Gender Stereotypes
Changing gender stereotypes in Mongolia is about aiming for subtle shifts in the tectonic plates of gender equality. The picture looks benign enough: A man sits milking a cow while a woman, possibly his spouse, holds the reins of two calves. Unless you are a nomadic herder from Mongolia, you’d hashtag the scene as #normal, peering from the multi-colored lenses you use to ascribe attributes and assign roles. Man, herding cattle, goats and sheep. Woman, processing dairy products. Man, hunting. Woman, housework. So wait, man milking cow? Zoom in to the country where herding is central to its history and culture, and where herders live off their animals and steppes – and the photo becomes more intoxicating than the most potent arkhi (Mongolian traditional milk vodka). Winning the second prize in an ADB and Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction-supported communication campaign about gender stereotyping, the photo captures a tremor, a challenge to a taboo that men—particularly Kazhak m...