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Vietnam Women's Museum

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3 out of 5
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Women, War, and Propaganda - THE WOMEN’S MUSEUM

  • July 17, 2008
  • Rated 3 of 5 by bettybetty10 from Dallas, Texas
Women, War, and Propaganda - THE WOMEN’S MUSEUM

We actually didn’t plan on visiting this museum, but because the "Hanoi Hilton" was closed for lunch, we decided to check it out. This was our first glimpse (one of many) into how the Vietnamese perceived the American War, and Americans in general. It was extremely eye opening, particularly since I was only familiar with the American side of the story.

The first floor features the permanent exhibit and the woman’s role in the war. Many of the women were in combat, or involved in transporting and making supplies, cooking meals, and providing support for their troops. There are many photo albums available (with captions) that depict their role in the war. There are also lots of artifacts, including award, medals, dolls, clothing, tools, and more that were part of the war era. I was a little bit shocked at the frankness of the English translation. One example is a comb, in the shape of an airplane, awarded to a woman for "shooting down a U.S. plane, killing 3 men." The Vietnamese were, and are, obviously very proud of the effort their women made during the war. Many of the photos are graphic, and may tell a story that is different from what you learned in history class!

A featured exhibit was on the 3rd floor – propaganda posters featuring women and children, and directed toward women. This was actually really cool because they were printed in vibrant colors, and encouraged women to engage in agriculture – growing various crops like rice, fruit, corn, and more. It was more of an art exhibit! Unfortunately, posters replicas were not available at the gift shop for sale. There was also an exhibit featuring "extraordinary women". Each woman had a poster dedicated to them – a photo of themselves and their families, as well as a few paragraphs describing their efforts. The general theme was that the woman came from a poor neighborhood, but worked really hard and sacrificed to send her children to high school and college. This exhibit was not as engaging as the others, but interesting to see how contemporary Vietnamese women have to endure today to move up in society.

The museum was under renovation at the time, so the 2nd floor was not open to the public. I thought this was an interesting museum to visit, but not a "must-see". In fact, it was very sparsely attended the day we visited. If you are in the neighborhood and have some time to kill, this would be a good option.

From journal Quirky but Delicious Hanoi

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