Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves

“FRIEND, sister, mother – Polish woman lift up your head,” begins the anthem of the Congress of Women, organised for the sixth year by the social movement of the same name.^. On May 9th and 10th feminist activists, politicians and several thousand guests gathered in Warsaw to discuss topics ranging from the 10th anniversary of Poland’s membership in the European Union to motherhood. In an effort to appeal to female voters, and with just two weeks to go before the elections to the European Parliament, Donald Tusk, the prime minister, made an appearance.

One of the big themes under discussion was gender, a word that seems to send a shiver down the spine of many a Polish conservative for whom it has become a catch-all term for all sorts of depravity. The Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland’s oldest university, recently changed its mind about awarding José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, an honorary doctorate, allegedly because some of its academics see him as...Continue reading