Men and Gender Relations in Georgia

10 Nov 2014

In recent years, women’s emancipation has been strengthened globally, which in turn has boosted gender equality. Nevertheless, men are still ahead of women when it comes to education, employment, income rates, distribution of managerial positions and social attitudes. Such patterns and gender perceptions are handed down from generation to generation. There are numerous cases where both male and female parents say to their sons: “You are a man and you should be strong and brave … Why are you crying like a girl?! … Your wife should obey you … If someone hits you,” retaliate and so on. These masculine perceptions and messages burden young boys and if they grow up in such environments, they will try to be dominant, strong, and unbreakable in relations with the opposite sex. However, men will inevitably encounter situations in which he will be unable to demonstrate his bravery and will consider himself inferior. What will happen in such cases? There is a great possibility that the same human being will then start to think about his weakness and will consider himself unworthy and inadequate. Ultimately, he will try to restore his reputation with others by means of force. And that is the end of the cycle starting with the parents’ expectations of their child to be “a real man” and consequently finishing with the individual becoming a violent man. Unfortunately, this cycle repeats itself often and is transferred from fathers to son, hence establishing a culture of increased hegemony of masculinity, which is widespread in the Caucasus. One of the key stereotypes is that of the “Caucasian” male, which is quite often used as a synonym for a strong, dominant, and sometimes physically assertive man.

The goal of the survey “Men and Gender Relations in Georgia” is to gather data on men’s attitudes towards gender equality; and to describe their experience of and engagement in household activities and in such social practices, which involve residing together and sharing household responsibilities with a spouse or partner. The survey also gathered data from women in order to make a comparison of the opinions expressed by both genders. The Institute of Social Studies and Analysis (ISSA) conducted the survey within the framework of the UN Joint Programme to Enhance Gender Equality in Georgia. The present research is based on a similar survey conducted by Promundo, which was successfully administered in Brazil, Chile, Croatia, India, Mexico, Rwanda and Bosnia. The methodology of IMAGES (International Men and Gender Equality Survey) were used in all these countries. We hope that the findings of the survey will provide a basis for effectively planning such programs which will facilitate the engagement of men in establishing gender equality, as well as increasing the awareness of the public at large and changing attitudes to gender equality.