Woman writer likens men who avoid sharing housework as “pigs”

Trang Ha, a young and renowned Vietnamese writer, has strong views about Vietnam’s men.

Writer Trang Ha

“Men who do nothing when they return home from work but eat, take a bath and go to bed are like pigs,” she says in a recent interview, adding they should do their share of the housework to show they care about their wives.

Ha has become something of a symbol of modern Vietnamese woman — opinionated and audacious.

“Vietnamese women are doing too many unpaid jobs at home, while society only measures their worth in paid work instead of their silent care,” she says.

Ha has earned the anger of many men with her comments.

“Sometimes, I want to exchange my role with my wife as I feel really stressed with work and the responsibilites of being the family’s bread-winner,” one husband said. “However, my wife does not want to get an outside job.”

Some women disagreed with Ha — husbands do not have time to do housework as they are too busy with their jobs and often work long hours, coming home to eat and then continuing to work after the family is asleep.

Sharing housework is a matter of negotiation between a husband and wife and should be based on communication and mutual agreement, not expectation, the women said.

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