Comparing Monique And Ying

I think that there are definitely more similarities between Monique and Ying in regards to their personal backgrounds, the acceptance of their work as midwives and healthcare workers within their societies, and the contexts within which they perform their daily work than there are differences. Firstly, with their personal backgrounds, both Monique are relatively young women who are married and close to their families. While in the book, the author mentions that Monique is not very fond of her husband, François, in the video, it seems that Ying and her husband have a decent relationship, although he does complain about her leaving him to go to midwife training for eighteen months. Another similarity between Ying and Monique is that they both are obligated to earn money for their families, through their work as midwives, while also being responsible for many chores and other household duties, such as working in the fields and taking care of the children.
For example, there was this one scene in the video where the husband was the one cooking the rice and preparing the food to feed for his family. Although for Ying, it was never explicitly stated who received her $17/month salary, in Monique’s case, her father-in-law always picked up the paycheck and only gave Monique a small portion of the check to feed her family with. Both the contexts that Ying and Monique work in are patriarchal and display dramatic examples of gender inequality. Another example of gender quality in both Mali and Vietnam was the aloof attitude that the husbands of the pregnant women had about