Pantin renamed “Pantine” in the name of gender equality – RT in French

The mayor of Pantin (Seine-Saint-Denis) Bertrand Kern announced that the city would change its name throughout 2023, feminizing it by adding the letter “e” in order to “raise awareness” of the population. gender equality.

Is the communication unit of the Socialist Party overheated? After the removal of a clip encouraging membership, it was an initiative of the PS mayor of Pantin (Seine-Saint-Denis), Bertrand Kern, which triggered its share of mockery.

“Pantin will be called Pantine for a year”, a sign of the city’s commitment to “equality between women and men”, the mayor announced on January 2. In a video posted on the municipality’s Twitter account, the elected official explains that he decided to place the wishes of the municipality under the aegis of “equality between women and men and the fight against violence against women. “.

“We will add an E to the name of the city because thus, we want to challenge. We want there to be awareness of this equality between women and men, which is not yet perfect even if there have been improvements in recent years”, he explained while citing wage inequalities between women and men, unequal access to “certain trades” and the place of women in the public space which “is not always well accepted by men”.

In fact, this temporary change of identity remains symbolic, since there will be no new city entrance signs or changes in official letters, assured the communication department. Only the giant letters forming the name “Pantin”, positioned along the Ourcq canal, will therefore be decked out with an additional “e”, indicated the same service, specifying that the initiative aimed above all to “carry a message”.

The reactions to this communication operation were numerous. Some Internet users wondering if it was a “parody” or having fun with the results of a possible feminization of names of cities such as Mâcon or Juan-les-Pins. On the political level, the initiative of the mayor of Pantin was sharply criticized by several camps.

“To the crazy!”, reacted the journalist Dominique de Montvalon, while his colleague from Opinion Emmanuelle Ducros wondered if the municipality would retain “Pantone” the following year “to reflect the diversity of the population”.

The right mocks a bad publicity stunt

“Gender equality and the fight against violence against women deserve better than a bad communication!”, Blamed the elected representative of Pantin and regional councilor Les Républicains Geoffrey Carvalhinho, deploring at the microphone of BFM TV that the decision was made without consulting the city council or the residents.

“Like that we have the Pantin and the Pantine!” For his part, mocked the European deputy Reconquest Gilbert Collard, judging Bertrand Kern’s approach very unserious.

“What a puppet!”, Launched, on the same register, the sovereignist Francois Asselineau.

“Wouldn’t it be more useful in Seine-Saint-Denis to fight against the Islamic veil, Salafist speeches and the excision of young girls?”, Attacked more frontally the MEP National Rally Dominique Bilde .

Contrasting reactions on the left

The approach of the socialist town hall was not unanimous on the left: indulgent, the deputy of La France insoumise Antoine Leaument estimated on BFM TV that it was “a publicity stunt that makes people smile and therefore works”, stressing that the equal pay promoted by the mayor would make it possible to better finance the pension system than the government s is preparing to reform by providing “5 billion” additional euros.

“Mayor since 2001 he wakes up ridiculing the feminist fight!”, On the other hand, lamented the regional councilor Europe ecology-the Greens Annie Lahmer. “The inhabitants of Pantin in difficulty […] expect better than an E for 2023,” she added.

“The proposal to rename Pantin to Pantine, to supposedly promote equality between men and women, is the “left” bourgeois thought that has given up acting on reality”, for his part analyzed the president of the movement. Sovereign Republic Georges Kuzmanovic, accompanying his message with a poster of the film Tchao Pantin by Claude Berri while adding this quote from Jean Jaurès: “When men cannot change things, they change words.”

Invited to speak on the controversy sparked by his decision on BFM TV on January 4, the councilor of Pantin acknowledged that the addition of an “e” fell under the “symbol”, but that it was nevertheless useful for “to pose the debate”. Bertrand Kern also insisted on the fact that the actions carried out on a daily basis by the municipality in favor of gender equality had been passed over in silence, citing in this respect the reception of several Afghan dancers or the presence of a “speaker social” at the local police station, in order to receive complaints from women victims of violence.