The fact that a woman chooses to be single mother , today, is no longer news in most of our countries.Particularly, what makes this story special and we want to include it in our space for Science Daily Online, is that most of the women of a locality in Vietnam called Loi, chose to be single mothers more than 30 years ago.
In what way? Asking for a "xin with", that is, asking a man for a timely "exchange" without further obligation, with which to father a child and be able to raise him alone , thus covering the desire to be a mother (if one wishes) without having to marry, and without this also being frowned upon.The history that originated this practice has its roots during the Vietnam War, hence numerous anthropologists have approached this little corner of Southeast Asia to understand it a little better.
We explain it to you.
The choice of Loi women
We will start by putting ourselves in context.The Vietnam War was a very long and sad conflict with the United States as an antagonist, in order to avoid the reunification of Vietnam under a communist government.It was a war that lasted about 20 years, and that terribly altered the daily life of the entire population of this Southeast Asian people. The majority a of the men enlisted, leaving numerous empty villages and in the hands of women, which, then began to take care of all those tasks that until now, used to have male responsibility.
And the thing was well, in Loi, for example, they took care of the rice paddies, their harvest, their care, their collection...They built huts, took care of the cattle and raised their children.However, in this region it was common for most of women married over 16 years of age.Upon reaching 20, if a girl had not yet found a husband, they were considered "qua lua", something that we would translate as «spinster ». As you can guess, the incidence of a country at war that led most men to military instruction, to continue After being sent to a contingent and a mission, he caused many women to be widows or, simply, without the option of getting married.
At the end of the war several things happened.Male mortality was very high, many others.Instead of returning home with their families, they began life in other places, leaving the family bosom "abandoned." And most of them, when looking for a wife, were more inclined to young women between 16 and 18, leaving relegated to all those over 20 years. This custom, this practice for almost two decades that lasted the confrontation, made Loi women look for other "means" to be mothers.that many declared to the anthropologists who interviewed them, they did not wish to grow old alone, they wanted to live motherhood, and they did not wish to have the obligation to belong to a husband who, at the minimum, could abandon them given in a warlike context in which they lived.p>
Loi, was directed and maintained by 17 women whom they call« the Founders ».They were the ones who started this practice.When a girl wishes to conceive a child, she has only to reach a small agreement with the chosen man.Everything is resolved in one night, without further obligations .Without more problems.Here the women build the huts, carry the economy and educate the children, and although it is true that for many years this practice was not well seen by the rest of Vietnamese, it was in 1986 when the called "Marriage and Family Law", in which the children of single mothers were first recognized as legally "legitimate", because until then, they were not.All a triumph for these women of a very small town in Southeast Asia.
What do you think about the story? If you liked the article, discover what happens in another village in India when a girl is born.
Image: Veronica R.(Teirod), Vincent, Davidlohr Bueso, Loi Nguyen Duc
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