Courtship and Marriage among University Graduates in Hanoi

Abstract

This article examines Hanoi university graduates’ value orientations as seen in their behaviour and attitudes towards courtship and marriage. Based on in-depth interviews and participant observation in 2000–01, 2002 and 2003, the author argues that post-socialist educated youth are moving towards what they perceive as ‘modern’ values. This is evident in such courtship practices as multiple dating, ‘playing around’, Internet dating and dating foreigners, as well as in their attitudes towards the importance of money in dating. However, the move towards ‘modernity’ is not a dramatic shift that entails a total rejection of ‘traditional’ values, but rather a shift along a continuum, with a diversification of trends regarding the behaviour and attitudes of young graduates.

• youth
• values
• courtship
• social change
• Vietnam