Vietnam & the West

[Catullus]

I was wondering; with the 'opening' of Vietnam (that is, joining the WTO and loosening rules on foreign investment) how strong has Western culture pervaded Vietnam? Examples would be:

- Fast food. Once they open a Macdonald's, it's all over.

-American/European music being played on the radio and western movies in the theaters

- western standards of beauty (blond hair, blue eyes, pale skin) the standard of beauty for men and women.

Stuff like that.

[abc]

I was wondering; with the 'opening' of Vietnam (that is, joining the WTO and loosening rules on foreign investment) how strong has Western culture pervaded Vietnam? Examples would be:

- Fast food. Once they open a Macdonald's, it's all over.

-American/European music being played on the radio and western movies in the theaters

- western standards of beauty (blond hair, blue eyes, pale skin) the standard of beauty for men and women.

Stuff like that.

Interesting topic.
I cannot answer all of your questions but I think i can share my own ideas:
MacDonald is not here yet, but in big cities, I saw KFC and Lotteria, that provide fast foods. And there are more and more people eating their products, like fried chicken. It's very expensive for me, but many young hanoians eat them, and drink cocacola.

Western music and movies have been in Vietnam for long time already. They are present from French time. They influenced in a certain extent Vietnamese music and movies. But recently Korean mosic and movies are also very strong.

For the beauty, western beauty is not the standard, but young girls and boys want to teint their hairs during birthday parties. But in general, Vietnamese people love their black hairs and eyes, so only fashion models look like westerners.

Those a re my personal ideas. I dont' know what others think. And i am not from big city, so maybe other places are different.

ABC

[doman]

... western standards of beauty (blond hair, blue eyes, pale skin) the standard of beauty for men and women.



With this western standards of beauty, almost , if not wanna say all Vietnamese will miss the chance tobe good-looking. We have only black hair, very dark eyes (I don’t dare to say those eyes’re black b’cause sometime they aren’t.) and ..skin…What kind of our skin is…I am not sure, we call it Yellow (Da- vàng).

I don’t know the Vietnamese standards of beauty is or isn’t, but from my very private angle of view, beauty does depend on every-single-one’s taste.

If the Western standards of beauty is Vietnamese also, those Businesses which produced blue contact lenses, blond hair-dye, whiten skin chemicals will be very very very successful here because everybody wanna be good-looking !

Actually, I prefer clean hair (every color are accepted), bright eyes, soft skin...My sister had her hair dyed ! She looked like monstrous :):D

[ChubbyChocobobo]

Like ABC said, Vietnam has been exposed to Western world for more than a decade. Therefore, WTO isn't a milestone on the culture issue. There haven't been any significant changes in the way people live since the event. And with the rise of many other nations in Asia, Western standards are always balanced with Asian ones. Through the flow of history, Vietnamese culture were greatly influenced by Chinese and French. And in the last ten years Korean, American and Japanese cultures are also having certain impacts on Vietnam.

It's easy to spot a KFC or a Lotteria in big cities, and there are Chinese, Japanese, Korean... restaurants here and there. For most Vietnamese (at least in the mean time) Western fastfood isn't the best choice for breakfast. Vietnamese cuisine still has a high stand in this country because most traditional dishes for breakfast isn't less comfortable than fastfood and most Vietnamese still stick to vegetable-rich diet. As a result, many Vietnamese dishes have made their way to the food industry, and one of the most prominent example is Phở. You can see Phở 24's and Phở Vuông's chain restaurants in most metropolitan areas of Vietnam and some oversea, aside with less famous brands.

In the 80s and 90s, Western music sure had certain influences on Vietnamese. It seems that many Vietnamese of my father's generation know about ABBA, The Carpenter and The Beetles. People even play ABBA's "Happy new year" during Tet (great song but I started to get bored with it when people play it from year to year). In the recent years, with the emergence of Korean, Chinese dramas and Japanese Animes, Asian music has taken the lead. As Vietnamese isn't fastidious on movies and TV programs, pretty much what you can see on a Vietnamese TV channel is a mixture of Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, American, Russian... shows and dramas. Foreign medias are having significant effects on Vietnamese music and TV programs too.

Regarding standards of beauty, still very Asian ;).

[Catullus]

Regarding standards of beauty, still very Asian ;).

I'm sure, and that's good - but, as in many countries, the shock of the new would make a blonde westerner much sought after.

Just as long as there are no Starbucks! Cafe culture must endure!

[bschuess]

I'm sure, and that's good - but, as in many countries, the shock of the new would make a blonde westerner much sought after.

Just as long as there are no Starbucks! Cafe culture must endure!

No Starbucks yet, but Highlands Coffee is pretty similar and has outlets in HCMC and Hanoi. I also saw one American latte chain in the hotel district in HCMC, but can't remember which one it was. Vietnamese coffee is REAL different than anything you've had in the US, but you'll learn to like it, especially if you like your coffee SWEEEEEEEEET.

[paddy8788]

It is really hard to examine the degree of penetration of Western Culture in Vietnamese culture, for our country was invaded by French colonists and, later on, Americans. In some extent, some part of Western Culture now has become an essential part of Vietnamese, like customs, some foods, names, and even Vietnamese.

I have made a presentation about Vietnam for my foreign friends, and it is interesting to realize that our culture is a balanced mixture between eastern and western culture, not only on the surface with western foods, restaurants, fast-food stores, or ideas of beauty, but also deep down in our thoughts: less restricted in many other countries, women have more freedoms etc.

For what you asked, I would rather say it is a common trend in the world: it is called "Globalization." Globalization can also be defined as Westernization, Modernization, Americanization, De-terrestrialization, Internationalizan etc; and all of these terms can be used to explain many changes happening in Vietnam nowadays. It is hard to make a list, because as you dig down, you probably find something new about the phenomenon you're looking at.

Anyway, I really love Vietnamese coffee. I've tried many expensive types of coffee, but nothing is as good as a cup of black coffee or milk coffee!