On September 22, Vitebsk /Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. Vitebsk has decided to restore gender equality and hold the first exhibition-fair dedicated solely to the stronger sex, "The World of Men," Snezhanana Zhehlova, initiator and organiser of the exhibition, Director of the Vitebsk Centre for Regional Studies and Development, told a BELTA correspondent. The main idea of the exhibition is to reveal the modern image of a true man and to showcase the full range of services and goods for men provided and produced by the region's enterprises: clothing, footwear, excise goods, elite souvenir products, hunting and fishing goods. In addition, the exhibition will feature a job fair, football and billiards competitions, and private collections assembled by men will be presented. Thus, the Centre for Regional Development hopes to study the supply of goods and services for men and determine which production facilities for them need to be established in the region. As Snezhanana Zhehlova noted, the theme of this specialised exhibition was not chosen by chance. For several years, the centre has been working on scientific topics related to the demographic and social problems of the Vitebsk region, including those in the male population. Research has shown that the trend of decreasing the proportion of men in the total population persists in the region. In 2010, the number of men was 16.4% less than women in absolute terms. Mortality among the stronger sex is higher, and men live 12 years less than women. Snezhanana Zhehlova also drew attention to the fact that, despite the blurring gender boundaries in the world of professions, some occupations remain typically male. For example, in the region, 80% of financial and commercial directors, 95% of industrial enterprise managers, and 85% of restaurant business managers are men. The stronger sex holds a dominant position in the fields of information technology and telecommunications business: 99% of IT directors are men. The specialised exhibition "The World of Men" will be held in Vitebsk from October 14 to 16. -0-

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