The idea has been launched, and it comes — needless to say — from one of the great intellects of our time, who sets the bar of public debate at the very highest level: none other than Élisabeth Borne, former Prime Minister and now Minister of National Education. Her proposal? To “de-gender” the motto inscribed on the pediment of the Panthéon in Paris: “AUX GRANDS HOMMES, LA PATRIE RECONNAISSANTE.”
Photo: Wikimedia (public domain)
Of course, we are joking. Not about the minister’s intention — she really did say it — but about the level of the debate.
For Mme Borne is clearly unaware that the French word « HOMME » has two meanings: one is “male person”, certainly; but the other is “human being” or “member of humankind[[This is a difficulty of translation: in English, “man” also used to bear this double sense, but contemporary usage has shifted. The French motto, however, has always carried both meaning.]"
Or, if she is not unaware, perhaps she believes that Marie Curie or Joséphine Baker do not belong to the human species — which, let us agree, would be somewhat troubling on her part.
She also seems to ignore (she is not alone in this, admittedly) that there is a difference between “sex” and “gender”. A piano, for instance, is masculine in grammatical gender in French but, as far as we know, has no biological sex. A trumpet is grammatically feminine, but it has no more sex than a piano (do not try to pair them up, even to make music, it won’t work).
To justify her bright idea, the minister explained that “girls come up against stereotypes and end up giving up careers that should be fully open to them”. How many women’s careers have been thus nipped in the bud? One shudders to think. Fortunately, Élisabeth Borne herself never let herself be discouraged, was never influenced by the Panthéon’s inscription, and believed in her star. What would have become of us if France had been deprived of such a Prime Minister and Minister of National Education?
More seriously, let us recall that the Panthéon is a classified Historic Monument. This inscription, first added during the French Revolution, then removed when the building was returned to use as a church, was restored under the July Monarchy in 1837 and has not been altered since. It is therefore protected together with the monument as a whole.
The cartouche containing it is moreover exactly the size of the letters it frames. To change the inscription by adding “aux femmes” (“to women”) would therefore require, in order to remain aesthetically balanced, a radical alteration of the pediment.
Finally, notice that Élisabeth Borne is not, after all, very inclusive. Has she thought of those who identify neither as male nor as female, but as “non-binary”? Why should they not have the right, like women, to “see society fully recognise [their] place in its history”? Would a non-binary person be denied entry to the Panthéon by Élisabeth Borne?
And by the way, how can one write “grands” (“great men”) when one is also speaking of women? Let us not be shy. Since, in any case, wokism officially does not exist, we propose the following wording: “AUX GRAND·E·S FEMMES, HOMMES ET NON BINAIRES, LA PATRIE RECONNAISSANTE.” It is our contribution to the debate that she so strongly wishes for.