Men cook up a storm in HeForShe Cooking Contest
Date:
Author: Thao Hoang
Hanoi, Viet Nam – “I am a man and I love cooking. Sharing responsibility and doing housework is a normal thing in my family. Now in Viet Nam, more and more men do house work and take care of children to support their wives’ career and education. We all benefit when we do so”, said Mr. Vu Minh Ly, leader of Youth Federation Team, the third runner-up team of the HeForShe Cooking Contest in Viet Nam.
The HeForShe Cooking Contest was organized in Hanoi in commemoration of Viet Nam Family Day 2015 under the theme of Sharing Responsibilities. Eleven all male teams composed of government leaders, ambassadors, celebrities, CEO, students and UN staff participated in the contest to make a statement about breaking gender stereotypes and the importance of men and boys demonstrating gender equality from the home.
Surrounded by an audience of more than a hundred people, and their families and colleagues cheering along, each team spent thirty minutes preparing a salad, fried shrimp and desert with the theme “for the women you love.”
“This is not just a cooking contest. The cooking teams are role models, advocates, and agents for change. They are making their stand on gender equality visible so that more men and boys will be inspired to join efforts to fight the rigid gender roles that hold each of us back” said Shoko Ishikawa, UN Women Viet Nam Country Representative and member of the judging panel for the contest.
“It was hard to select the winner of the contest as all teams did very well. What we looked for in the dishes is the sense of care and love of men for the women in their family. You may not be good at cooking at first, but when you really love and respect someone, you can change” said Mr. Tuan Hai, Vietnamese MasterChef Judge and leader of the judging panel.
The winner of the contest was the Australian Embassy team led by Mr. Layton Pike, their Deputy Head of Mission, that presented dishes that displayed a creative combination of Vietnamese and Australian tastes. Two second runner-up teams were the Vietnamese Artists and the team from the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs.
The Ambassador of Spain, Mr. Alfonso Tena Garcia, who also participated in the contest said “next time we have to ask the men to clean up also! That is the true test for gender equality at home.”
The HeForShe cooking contest organized by UN Women, Youth Union and Women’s Union is one of the range of activities organized for HeForShe, a solidarity movement for gender equality. HeForShe was launched in Viet Nam in March 2015 with participation of more than 1000 government leaders, public figures, Ambassadors and development partners, and students. Since the launch, it has reached about 350,000 people on social media, and artists, celebrities, students and enterprises are taking their own HeForShe action to express their support to gender equality.