06-17-2007, 10:13 AM
Rashtrapati, patni or woh?
17 Jun, 2007 l 0143 hrs ISTlJug Suraiya /TIMES NEWS NETWORK
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Pratibha Patil having emerged as the odds-on favourite in the presidential race, there has been speculation as to whether India's first woman president should be referred to as the 'Rashtrapatni', in deference to the gender change which might be effected in a hitherto all-male office. Some, however, might feel that 'Rashtrapatni' not only conveys a sub-text of conjugal obligations which would be most inappropriate, to say the least, in this case but also that such supposed gender sensibility takes political correctness (PC) too far.
For instance, if Hillary Clinton becomes the next US president (again, the first woman to occupy that position) would she be referred to as Mrs Presidentrix ('directrix' being the PC equivalent of the putatively male designation of 'director')? By that token a female doctor should be a doctrix, a woman actor an actrix, and so on, ad absurdum.
As has been pointed out, not all male-allusive nomenclature ('mankind' as a sobriquet for the gender neutral 'humanity', for instance) is suggestive of patriarchalism. For example, everyone talks about 'manholes' (with their subterranean connotations of sewage drains) but not about 'womanholes'. In PC terms, of course, manholes should be called 'peopleholes' or 'humanholes', as should 'manpower' and 'manhunt' be suitably modified.
Such verbal gender gimmickry can have curious results. For instance, there is the 'evolution' of 'chairman', through the desexed 'chairperson' to the literally dehumanised 'chair', which renders a living being into an article of furniture.
To come back to the nominal question of Pratibha Patil as the future occupant of the presidential chair, perhaps a public poll should be conducted to determine what her fellow citizens would like to call the First Political Citizen (Citizene?) of the country. Some might suggest Rashtramata, which would be in keeping with our identification of Bharat Mata as our Motherland. Others, who feel that motherhood is a male-devised ploy to condemn women to a home- and children-bound existence safely away from the sphere of public affairs, might prefer 'Rashtrastree'.
The popular vote, however, could well settle for that ubiquitous and uniquely Indian form of address respectfully and yet affectionately applied to women of a certain age. Yes, India might soon have its first Rashtraunty.
17 Jun, 2007 l 0143 hrs ISTlJug Suraiya /TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Save
Write to Editor
Pratibha Patil having emerged as the odds-on favourite in the presidential race, there has been speculation as to whether India's first woman president should be referred to as the 'Rashtrapatni', in deference to the gender change which might be effected in a hitherto all-male office. Some, however, might feel that 'Rashtrapatni' not only conveys a sub-text of conjugal obligations which would be most inappropriate, to say the least, in this case but also that such supposed gender sensibility takes political correctness (PC) too far.
For instance, if Hillary Clinton becomes the next US president (again, the first woman to occupy that position) would she be referred to as Mrs Presidentrix ('directrix' being the PC equivalent of the putatively male designation of 'director')? By that token a female doctor should be a doctrix, a woman actor an actrix, and so on, ad absurdum.
As has been pointed out, not all male-allusive nomenclature ('mankind' as a sobriquet for the gender neutral 'humanity', for instance) is suggestive of patriarchalism. For example, everyone talks about 'manholes' (with their subterranean connotations of sewage drains) but not about 'womanholes'. In PC terms, of course, manholes should be called 'peopleholes' or 'humanholes', as should 'manpower' and 'manhunt' be suitably modified.
Such verbal gender gimmickry can have curious results. For instance, there is the 'evolution' of 'chairman', through the desexed 'chairperson' to the literally dehumanised 'chair', which renders a living being into an article of furniture.
To come back to the nominal question of Pratibha Patil as the future occupant of the presidential chair, perhaps a public poll should be conducted to determine what her fellow citizens would like to call the First Political Citizen (Citizene?) of the country. Some might suggest Rashtramata, which would be in keeping with our identification of Bharat Mata as our Motherland. Others, who feel that motherhood is a male-devised ploy to condemn women to a home- and children-bound existence safely away from the sphere of public affairs, might prefer 'Rashtrastree'.
The popular vote, however, could well settle for that ubiquitous and uniquely Indian form of address respectfully and yet affectionately applied to women of a certain age. Yes, India might soon have its first Rashtraunty.