• 08/04/2023
• By wizewebsite
• 961 Views

Eurocommissioner Helena wanted to cancel Christmas, first names and misses. But she got burned enough<

"We must always offer inclusive communication so that everyone is appreciated and recognized in our materials, regardless of gender, race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, handicap..." the commissioner wrote in the preface to the rules, which she announced on Twitter at the end of October with the hashtag #EqualityUnion.

The manual fell into the hands of reporters from the Milanese newspaper Il Giornale, which belongs to the media empire of the family of ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. "The European Union is introducing a series of rules that not only destroy customs and words that have been used since time immemorial, but also defy common sense," Il Giornale commentator Francesco Giubilei wrote.

The rules in question relate to the most used working language of the EU in practice – English. In many cases, the word does not have a masculine or feminine gender; and if so, the EU employee should avoid it and find some neutral word. In the media, for example, there is a more general shift away from the words "spokesman/spokeswoman", the neutral "spokesperson" is being promoted - which the Czech language can't quite capture, the word spokesperson is itself neutral. But in cop vs. policewoman, workers vs. female worker, etc., the commissioner urged that the male version stop being used for general designations.

Many feminists and feminists also condemn the distinction between Miss and Mrs. - why should it matter whether a woman is married or not, while men shall we address "sir" in any case? Therefore, a compromise "hybrid" Ms. appeared in English quite some time ago. (pronounced miz), as a cross between Miss and Mrs. (read misiz, short for mistress). The commissioner's rules also included this. In Czech, it is correct to address even young women as "ma'am".

Since some people no longer identify themselves publicly as men or women, they enforce the rules of the most general address possible: instead of "ladies and gentlemen" they prefer "dear colleagues" or "dear friends" (in English there is no special word for colleagues and girlfriends, colleagues and friends are neutral).

The first name is taboo

In their speeches, EU officials should make sure that they do not accidentally use this or that gender in the first place, they should alternate it. Also, texts or speeches should not unwittingly accompany images that portray men as "active, adventurous" while women and girls appear "passive, domestic". And another bad thing: Addressing one gender by the first name and the other by the last name.

In other words, be careful: The concept of a first name is also taboo. So in English "Christian name", literally a Christian name. A more common term is "given name" or "first name/forename". The Czech bureaucracy is correct like this: On a citizen's or driver's license or in a passport, the box under "Surname" is simply called "Given name".

Gone with Mary

And there are more such cases of Christian traditions in everyday speech, so the European Commission is trying to suppress them within the framework of religious neutrality. "In the examples and stories, do not choose only names typical of one religion," the manual urged. Instead of "Maria and John (Marie and Jan, traditional Jewish names) are an international couple," say "Malika and Julio."

Inclusion rules were also supposed to take care of small and new EU member states: In the sentence "EU laws protect you whether you are in Berlin, Rome or Paris", Berlin, Budapest and Vilnius should be, for example.

Another thing to watch out for according to the manual: Do not mix nationality and religion and avoid such clichés - not every Arab is Muslim and not all Muslims are Arabs. The word colonization can remind us of painful chapters in world history; therefore, in the future, for example, instead of "colonizing Mars", we should talk about "sending people to Mars".

The most controversial element of the manual of political correctness has become the most visible Christian holidays. “Don't assume everyone is a Christian. Not everyone celebrates Christian holidays and not all Christians celebrate them at the same time, recognize the fact that people have different religious traditions and calendars.” So don't say “Christmas time can be stressful” but “Holiday time can be stressful” or “… for those who celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah", the rules also reminded the holiday that Jews celebrate at a similar time.

"In the name of inclusion, the European Commission is going so far as to cancel Christmas," condemns the commentator Giubilei.

"After all, the left's aversion to Christian holidays did not appear today," reminds Il Giornale, how the Bolsheviks in the Soviet Union outright banned Christmas in 1929 and had already encouraged children to spit on crucifixes and Christmas trees. "But even during the Nazi era, Christmas celebrations were canceled, songs were mutilated with lyrics more suitable for regime propaganda," adds Il Giornale.

Helena Dalliová is a Maltese politician from the local Labor Party, she sat in the parliament for many years, and in the years 2013-19 in the government - first as minister for social dialogue and civil liberties, later for the EU and equality. The year before, she became a member of the European Commission.

“Mother Mary. Father Joseph. Long live the holy Christmas," Matteo Salvini, head of Italy's populist and radical right-wing League of the North, tweeted scathingly. "I hope it doesn't offend anyone in Europe..." he added.

"Of course we know that Europe owes its existence and identity to several sources, but we certainly cannot forget that one of the main sources, if not the main one, is Christianity," Cardinal Pietro Parolin, one of the top representatives, commented on the Brussels handbook The Vatican. "I believe that trying to erase all discrimination is right, but I don't think this is the way to go. Unfortunately, there is a tendency to homogenize everything, an inability to respect legitimate differences - which naturally should not lead to conflicts and discrimination, but should be integrated to build a full and whole humanity," he told Vatican News.

Overlooked commissioner

Criticism was also raised by the rules from within the commission. "Commissioner Dalli compensates for the fact that she has absolutely no weight in the commission by pulling her 'inclusion directives' out of a hat, which challenge the most elementary rules," commented a confidential source from the commission to the European website Politico. "We went crazy. Dalli and I are experiencing surrealism," the official says about the similarity of the commissioner's name to the surrealist Salvador Dalí.

Similar, but not as bold, rules, i.e. recommendations for inclusive communication, issued in 2018 and the secretariat of the Council of the European Union, they were prepared in all official languages ​​(including Czech) by its department for equal opportunities.

"When deciding which language-neutral alternatives to use, it's a good idea to be aware of any possible ambiguities or shifts in meaning and choose words accordingly," the 16-page brochure says. "From the point of view of gender balance, semantically neutral expressions such as 'person', 'workforce', 'population' or 'individual', which can refer to both women and men, are also a suitable means; e.g. responsible person instead of responsible worker.'

For example, tenders are supposed to look for a "translator". "We don't address women with the term 'Miss'," the Council's recommendations say uncompromisingly.

The European Commission, on the other hand, still has to revise its rules after the wave of convictions. "My initiative to propose the guidelines as an internal document for the communication of the Commission's staff intended to achieve an important goal: to illustrate the diversity of European culture and to demonstrate the inclusive nature of the European Commission," said Dalli, to protest: "However, the published version of the guidelines does not adequately serve this purpose. It is not a finished document and does not meet all the quality standards of the Commission. Apparently the guidelines need more work. That's why I'm downloading them and will continue to work on the document."