Tuyển tập báo cáo nghiên cứu khoa học của trường đại học nông nghiệp 1 đề tài: Changing of Women’s Roles in Agricultural and Handicraft Production: A Case Study in Kim Thieu Village, Tu Son District, Bac Ninh Province. | Journal of Science and Development April 2008 49-59 HANOI UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE CHANGING OF WOMEN S ROLES IN AGRICULTURAL AND HANDICRAFT PRODUCTION A CASE STUDy in KIM THIEU village TU son district BAC NiNH PROviNCE Nguyen Phuong Le Faculty of Economics and Rural Development Hanoi University of Agriculture ABSTRACT Vietnamese women have been playing a key role in economic development for a long time. Due to social and cultural constraints rural women were excluded from some kinds of work especially those which consist of cultural meanings for instance the art woodcarving industry. Under the changes of economic and social conditions women are increasingly participating in traditional occupations. Further by negotiating with the patriarchal idea of gender discrimination of work women can take part in traditional woodcarving activity not only as direct workers but also as business owners entrepreneurs and managers. However the empirical data from Kim Thieu village demonstrate that rural women remain subordinated to male authority in the family and community. Thus gender policies which pay attention to both economic and social empowerment of women are necessary in the context of a patriarchal society like Vietnam. Keywords Rural women gender division of labor household livelihood strategies negotiation empowerment. 1. INTRODUCTION Vietnam s rural women account for more than a half of the country s overall population 52 percent of its labor force and 70 percent of rural labor force Nguyen Linh Khieu 2003 . Vietnamese women have played a key role in economic development since the Feudal period. They have established an important force in creating physical products and building rural socio-culture. Women have contributed to both economic and non-economic sectors in rural areas. They have produced almost 60 percent of GDP of rural economy Nguyen Linh Khieu 2003 . Due to the social and cultural constraints Vietnamese women could not participate in all economic .
