The French city of Pantin will be called “Pantine” for a year in an effort to promote “equality between women and men”. An ‘e’ will be added to the name of the suburb north of Paris, said socialist mayor Bertrand Kern in a video published on Twitter on Monday. “We want to raise awareness,” he said. In French, an “e” at the end of a word often indicates that it is the feminine form.
Women remain “worsely paid than men”, certain professions are forbidden and their place in public space “is not always well accepted by men”, continued Kern. According to the mayor, this symbolic change would condemn inequalities between men and women and “violence against women”.
The reactions in the comments below the video are rather negative. Some users make fun of the proposal and suggest the name changes of other French cities, such as “Parise”, “Lyonne” or “Bordeause”, with funny examples. Politician Florian Philippot, founder of the Eurosceptic Les Patriotes (the Patriots) party, did a similar thing in a tweet. He writes: “Our time is the time of a terrible downfall!” Another user asks the city in a comment what measures the city is taking against discrimination against women apart from the symbolic name change.
The city writes on its website that adding the letter “e” to the city’s name may initially seem rather anecdotal. But the point is that the small change catches the eye, asks questions and thus challenges. The change of name is intended to encourage people to think about questions of equal rights.
Along the Ourcq canal between Paris and the city, the giant letters erected there that make up the name Pantin will now end with an ‘e’. Otherwise, however, the change remains symbolic: there is no new sign at the town entrance, nor is the town name changed in official correspondence. Such a change would have to be submitted to and checked by the appropriate authority.
Sources: City of Pantin(e) website, Twitter
