Western male tourists wearing Mong skirts cause offense

(Dan Tri) - A representative of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Tuyen Quang province stated that the act of a Western male tourist wearing a traditional Mong skirt to take a video is a deviant behavior that damages the cultural values of the community.

Recently, on many social networking platforms, images and videos have been shared of Western men wearing Mong skirts to film entertainment videos.

Quickly browsing many platforms, viewers can easily come across short videos recording male foreign tourists wearing traditional skirts of Mong ethnic women at tourist destinations in Ha Giang (old), now in Tuyen Quang province.

Foreign tourists wear traditional Mong dresses to film entertainment videos (Photo cut from clip).

There are even cases where people put skirts around their necks to dance and film for entertainment, causing a lot of controversy in public opinion. Many people are upset because they think the traditional costumes of local people are being made fun of.

However, some tour operators say that this is a fun experience for foreign visitors to explore local culture, not offensive.

Lo A Loi, a 29-year-old Mong ethnic, currently living and working in the tourism industry in Sapa, said that the situation of foreign male tourists wearing Mong skirts to take photos has appeared in the past few months. Recently, this trend has received a lot of support from many people, causing mixed reactions.

Mr. Loi believes that using traditional costumes for the wrong purpose is a wrong behavior, calling on the Mong community to protect their national culture.

According to Mr. Loi, there are individuals who intentionally encourage male tourists to wear Mong women's clothing to record videos, creating a unique trick to increase interaction. However, this action causes cultural damage because some costumes are associated with rituals and spiritual meanings.

"Those working in tourism should preserve and promote cultural identity, not support cultural distortion and distortion. Culture is not for fun, and traditions should not be made into jokes," he said.

Regarding this information, on August 6, in an interview with Dan Tri reporter, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism (DOCST) of Tuyen Quang province, said that the Department has coordinated with relevant agencies to review the roles and responsibilities of relevant organizations and individuals to have appropriate rectification and handling measures.

The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism affirmed that the act of some individuals posting images of male tourists wearing traditional costumes of Mong ethnic women to film offensive videos is a deviant behavior, damaging the cultural values of the community, going against the direction of developing civilized and sustainable tourism that the province is implementing.

Ms. Hoai affirmed that traditional costumes of ethnic minorities are not entertainment props, and cannot be exploited to cause offensive laughter or attract views on social networks. The tourism industry does not encourage and does not accept any form of distortion or degradation of cultural heritage in the name of "experience".

"We want tourists to experience traditional ethnic cultures, but it must be expressed in a way that respects identity," Ms. Hoai affirmed.

In the coming time, the Department will continue to direct the strengthening of orientation communication work, at the same time organize inspections and supervision of the implementation of the code of conduct at tourist destinations, raise awareness of the community and tourists about civilized behavior, respect for national cultural identity, contributing to preserving the image of Tuyen Quang tourism as friendly, professional, civilized and sustainable.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/khach-tay-nam-gioi-mac-vay-mong-gay-phan-cam-20250806215337540.htm