You have full access to this open access article. Social and economic changes in Vietnam since the economic restructuring of the s have caused a shift in norms about premarital sex. While expectations of female chastity remain, sex before marriage is becoming more common among young people. As the formative phase of a parent randomized controlled trial, the present study examined the normative context of sex in dating relationships from the perspectives of young women and men in Vietnam.
Thematic analysis synthesized participant narratives into broader themes. Our findings confirmed that, as social norms evolve in Vietnam, young women must navigate shifting, and often contradictory, expectations about sex and dating relationships. However, some women were embracing greater sexual freedom and reframing norms in ways that reflected their sexual agency. However, many of the gendered power structures that existed before the sexual revolution persist in heterosexual relationships today.
Blame is shifted to women for a lack of active consent and, more generally, for failing to assert themselves Bay-Cheng, Prior work in Vietnam has shown that adherence to customary gender roles is associated with reduced self-efficacy in sexual communication among women in heterosexual relationships Bui et al.
Premarital sex could result in severe repercussions for women and their families, including reputational damage and even loss of employment or other public sanctions Nguyen, ; Rydstrom, The economic and social liberalization known as Doi Moi that began in the s has radically altered sexual norms, particularly in urban settings Ghuman, ; Ghuman et al. Ethnographic research has documented trends toward the commodification of sex, targeted at heterosexual men Phinney, as well as greater acceptance of multiple concurrent partnerships and cohabitation of unmarried couples Nguyen, For young people in urban Vietnam, sex and relationships have taken on a transactional, and sometimes adversarial, nature, with women feeling pressure to avoid being taken advantage of by young men only interested in sex, but not marriage Gammeltoft, At the same time, shifts toward greater gender equality are evident, with more women earning wages outside the home and divorce becoming more common and less stigmatized Loi et al.
Consequently, many parents still expect daughters to abstain from premarital sex, emphasizing the risk of reputational damage that daughters and their families could endure if a daughter were to transgress this norm Bui, ; Nguyen, ; Trinh et al. Premarital sex is becoming more common Ghuman et al. With this rapid shift in sexual norms, young women may be facing a conflict between conforming to old and new behavioral expectations Jonzon et al.
