Madrid - The defence of women's rights is undoubtedly a
praiseworthy government policy, but just how far should it go?
The question is under debate in Spain, where the country's first
Equality Ministry has launched initiatives that have earned
31-year-old Bibiana Aido - the youngest minister in Spanish history -
more sneers than cheers so far.
Not only did Aido announce a telephone hotline to help men adapt
to a 'new model of masculinity' and wife batterers to 'channel their
aggressivity' before resorting to violence.
She went as far as tackling the structures of the Spanish
language, proposing that the masculine-gendered word
'miembro' (member) be given a feminine equivalent, 'miembra.'
Academic guardians of the Spanish language accused Aido of not
even knowing grammar, but Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
stood by his minister.
'All the fields are adequate for waging the battle in favour of
equality,' said Zapatero, who wants his Socialist government to play
a ground-breaking role in promoting women's rights worldwide.
During his first term as prime minister, Zapatero pushed through
reforms including electoral parity, measures towards increasing
female representation on company boards of directors, and strong
legislation against domestic violence.
After winning a second term in March, Zapatero went even further,
appointing Spain's first female-dominated cabinet and irritating
conservative army officers by giving the defence portfolio to Carme
Chacon, who was in her seventh month of pregnancy at the time.
The appointment of young Aido to head an Equality Ministry with a
small budget and unclear profile raised even more eyebrows.
A 'telephone for men' initially planned for wife batterers will
also help other men 'solve their doubts, because many of them feel
lost' as the 'patriarchal system' begins to crumble, Aido explained.
Men will be able to call the hotline to discuss issues such as
relationships, divorce, and fatherhood.
Some feminist groups welcomed the 'good initiative,' while the
conservative opposition People's Party (PP) lambasted the idea that
violent men could be dissuaded by a telephone line as 'almost
ridiculous.'
Aido elicited even more sneers and jokes and when addressing a
parliamentary commission with the words 'miembros y miembras.'
Masculine-gendered 'miembro' refers to members of a group, men or
women, while the feminine-sounding word 'miembra' does not exist - at
least not yet.
Renowned authors slammed 'miembra' as a 'stupidity' and as an
example of 'savage feminism,' but feminist linguists sympathized with
Aido's attempts to wage the battle of equality on the deepest level -
that of language.
The Spanish language was forged over millennia of male domination
over women, the daily El Pais pointed out. The word 'hombre' (man)
can be used as a synonym for 'human being,' to mention just one among
countless examples.
As women have increasingly entered the workforce, language has
become slightly more equalitarian, with words such as
'ministra' (female minister), 'abogada' (female lawyer) or
'jefa' (female boss) now forming part of everyday speech.
A police officer is no longer just 'un agente de policia' (word of
masculine gender), but also 'una agente de policia' (feminine). A
soldier can be 'un' or 'una soldado.'
Language could not be transformed through government orders, but
it would spontaneously change to reflect new realities, commentators
said.
'Language is created every day, and some words triumph, while
others do not,' philologist Pilar Careaga said.
Undeterred by her critics, Aido has now launched a new campaign
against domestic violence with the idea that real men are not
violent.
Despite the PP's contempt for the activities of the Equality
Ministry, party leader Mariano Rajoy recently appointed young women
to top party posts, conscious that female votes contributed to
Zapatero's election victory.
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