“Ninja Lead” and women's pragmatic in contemporary Vietnam

Purpose The paper argues that Ninja Lead is a pragmatic choice for women in Vietnam in response to their situation. It also explores how Vietnamese women today use ordinary motorbikes, or scooters, more exactly, as extremely effective vehicles. In comparison to neighboring countries such as China, Cambodia, or Laos, where cars have become a very popular means of transport, most Vietnamese still ride on two-wheeled vehicles. It can be said that the Ninja Lead has become a pragmatic symbol of Vietnamese women. Moreover, it has become a symbol of Vietnamese womanhood in the early 21st century. Design/methodology/approach To understand the Vietnamese women's pragmatism in Vietnam, this paper uses a content analysis approach to explore how the Ninja Lead is an example of pragmatism as a cultural practice, meaning “the way in which existing meanings are extended from something we already know to something new, along what we called ‘the chain of meaning’” (du Gay et al., 1997, p. 20). In this case, “the chain of meaning” could include (1) the reality of Vietnam's socio-economic problems, (2) Vietnamese women's adaptation, and (3) the influence of American culture in Vietnam. Findings This perspective on the “inferior role of Vietnamese women” is difficult to accept. In fact, if one looks at the Ninja Leads in Vietnam from a pragmatic perspective, one appreciates the role of Vietnamese women. It is very rare for a Vietnamese man to need to take several children to school, then to extra school and continue to go to the market and work every day. In any nuclear Vietnamese family today, if the man is absent for a few days, there will not be much disturbance, but without the Ninja Leads, the family activities are immediately turned chaotic. Research limitations/implications Ninja Leads in Vietnam from a pragmatic perspective, one appreciates the role of Vietnamese women. It is very rare for a Vietnamese man to need to take several children to school, then to extra school and continue to go to the market and work every day. In any nuclear Vietnamese family today, if the man is absent for a few days, there will not be much disturbance, but without the Ninja Leads, the family activities are immediately turned chaotic. Practical implications From a cultural perspective, pragmatics is associated with the practical meaning of the Honda Lead in Vietnam. The symbol of Ninja Lead in Vietnam contains both technical meanings and social meanings. The characteristics and useful features (less gasoline, cheap price, lots of storage, etc.) of the Lead and the Vietnamese Ninja Lead women are part of the face of contemporary Vietnamese society, a dynamic but uncertain society with increasingly profound changes. Social implications Faced with the reality of Vietnam today, pragmatic or non-pragmatic is no longer a matter of academia or culture, but rather of adaptation and transformation to survive. In that context, Ninja Lead should be seen as an effective, pragmatic adaptation by Vietnamese women, even if they do not care much about the etymology of pragmatics. Thus, that issue should be discussed in this forum for discussion from many different perspectives. Originality/value The pragmatism of the Ninja Lead in Vietnam has been internationalized, despite positive or negative viewpoints from the viewers. Revisiting the Ninja Lead as a symbol of the pragmatic approach of women in Vietnam emphasizes the way Vietnamese women use the Ninja Lead to adapt to economic and social conditions is an effective way to realize the scientific values of an idea from their way of thinking.