Paris suburb renamed 'to symbolise gender equality'

In 2023, the trendy Paris suburb of Pantin hopes to show its commitment to gender equality, and the first step it took was to add the letter "E" to its name.

The commune - part of the capital's inner suburbs to the north which is rapidly becoming a trendy destination for young Parisians - will thus no longer be Pantin (pronounced "pan-tahn"). Instead, in a subtle grammatical change, it will become Pantine ("pan-teen") - the feminine version.

The city's mayor, Bertrand Kern, took to social media to share a video wishing his constituents a happy new year and announcing that his resolution for 2023 would be to commit to gender equality.  

[BONNE ANNÉE 2023 !!!]
Bertrand Kern et toute l'équipe municipale vous souhaitent une très belle année 2023, engagée pour l'égalité ! pic.twitter.com/1vhSZdFYxt

— Ville de Pantin (@VilledePantin) December 31, 2022

In the video, the mayor said that this year, he hoped the city would "fight against violence against women."

"We will add an "E" to the name of the city to challenge people. We want to bring awareness to the need for equality between women and men, which is not yet perfect even though there have been improvements in recent years," he said.

The mayor pointed out that women are still "paid less than men", "kept out of certain jobs" and that their place in the public space "is not always well accepted by men."

Now - when one clicks on the municipality's website welcome page, an animation adds an "E" onto the Pantin. In a statement on the website, the municipality explained while the the temporary name change, which will only be in place for the year 2023, "may seem trivial, but the little "e" catches the eye, raises questions, and challenges people."

But despite the social media video and the change to the webpage, when one enters the locality, the welcome signs will not change, and official letters from the town hall will still reference "Pantin" instead of "Pantine."

The main concrete change will be the addition of an "E" to the giant letters forming the name "Pantin" along the Ourcq Canal.

If the municipality wanted to officially change its name, it would need to go through an involved bureaucratic process - starting with establishing a file with the Ministry for Territorial Collectivities which would then be examined by French mapping experts.

The city's name change has not been met with across-the-board support. Some social media users have called it "parody" and others have said it was "unnecessary." 

Some elected officials for the Paris region have also questioned the mayor's decision. In a tweet on Tuesday, Geoffrey Carvalhinho, an representative from the municipality for the centre-right Les Republicains party and regional councilor for Île-de-France, denounced the fact that the decision had "not been voted on in the city council."

Le changement du nom de la ville de #Pantin pour l’année 2023 n’a pas été voté en conseil municipal et je trouve cela scandaleux car « l’égalité Femmes-Hommes et la lutte contre les violences faites aux Femmes » méritent mieux qu’un coup de communication ! https://t.co/MILdxRjerO

— Geoffrey CARVALHINHO (@GeoffreyCarva) January 3, 2023

The representative attached the name-change, saying that  he "[finds] it scandalous because gender equality and the fight against violence against women deserve better than a communication stunt!"

Later that evening, Bertrand Kern defended his decision in an interview with BFMTV. 

"Sometimes it is necessary to go beyond concrete things, and we must use symbols and question things," Kern said on Tuesday night.