Let’s Talk About Sex, But Not on Georgian TV
2010.02.08
By
Lizaveta Zhahanina
Discussions about orgasms and G-spots on the first Georgian television talk show about sex have effectively spluttered from broadcasting studios into the sphere of public debate. The Night with Shorena, a talk show about sex aired on Imedi TV, has offended Georgian religious groups and could potentially spill over into a full-blown lawsuit.
The Night with Shorena was first broadcast on January 9. Its host Shorena Begashvili is a local celebrity, model, actress and former Playboy playmate. Born in 1982, she was the first Georgian to pose nude for Playboy. Now she is the anchor of a programme which introduces sex talk into the discourse of Georgian TV.
Begashvili says that her programme aims to educate viewers about sex and break the vacuum of information on the topic. She admits that her programme promotes sex before marriage. “They just want things to be like they were before, be that bad or good,” Begashvili said about those who protest about her programme.
Georgian legislation forbids the broadcasting of pornography, said Khatia Kurashvili, Press Secretary of the Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC). Erotic shows, however, are allowed after 10 p.m. Kurashvili said that Night with Shorena does not violate any legislative norms.
The Union of Orthodox Parents has presented a formal complaint letter to Imedi’s self-regulating body. The channel held a hearing of this on Friday, January 29, at 3 p.m. at the station. The discussion was open to the public. Its outcomes will be made available no later than Friday, February 12. As specified in Georgia’s Code of Conduct for Broadcasters, if the Union of Orthodox Parents is not satisfied with this outcome they can start a lawsuit.
The Union of Orthodox Parents outlined three demands in the formal complaint. First, the letter asks Imedi to retract “false historical data” presented in the programme. This includes Begashvili’s statements that virginity has not been traditional throughout the history of Georgian Orthodoxy, that one cannot find virgins in Georgia and that noble Georgian women throughout history have been guilty of profanity. The complaint states that Begashvili presented this false information during her programme on January 9, on which she specifically said that “virginity is totally alien to Georgia” and cited some historians who said that “they [people] used to select virgins for the shah’s harem but this practice did not extend to Georgia, most probably because they could not find virgins in Georgia.” The historical commentary provided in the complaint states that “virginity was our [Georgian] moral orienteer before the Mongol invasion and thereafter. It is a commandment of God and inseparable from Christianity.”
Second, the complaint demands that the channel retract “false statistical data.” The Union of Orthodox Parents objects to Begashvili’s statements that sex before marriage makes for stronger families and couples who abstained before marriage are weaker. The views of Georgian society in general tend to concur with those expressed in the complaint’s second demand. A 2007 survey conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Centre [CRRC] showed that 61 percent of respondents said that it was not acceptable at any age for a man or woman to have sex before marriage. The same survey revealed that 48 percent believe that it is not acceptable for people of any age to live separately from their parents before marriage. Also, 66 percent of respondents said that cohabitation with a person of an opposite sex without marriage is not acceptable.
Finally, the Union of Orthodox parents demands that Imedi stops “making fun of virginity, advocating sex before marriage and sexual activity at an early age, insulting our [Georgian] national and religious traditions and the “Shorenisation’ of society.” In conclusion the letter offers an apology to all the “honest/decent Shorenas.”
“This is a direct propaganda for sex before marriage aimed against virginity,” said Avtandil Ungiadze, Co-Chairman of the Union of Orthodox Parents. “These are not only our traditions, but our religion as well. We are Orthodox and the Orthodox religion promotes morality, virginity etc.” The Union of Orthodox Parents first directed their complaint to the GNCC. However Kurashvili said that the Code of Conduct for Broadcasters specifies that the letter should be addressed directly to the broadcaster, since all the TV stations must have a self-regulating body. “GNCC does not regulate in this case,” Kurashvili said.
The Union’s complaint is one of a series of other protests about Imedi’s programs, including Night with Shorena. On January 26 about 40 students held a protest outside Imedi demanding the restriction of the station’s “propaganda for lewdness,” as reported by Media.ge. The rally was organised by student organisations associated with the Georgian Orthodox Church.
Night with Shorena might make further news if a case does go to court. The controversy itself reminds us of a saying now used to describe life in the Soviet era: “there was no sex in the Soviet Union.”
