Georgia: Stop Gender Discrimination Media Ball -

Gender Media Caucasus

The NGO GenderMediaCaucasus Journalists’ Association invited representatives of the media to a Media ball at the Royal District Theatre on January 12. The event was the conclusive part of a program on sexism in the Georgian media.

GenderMediaCaucasus, with support from Open Society-Georgia Foundation, researched the level of discrimination against women in local media within the project “Journalists against discrimination in mass culture.” The prime-time broadcasts of the five most popular TV channels were appreciated, and magazines and advertisements were not ignored. Saba Amirejibi, Paata Kereselidze and Gogita Chkonia made a social advertisement against sexism, and books were published based on research regarding sexism in local media. On the media ball the “winners” of the monitoring were awarded.

“Media influence on the public mind and stereotypes in society and mass media should support women’s equal rights” said Nino Sukhiashvili “I can’t say that there is purposeful sexism in Georgian mass media, but unconscious discrimination of women is felt in our media.”

Sukhiashvili monitored five popular channels in Georgia. For three months she watched the programs broadcasting in Prime Time (from 8 to 12 p.m.). According to her, no one channel has a gender policy and women are discriminated in almost all of them. Rustavi 2 was recognized as the most sexist channel, due to the way that reports are broadcasted in the news bulletin program Courier covering the facts of incest and rapes.

Tamar Balavadze awarded the representatives of glossy magazines.

“Our magazines are full by sexist photos,” she said. “Over 1/3 of them are sexist… For example, when our famous singer Jaba Karseladze was asked when he paid the most for a woman, he answered ‘500 bucks and she was really good.”

The popular magazine Bomondi was announced the most sexist in Georgia, and Kakadu was awarded the prize for the most discriminative photo.

A clip of the beer ‘Aluda’ was announced to be the most sexist advertisement, and the creators were awarded the beer ‘Medluda,’ produced by GenderMediaCaucasus. However, the association could not find the creators of the clip and the prize was handed to Paata Kereselidze who was announced a “gender sensitive operator and director.”

In spite of the fact that the whole event was held in a relaxing and friendly atmosphere-with humorous scenes, music and dancing-the event was

dedicated to a quite serious problem. Sexism, discrimination against people based on their sex, is a global problem.

“The fight against sexism is as necessary as the fight against drugs and violence and all other forms of discrimination, rubbish and injustice,” announced Marina Tabukashvili, the coordinator of Open Society Georgia Fund Women’s program. “Sexism is to use humans, or to appoint a human as an object. The coalition of various NGOs guards the common fundamental values of democracy, freedom and national culture. Every human should be treated as what they are, not as objects, and that is why sexism will be always our opponent.”

Georgian mass media very often ignore these values, and are overloaded with phrases and photos that discriminate against women. Women appear as beautiful and convenient things for sale on the bright photos and tv screens.

“The values offered by popular culture ruin our fundamental values, including human dignity and culture,” Tabukashvili said. “Popular culture that is successfully implemented not only in Georgia but worldwide, and is successfully bought up, counts on a lack of culture and education. The only way to avoid this is through the education and knowledge of our own culture.”

Women are active in Georgia today, but it is much harder for them to achieve success than it is for men. In Georgia women are used to being considered an attachment their husbands.

“This attitude to woman is deeply rooted not only in Georgia but in all societies,” said Galina Petriashvili, the President of the Association. “It comes from the time when a woman sat in caves and a man brought food. But today, when both of us work outside of caves to contribute to keeping a house, acting as if we are still in caves is not clever.”

Our legislation recognizes the equal rights of both sexes. But to change the attitude to woman’s role in Georgian society, with its very deep roots and traditions regarding woman’s role, is not so easy. And the violence against women continues.

“It’s as if Georgian women are in scissors,” said Petriashvili. “On the one hand there are more female students in high schools, but at the same time there is a limit for women in Georgia. We have strong traditions where a woman should wait for man at home; she is ashamed if she doesn’t get married ‘in time’. Life pushes women to bazrobas to earn the family’s living and at the same time our traditions restrain her to be modest and ‘know her place’ within the family and in community.”

GenderMediaCaucasus is one of the most active gender organizations in Georgia, implementing national and international programs. It has held and participated in several conferences and monitoring projects to defend the dignity of women and change the attitude humbling women, particularly in Georgia. Bright magazines and broadcasting media in their turn continue luring the auditorium by showing women as beautiful goods offered for sale or as a weak-willed addition to strong and successful men.

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