What is the issue with sex in Georgia?
Ah, Sakartvelo, the home of the world’s best wine, stunning Caucasus mountains and, of course, khinkali. There is plenty to love about this special country, but there’s one big issue that Georgia needs to improve on. We’re talking about sex
What is Georgia’s attitude towards sex?
Georgia is a very Orthodox Christian country. How Christian, exactly? It is estimated that 84% of the country practices Orthodox Christianity. To put it into perspective, 65% of Americans identify as Christian, so that’s quite a big jump.
We believe that everybody should be free to practice the religion of their own choosing. But it also needs to be pointed out that this strict Christian environment can have detrimental effects on the people who live in it.
The typical Georgian attitude towards sex is:
- Sex was created for a man and a woman; this view is very heteronormative and homophobic
- Sex should be saved for marriage
- Masturbation is not encouraged
- Women should cover up and act “modestly”
Who gets hurt by these attitudes?
The most obvious group of people to get hurt by purity culture in Georgia is the LGBTQ community.
In July 2021, Tbilisi saw its first-ever Pride event. What should have been a time of celebration and acceptance, turned into week-long protests against the queer community, including violence and even death. The fact that these protests were supported by the church, proves how deeply ingrained this homophobia is in Georgia’s culture.
Women also are hurt by these attitudes. Hymenoplasty is a very common procedure here, which involves the “reconstruction” of a hymen, to make it appear that the woman is still a virgin when she gets married. The fact this procedure exists just proves how little educated the country is about women’s bodies and sex. If they were educated, they’d know that the hymen is not a seal that breaks or pops. It is folds of the mucous membrane. Folds can be stretched by many things; exercise, tampons, or simply time, not just when a penis penetrates a vagina.
We’d go as far as to say that everyone is negatively affected by these sex-negative attitudes in Georgia. Without sex education, people are less likely to masturbate. Without masturbation, we aren’t exploring our bodies’ full potential. Women aren’t learning about their clitoris, about what feels good. So of course, they’re unable to communicate that with their partners.
These attitudes shame people into not finding what they really enjoy. Not introducing toys into the bedroom. Not exploring their sexualities. These attitudes quite literally stop people from orgasm.
How can we fix the taboo around sex?
You know, many people told us we were crazy for opening a sex toy shop in Georgia. We were told to be careful, to not talk about the issues that we truly care about. To not offend anyone, and to be respectful of peoples’ beliefs and culture. But in order to change anything, you have to be brave.
We encourage anyone reading this to use your voice and don’t let anyone take that away from you.
Talking about sex can be daunting, so why not start small?
- Start masturbating – know it is YOUR body and you can do with it what you want!
- Get your first sex toy – unleash the potential
- Start talking to a close friend/friends about sex and masturbation. Start with people you trust and feel safe around: you don’t have to go large
- Educate yourself – follow sex educators on social media or start reading books. We recommend Mind the Gap and Vagina: a re-education
- Share content that resonates with what you’re feeling – you can start by sharing this blog post amongst your friends to get the conversation started
We hope you enjoyed this blog post and hope you join us on our mission to make Sakartvelo much sexier!
