The recent rise of music videos and pop culture products that feature androgynous idols and same-sex love has invited mixed responses and debates in the media, which open a window into Vietnam’s historical relationship with gender and sexuality.
The last 10 years mark an exciting decade for queer representation in commercial culture, as same-sex desire and love have gained more genuine portrayals. Vietnamese media has recently reported on a "boom" in the number of music videos spotlighting non-heterosexuality as a subject. Similarly, the recent popularity of idols and artists such as Gil Le, Son Tung M-TP, Vu Cat Tuong, Dao Ba Loc and ERIK represents more fluidity in on-screen gender expression.
Elsewhere in cinema, films such as Song Lang, Thua Me Con Di and Yeu have gained praise for their honest treatment of same-sex love. TV talk shows and game shows such as Nguoi Ay La Ai and Buoc Ra Anh Sang have also offered a space where queer people can share their stories and experiences.
The use of the Vietnamese term for gender (giới tính) reveals how the sexual inversion system informs taxonomies. Anthropologist Natalie Newton's study on Vietnam's lesbian community also points out that the term can refer to biological sex, social gender, sexuality (as in sex education) and the lesbian gender system, normally comprised of three distinct "genders" including butch, soft-butch and fem. Thus, the media and pop culture often use the term giới tính thứ ba (third gender) to refer to non-heterosexual people.
Global LGBT movement discourses only entered Vietnam’s public sphere in 2012 through non-governmental organizations working within the frameworks of development and human rights. These organizations introduced language through translations (literal and metaphorical) that separated sexual orientation (xu hướng tính dục) and gender identities (bản dạng giới). Pop culture texts reflected the un-linking of these two concepts.
