The world has been largely patriarchal. In fact, it still chiefly continues to be so. However, time and again, history presents to us women who have made a mark for themselves and their nations. They have risen to positions generally occupied by men in many spheres, including ruling a nation and take part in the war. Talk of Cleopatra, Hatshepsut, Razia Sultana, Mary Queen of Scotts, Anne Boleyn and many others that made their contributions to the male-dominated world. Talking of war, until the Vietnam war in November 1955, not many people were interested in documenting war. The Vietnam war was America’s best-documented war to date. The United States spent a large number of resources– in terms of both money and people, to fight in the region. The war saw the plight of the people, especially those who were accidentally caught in the middle of the conflict. But, this is no way meant that women in Vietnam didn’t rise to the occasion, alongside their men, to drive the hostile forces out of their nation and unite the North and the South into one peace-loving country we know today.
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Women took part in the Vietnam war in many different roles– nurses, volunteers, paramedics, domestic roles and even combat roles. Talking of women in the Vietnam war, we must mention that women who took part in the war were from both Vietnam as well as the USA. Women in combat roles were new to the world. Not many women participated in the two world wars in front-line roles. In spite of no drafts asking for women to join the war, many Vietnamese women volunteers accompanied the Navy, Air force and the army to foreign soil. Many Viet women also joined the troops to provide medical treatments and tend to injured soldiers. But, this wasn’t new to this tiny country in the east.
Vietnam has had many women, heroes, in the past, before the Vietnam war. The story of the Trung sisters who fought the Han dynasty way back in the 1st century AD is a popular story in Vietnam. Be it to overthrow the French colonization in the north or play critical roles in the Saigon region, women wanted to fight. Working in the combat zone was risky but they were eager to do it. The women in the war were a kind of motivation for the rest of them to come together and join hands to overthrow foreign forces from their homeland. They took up roles in the front line, drove heavy trucks laden with injured soldiers, ammunition, food supplies and continued the transport route in South Vietnam.
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The Vietnamese were a poor lot and did not have the sophistication to fight the technologically advanced US troops. It is highly commendable how the Viet people and their troops used traditional warfare methods, including guerrilla warfare, to overthrow the Americans. The Cu Chi tunnels in the north-west of Saigon(now Ho Chi Minh city) were great examples of this. The Cu Chi tunnel complex was spread over 275 km and was built to have 3 different levels. The women helped in the digging of these tunnels, placing landmines, covering the entrances to the tunnel system with dried leaves and mud as if to make it look untouched by people to confuse the American troops, helped prepare food and ammunition for the warriors, and treated the injured Viet troops. Talking of women fighting in the Cu Chi tunnels springs up the name of a mother of 4, Vo Thi Mo, who fought the American troops by firing her AK-47 rifle. And she did this when she was just 15 years old.
War results in casualties, without a doubt. While very few military women lost their lives during the Vietnam war on the American side, a lot more lost their lives on the Vietnam side. But, there is no count of the number of civilian women who fought for their country but died in oblivion. It is also interesting to note that there were a few women journalists, like American national Dickey Chapelle, who was the most famous of them all. She lost her life as she unintentionally stepped on a live mine. She came to be known as the first American reporter to be killed in action.
What do these different examples of women tell us? Why are these named and unnamed women so significant in the history of this world? Well, because women were revolutionary! These women did what any woman can do but at a time when they were not expected to. Women like these are reminders that the female gender is not weak or inferior to men in any way. However, our world still continues to predominantly function as patriarchy, occasionally talking about terminologies like ‘women empowerment’ and ‘equality’. The question we need to ask is: Do women need to be empowered? How can you empower someone who is already powerful?
