This paper explores the interweaving of Buddhist practice, old age and women's gendered roles in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Given Vietnamese gendered norms that emphasise women's lifelong attachment and responsiblity to their families, this paper shows that Buddhist practice is a way of life in old age for women. Old age is a time in life when one continues to hone relational personhood and negotiate between gendered roles at home and individual self‐cultivating practice. Inspired by Sarah Lamb's (White Saris and Sweet Mangoes: Aging, Gender, and Body in North India. Berkeley: University of California Press; 2000) discussion on entanglement and disentanglement in West Bengali women's old age, this paper shows that Vietnamese women draw on the Buddhist notion of 'karmic debt' to define the boundary of their household duties. With the Buddhist Way, old age is not merely a continuing devotion to the family, it is a time marked by both self‐ and family‐nurturing.

中文翻译：

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胡志明市（越南）的佛教老年与妇女生活历程

本文探讨了越南胡志明市佛教徒习俗，老年与女性角色的交织。鉴于越南的性别规范强调了妇女终生的依恋和对家庭的责任，本文表明，佛教徒习俗是妇女老年生活的一种方式。老年是生活中的一个时期，人们将继续磨练关系型人格，并在家庭中的性别角色与个人自我修养之间进行协商。受到莎拉·兰姆（Sarah Lamb）（《白纱丽和甜芒果：印度北部的衰老，性别和身体》，伯克利：加利福尼亚大学出版社，2000年）的启发。该论文探讨了西孟加拉邦女性晚年的纠结和解缠结，该论文表明越南女性借鉴了佛教中的“业债”概念定义了家庭责任的界限。