Georgian language has no gender prejudice, get it out of your head!

Georgian language has no gender prejudice, get it out of your head! - This is the key message of UN Women Georgia’s new social campaign focused on promoting gender equality and empowering women through sport.

Sambo players Levan Nakhutsrishvili and Nino Odzelashvili. Photo: Andrew C. Kovalev

Women have no fewer achievements in sports, but when people start talking about a strong, fast and fierce athlete, many think that the subject is male. UN Women’s campaign defies this stereotype and shows that men and women can participate in sports equally, and that gender does not matter when it comes to achieving success and fighting for victory.

One of the sources of the idea for this social campaign was generated from the fact that there is no grammatical gender in the Georgian language, hence the key message focused on equality. The campaign was developed in partnership with the advertisement agency McCann Tbilisi. Within the framework of the campaign, videos and posters were prepared involving various male and female athletes from different sports, united around the idea of equality. 

UN Women is implementing the social campaign in cooperation with the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs of Georgia. According to Vasil Liparteliani, the head of the Research and Analysis Division at the Ministry, enhancing the engagement of girls and women in various sports is one of the main priorities for this agency.

“Partnering with UN Women and this campaign is a great opportunity for us to reach out to the broader community and provide information to every family that it should be no surprise if a girl opts for any stereotyped ‘manly’ sports, for example weightlifting,” Mr. Liparteliani remarks. “We need to change the mindset that certain sports are intended only for girls or for boys. Girls’ involvement in sport is their decision entirely, and it should not be subject to public judgment.”

Read the full story on UN Women Georgia's website.