Women in Mongolia
Mongolian women had a higher social status than women in many other East Asian societies, but were considered unable to herd cattle and possibly horses.
Traditional status of Mongolian women
Mongolian women have historically enjoyed a somewhat higher status than women from other East Asian cultures. Women in Mongolia played vital roles in the family and economic life. Some more elite women had more opportunities than poor women, yet the demanding lifestyle required all women to work. Mongolian women were expected to manage do work in, and outside the home, including; caring for animals, manufacturing dairy products, shearing wool, and tanning hides. Through their household work, women in elite ranks of society were able to further their roles in order to gain substantial amounts of power. Those less fortunate were unable to benefit from their domestic work. When the Mongol empire collapsed, poor women in society were unable to get any sort of proper health care or any opportunity for education and leisure.Nomadic women in Mongolia have typically been responsible for collecting buckets of water, cooking meals for the family, keeping livestock healthy, collecting wood for fires, nursing and raising children, making clothing, and generally keeping all domestic affairs in order.
History has proven that the perception of Mongolian women has revealed many contradictions. Many cultures that surround the Mongolian women are seen as subordinate to men; yet for Mongolian women today, they are dominated by noble womanhood. It is said that Mongolian women have traditionally had a higher degree of social positions and autonomy than women in Islamic societies, Medieval East Asian societies, South Asian, and Medieval European societies. For those women who were widowed or left because of husbands in the military, taking over their jobs was often a common practice. Although this took place in many Mongol societies, women were still considered subordinate to men. Women were also domestically restricted in what they were and were not allowed to take part in when their husbands were around. Firm actions of this subordination took place in daily activities such as women being only allowed to tend to sheep, yet men being responsible for horses- a lamb versus a stallion in generic historical terms.
Mongolian People's Republic
Mongolian People's Republic is the period of Mongolian history which existed between 1924 and 1992 as a unitary sovereign socialist state in East Asia. It was ruled by the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and maintained close links with the Soviet Union throughout its history.During this period, women in Mongolia obtained de jure equal rights.
They had universal participation in all levels of education. In 1985, 63% of students in higher educational establishments were women along with 58% of the students in secondary schools. During the time frame, there were 51% women workers and 49% male.
Educated women began teaching and taking charge in the medicine department in 1979. These were both generally thought as the more female fields, and more than 60% of all doctors were female. Teaching was also predominantly a woman’s job with 67% of all teachers in general schools and 33% of teachers in higher educational schools. Despite having formal legal equality, as in other socialist states, women remained de facto subordinate to men. After democratisation in 1990, it was observed that women had become largely responsible for household management and childcare.