Citizens' Protector Zoran Pašalić joined the fight against gender-sensitive language. Tanja Ignjatović from the Autonomous Women's Center tells "Vreme" that the problem is that for many it is still acceptable for a woman to be a "housewife" but not a "psychologist" or "psychologist".
The Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić, recently announced that he will initiate the procedure for assessing the constitutionality of the provisions of the Law on Gender Equality, which refer to the use of gender-sensitive language.
The "controversial" provisions are those that prescribe that institutions, schools and media are obliged to use gender-sensitive language in the names of occupations and professions, so that, for example, Ana Brnabić would be "prime minister" and not "prime minister".
Earlier, Patriarch Porfirius also spoke out on this issue, assessing that the Law on Gender Equality is a "violent application of the so-called gender ideology and politics" and that such practice, with mandatory implementation, does not exist in any European Union state.
Tanja Ignjatović from the Autonomous Women's Center told Vreme that the role of the Protector of Citizens is to protect the human rights of men and women, and that neither the Law on Gender Equality nor gender-sensitive language should be questioned by that institution, especially since it was about public hearing.
Such a statement shows that Pašalić does not understand his role or what human rights are, says Ignjatović.
"I really think that his office for gender equality should sit down and teach him a little about what it means to protect human rights," emphasizes Ignjatović.
The question of language
Ignjatović is of the opinion that it is not right to meet the Church and the conservative SANU experts when it comes to language that is already gender sensitive.
Patriarch Porphyry previously said that the issue of language defines the identity of a people and that any violent and thoughtless change of language can have great consequences when it comes to the self-awareness of the people.
Ignjatović says that the Serbian language already knows the names of occupations in the masculine and feminine genders, and that language experts only need to offer the correct variants for female professions where this was not common until now.
"We have mentioned several times that for some, a maid and a maid and a cook and a housewife can obviously work, but not a psychologist, if not properly a psychologist." Ultimately, the Croatian language, which is the language closest to us, has long been a gender-sensitive language," concludes our interlocutor.
Why is it important to introduce gender-sensitive language?
On the topic of the law, the patriarch spoke with a group of Serbian linguists last year and then it was stated that only one part deals with linguistic issues, and that the essence is that "the law imposes a process of transformation of the consciousness of the individual and society as a whole, through language".
About why it is important to introduce gender-sensitive language, Tanja Ignjatović says that language is a symbolic tool, an instrument of thought, the way we mark reality, and it enables women to be seen in professions they were not previously in.
"He has a general role and function in achieving gender equality, which is actually not at a high level in Serbia, especially in some areas," concludes Tanja Ignjatović.
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