For All Women and Girls: Venero Melua on gender stereotypes

From childhood protests to activism

Venero started to speak out loud against injustice when she was just a child. She left no issue unaddressed: neither the inequality in her school environment nor the unsuitable conditions for learning, such as the old wood-burning stove that was the only means of heating her school in Ozurgeti.

She also encountered gender stereotypes as a child. She was often told that she was not good at science but that she had great writing skills. In actuality, she excelled in the subjects she was interested in. She especially liked biology, although she eventually continued her studies at Free University, in the Faculty of Social Sciences.

“When the time came to apply to university, I was scared: What if those people were right and I could not handle biology?” Venero recalls. “It turned out that I did not even express what I wanted, and [instead,] I chose a more secure profession, which still makes me very angry at myself. I also know that if I were a man, they wouldn’t have told me that I was no good at science. Unfortunately, I have faced this situation many times since as well.”

However, she managed to embrace her love of biology. In 2020, when the pandemic hit, she discovered via women-focused groups online that there was no reliable, verified and up-to-date information on mental, sexual and reproductive health, violence, and other relevant topics available in Georgian. This was when she decided to create Femea.ge, an online resource that would go on to share such essential knowledge among women. With Femea.ge, Venero began to take important steps in activism.

“I didn’t even call myself an activist at that time,” she remarks. “I had acquired certain skills in the private sector, and I just wanted to use them in the civil sector as well. However, I then realized that the line quickly gets blurred between personal and professional values in this field. If you do your job conscientiously, then you become an activist, whether you wanted to or not.”

Currently, Venero is working on another important topic—internally displaced women. Her mother is from Abkhazia, and this has had an impact on how she developed as a person. “When people remember the war in Abkhazia or its aftermath, they never talk from the perspective of women,” she adds. “When I discovered this, I decided to explore their experiences and create relevant documentaries and other multimedia content.”

Every woman’s free choice should be respected

Venero believes that women’s lives are constantly filled with societal expectations: “They are always observing what kind of partner, wife, mother, daughter or employee you will be, what kind of career you will have, [and] how you will raise your children. You always have to prove that you are good, that you dress with taste, that you don’t have wrinkles, and so on.”

Venero also spoke about the expectations and demands placed on women at an event marking the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. She travelled to Helsinki as part of the UN Women project “Good Governance for Gender Equality in Georgia”, generously funded by the Norwegian Government.

This was the first time Venero decided to speak about her own experiences. She wanted to talk about the topics that the audience was often concerned with but would rarely discuss out loud.

“Any demand, even if motivated by goodwill and the best wishes, is still a demand. Any choice made by a woman should have the right to exist, and let this new phase of feminist activism be the era in which we do not make demands but rather respect all of the free choices of all women. This was the main message of my speech on the international stage,” says Venero, adding that she contributes to achieving this goal by showing her sincere attitude and disseminating essential information. She also tries to break the stereotype of a strong and self-confident woman, as well as to openly speak to the audience about her own disappointments and mistakes—ones that feminists might also make.

The Beijing Platform for Action in today’s world

The Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, was a milestone that shaped a new global reality. Since then, many issues have gained a different dimension and now require a new understanding. “I am still working on the same topics that participating women were putting on the agenda 30 years ago, although with more privileges and in a better position,” Venero recognizes. “This is what gives me a sense of optimism, even against the backdrop of the global backslide of gender politics. What matters the most is to get out of this situation, repair the damage done and rethink our strategies so that such a backslide never happens again.”

The young activist believes that it is important to make the work of women’s advocates more complex and intersectional. “We need to show as many women as possible that they belong with us and that feminism is not about being special but rather being a member of an ordinary girls’ club,” she notes.

For All Women and Girls

Venero Melua has a message to all women and girls: “Angry women are not liked in a male-dominated society. They want [women] to be sad. In fact, anger is a prerequisite for change, while sadness leaves women in positions where there is no room for progress and development. Remember what you are dreaming about before going to bed, and then take concrete steps to make it happen when you wake up in the morning.”