In doing in-depth reading for a literature review on the current research in Vietnam, I came across this article which discusses the various perceptions surrounding the morality of abortion among young adults, covering ideas of science, superstition, family expectations, societal norms, and a sense of self within all of those. I won't go into detail about the article here, but I have reference it below if you would like to read it yourself. What I would like to discuss is some of the themes which came up: although it was based in Vietnam, a society which on the surface (and often deeper) is much more rooted in family expectation and the importance of virginity at marriage than in many Western. nations, I couldn't help but draw so many parallels in the Western world, with questions around morality, Christian backgrounds, and continuing ideas of 'slut-shaming' and the taboos which still exist in all of these arenas.
Despite the fact that, by comparison, young people who I have come across from European or Western nations seem much more open and willing to discuss sexuality and sexual practice than many of the students I have had from Asian countries, there is still a huge limitation on the level of comfort and honesty that presents during discussions. Over the last year I have engaged with a lot of my peers and young people that I have met, asking them questions about their own experiences, good and bad, that they would like to share in any of the many areas touched by the ideas of sexuality. Often these conversations happened with nervous laughter, boys, girls, men and women alike feeling unsure about what they can say, what they should say or expect. And not just about sex - intercourse or other physical sexual acts aside, discussing the implications of what is expected from women and men in society, by parents, peers, in schools - it is a minefield.
Every culture has their own taboos, their own secrets, their own hidden conversations. The things seen on the outside, the morality, the fear, but also in the West, the sense of openness and freedom to talk: these are all only partial stories in themselves.
“Culture hides much more than it reveals, and strangely enough, what it hides, it hides most effectively from its own participants. Years of study have convinced me that the ultimate purpose of the study of culture is not so much the understanding of foreign cultures as much as the light that study sheds on our own.” (Hall in Bennett, 1998, p. 59, “The Power of Hidden Differences.” In Basic Concepts of Intercultural Communication: Selected Readings. Yarmouth, Vermont: Intercultural Press)
Gammeltoft, T., 2002. Between “science” and “superstition”: Moral perceptions of induced abortion among young adults in Vietnam. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 26(3), pp.313-338.