Thank you for always summarizing the news for us. I wanted to ask the role of the president in India. I've heard mostly of the Prime Minister but little of the president, is it an honorary title?
Thank you, Ornella. So glad you find it useful. You are right, President is a more formal and ceremonial position -- the real power vests with the PM and their cabinet.
Rashtraadhyaksh is again a masculine term, but its feminine counterpart, Rashtraadhyaksha won't have the same problems as Rashtrapatni. So can work, but we'll need two terms. However, it will pose a problem if a non-binary person assumes office in the future. This is going to be a challenge since Hindi/Sanskrit have gendered terms for most such words, so we need to think afresh.
Thanks . But as Namita Bhandare says — Like mantri has evolved as a gender neutral term , maybe adhyaksh can also be given a gender neutral meaning or connotation , to mean - head / leader . Will also work in non binary contexts .
That's the point, I guess. We are okay with masculine terms become gender-neutral over time, which is fine. But would we be okay for feminine terms to become so? :) Going by some of the global examples cited here, I think this is going to be a longer conversation.
Thank you for always summarizing the news for us. I wanted to ask the role of the president in India. I've heard mostly of the Prime Minister but little of the president, is it an honorary title?
Thank you, Ornella. So glad you find it useful. You are right, President is a more formal and ceremonial position -- the real power vests with the PM and their cabinet.
Will Rashtraadhyaksh work as a gender neutral term ?
Rashtraadhyaksh is again a masculine term, but its feminine counterpart, Rashtraadhyaksha won't have the same problems as Rashtrapatni. So can work, but we'll need two terms. However, it will pose a problem if a non-binary person assumes office in the future. This is going to be a challenge since Hindi/Sanskrit have gendered terms for most such words, so we need to think afresh.
You might find this relevant to this point: https://twitter.com/TanaySukumar/status/1553750455385468929
Thanks . But as Namita Bhandare says — Like mantri has evolved as a gender neutral term , maybe adhyaksh can also be given a gender neutral meaning or connotation , to mean - head / leader . Will also work in non binary contexts .
That's the point, I guess. We are okay with masculine terms become gender-neutral over time, which is fine. But would we be okay for feminine terms to become so? :) Going by some of the global examples cited here, I think this is going to be a longer conversation.
Yes, agree . Many thanks for starting this conversation . Learnt a lot