Opinions

What We Lose When Boys Are Taught Not to Cry in Kazakhstan

By Kalamkas Sagadiyeva on 4 April 2026

I still remember a boy who fell on the asphalt when I was in primary school. Before the teacher reached him, someone lifted him and told him the phrase that so many Kazakh boys hear: “Don’t cry. Be a man.” The tears stopped, and the lesson was clear. Pain...