Dhe 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”.
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.
