Lhagva
Basic information
Interviewee ID: 990027
Name: Lhagva
Parent's name: Bayantogtoh
Ovog: Bürged
Sex: f
Year of Birth: 1955
Ethnicity: Halh
Additional Information
Education: higher
Notes on education:
Work: Officer for economic and planning department of Huvsgul aimag’s Government office
Belief: Buddhist
Born in: Tünel sum, Hövsgol aimag
Lives in: Mörön sum (or part of UB), Hövsgöl aimag
Mother's profession: cook
Father's profession: driver
Themes for this interview are:
(Please click on a theme to see more interviews on that topic)
relations between men and women
NGOs
education / cultural production
work
childhood
Alternative keywords suggested by readers for this interview are: (Please click on a keyword to see more interviews, if any, on that topic)
children's upbringing
women's life
employment and gender
women's organization
family
To read a full interview with Lhagva please click on the Interview ID below.
Summary of Interview 080801A with Lhagva
Born in 1955 in Tunel sum of Hövsgöl aimag. She studied in Tunel sum’s elementary school and the first secondary school of the aimag centre. She finished the tenth grade in 1973 and entered the Economic Faculty of the MSU and graduated in 1977. After graduation she was employed at the Planning Committee of the Hövsgöl aimag administration, and she is now in her 32nd year as a planner-economist.
When we were small, women milked their cows and the men tended the sheep and the cattle. Such was the work difference between men and women. We were brought up to respect men no matter whether he was elder or younger and also to deeply respect the teachers. The boys prepared the firewood and water, and the girls cooked and cleaned the place and they sewed and took care of the younger ones.
I graduated from the school at 22 and got married at 23. At that time women did a lot of embroidery and they very much liked to decorate their homes. Due to lack of premade clothes they made their own. The fact that I learnt to make clothes from old clothes for my younger brothers and sisters helped me very much in my life. In fact, women's lives are mainly centred around the family life and their children and they are the closest to their children. Men took great care to work well and earn the family income. Only a few men crafted things from iron and wood. My father used to craft things from iron and wood, therefore my younger and elder brothers imitated him and they used to make furniture for their families and they even used to build houses. Men mainly worked as engineers, they were involved in technical and management jobs. In fact, men did physical work and the women did particular jobs. But they were reluctant to employ women for they had babies. When I was pregnant with my elder daughter, my darga said “I haven’t noticed that Lhagva was pregnant” and it was a big problem, and he organised a meeting. Till the 1990s such a standard existed. The Women’s Council conducted many activities, and there used to be women’s congresses and sessions. Women’s councils took great effort to influence women’s work and lives and they taught and promoted them. In the socialist time men and women were very attentive to each other and they had a collective spirit.
In the beginning of 1990s when privatizations were being conducted, it was considered that commercial activity was profitable and that it was better to tend the livestock. So the majority of the boys were taken out of school. On the other hand, with there was the idea to teach the girls more, and so most of the school students were female. The children of that very time are the young people of the present time therefore the difference between men and women is increasing. From 1990s women had become very loose. The young people and the girls want easy life. In the socialist time great attention was paid to family stability. The divorced were not promoted and awarded even though they achieved success. Also, those who stirred up trouble in the families and the divorced were discussed at collective meetings. Today, many young people get married in order to get 500000 tögrögs given by the state to new families. There are even people who divide between them these 500000 tögrögs and then they divorce.
