Prague - Some languages distinguish between masculine and feminine gender in professions, the Czech language being one of them. And that lies at the root of the problem.
The Gaia Agency, a civic association, which promotes the protection of nature and human rights, while describing itself as a non-political entity, is very unhappy about the gender inequality of the language the Czech constitution is written in.
According to them, the constitution with its heavy use of masculine gender, refers only to men. It suggests the constitution be rewritten with the gender equality a top priority.
The agency has just launched a new project titled Quo vadis, femina?, the goal of which is to achieve linguistic gender equality in the constitution. The proposal has been sent to the office of the Czech ombudsman Otakar Motejl.
It´s a man´s world
"The Czech constitution is an entirely masculine document. All the positions are described in a masculine gender category. There is a male president, male deputy, male senator, male minister, male general, male commander-in-chief taking into account only men," said the Quo vadis, femina? project manager Marie Haisová.
The Article 23 of the constitution has the following wording: "A Deputy shall take an oath of office at the first meeting of the Chamber of Deputies he attends."
Article 16 sets this rule: "The Chamber of Deputies shall have 200 Deputies who shall be elected for a term of four years." There is not a single word about women.
The constitution also makes it seem that the Czech Republic can only have a male president, as the feminine form is missing again.
Women are scarcely represented in the constitution. There are few references to positions that include women. "It sets the image of the world based on stereotypes," adds Haisová.
In the end, only men can make a change
"Our language reflects reality, it is highly important our language is politically correct and pushes for gender equality," added Haisová.
The Gaia Agency argues that in other European countries the process of a vocabulary change is already underway. In Austria, for example, they managed to enforce strict usage of "female citizens and male citizens", "female deputies and male deputies" when addressing people in general.
Even if ombudsman Motejl advocates the linguistic amendment to the constitution, it would be up to the lawmakers to pass the changes. It would require the support of 120 Deputies to pass any such bill in a Chamber, which is very much dominated by men (only 31 out of 200 members are women).
