Many Vietnamese women are finding various reasons to avoid returning to their parents-in-law's houses during Tet due to boredom and a fear of being lumbered with domestic work.
Many women would prefer to travel during the Tet holiday
According to Vietnamese tradition, women have to visit their parents-in-law's houses instead of their own family homes, especially during Tet. However, many women try to avoid these enforced trips.
Ngoc, the last daughter in a better-off family in a large city, was greatly shocked when she became the first daughter-in-law of a family in the countryside. For her first Tet at her parents-in-law's house, she had to help prepare 20 trays of food to her husband’s relatives.
She had to spend the whole time doing domestic chores.
Few women have happy Tet holidays at their parents-in-law's house
Last year, in the run-up to Tet, she became ill blaming it on the stress she had experienced on her last visit to her parents-in-laws.
This year, she's still afraid of Tet with her husband's family. She is considering working during the holiday to avoid returning to her parents-in-law's house.
Sen married a man in Nghe An Province and she doesn't want to return her parents-in-law's house for other reasons. According to her, her husband becomes more patriarchal when he returns to his home in the countryside. He just sits, talks to relatives and gets drunk while she has to do the housework, prepare meals and take care of two children.
"I feel Tet is the hardest time of the year," Sen commented.
A women commented on an online forum, "I'm really afraid of Tet with my husband's family. I want Tet to be a time that my husband takes me sightseeing, shopping and shares the housework with me. However, the reality is very different."
