asian cultures are quite strict on how women should represent themselves, the split from the waistline is designed to make the person feel comfortable and gracefully shape the feminine look with the soft texture of silk without revealing any skin on her body. For such purposes, the ao dai is absolutely highly personalized (Avila 53). Ao dai is quite similar to a tuxedo or a prom dress in which each piece should be customized for one person only based on their body measurements rather than throwing a mass production on the design. The artistry of making ao dai is to carefully measure the fabric or silk and fold them correctly so the measurement will be exacted every inch during the cut (Avila 53). As a result of the dexterity of designers, the ao dai has magnified the gentle beauty and expressed the intimate character of a Vietnamese woman. With the upper part often closed-necked, the dress shows a respectfully discreet appearance but also shows the delicate shoulders and slim arms of a woman. With clever and precise cuts, the upper part of the dress shows the healthy body of a Vietnamese girl, and at the same time, the two flaps flowing in the wind create a gentle graceful image of Ao dai. Many Vietnamese poets and foreign visitors were “enchanted by the traditional Vietnam concept of female beauty: innocent, frail, chaste, shy, and soft-spoken”. The ao dai conjures up a romantic image of a high school girl in a white silk dress with a sheepish smile walking along with her puppy love (Vu 5). Nhien T Nguyen, a poet, and an MD wrote a poem for his wife which express the beauty of ao dai:

“The sky is beautiful this Saturday morning.

You are lovely in your new dress

Which is a gift from our dear friend who lives afar.

Gracefully flowing are two long flaps of your silk dress

Which is your new purple Vietnamese Áo Dài.

This dress arrived after gliding through clouds and winds.

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This dress carries to you the heart of our very dear friend.

This dress wraps in our Vietnamese national spirit.

This dress wraps in my excited loving heart.

With your wedge sandals, you walk graceful steps

While a gentle breeze caresses your long silk pants and dress.

As the morning breeze lifts your shoulder-length hair

You stroke your hair with opening smiles on your lips.

Fresh sunshine makes your rosy cheeks prettier.

Love flows in your gaze and your passionate smile.” - Nguyen, My Pink Ao Dai

In the book “ Ao dai: a modern design coming of age”, Robin Treen wrote about how ao dai has become a historical symbolic icon of Vietnamese in the eyes of foreigners. Ao dai is the embodiment of the Vietnamese people which expresses the character of a loving and gentle woman (Treen 5). Ao dai represents the women of a war-torn country where women suffer from hardship and scarifies. Through each period and each stage along with the development of history, Ao dai always existed in time and always be an indispensable part of Vietnamese culture. As was mentioned in the introduction, Ao dai was first worn by only royalty and wealthy families. Even when we put ao dai as a logo for a store, most of the time the designer will try to keep the characteristics of ao dai: the skinny shoulder and two flaps at the bottom of the dress. For example, the logo of the store Ao Dai-Bao Han in San Jose, the logo is just a combination of contour lines, however, we can still see the image of a Vietnamese woman wearing the ao dai walking in the wind. With the culture changing from being affected by the Chinese, the western culture during the 20th century really blew in some fresh air to the Vietnamese culture and allow women to have a chance to improve their social position and wear clothes that have a beautiful fashion meaning. Ao dai is a symbolic design that really presents the beauty of the woman whenever a person looks at it. Discreet, charming, and sometimes sexy are important factors that make ao dai become Vietnamese pride. It is not just a “long shirt”, but it also becomes the symbol of the Vietnamese woman's traditional costume which creates an indispensable traditional design that represents Vietnamese culture. After doing research and learning about Ao Dai's history, I cannot be more proud of the country where I am from. Vietnam has been a war tone country for more than a thousand years and yet we still try to make something become unique to our own. For the next research paper, I would choose a topic about the woodblock print in Dong Ho village because it is one of the most famous visual art in Vietnam.