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NOUS… LES FEMMES !!! / WE… WOMEN!!!

Céline Cottalorda

“More women are needed on administrative boards.”

Monaco’s Chief Officer for Women’s Rights, Céline Cottalorda, speaks her mind about the
feminisation of job titles, inclusive language and quotas.

Are you for or against the use of inclusive According to IMSEE, just 27.9% of business
language? and administrative management roles are
In written documents, inclusive language is occupied by women. How can this situation
complicated to implement and to read. We shall and these quotas be improved?
have to see how this evolves with time and if We must increase female leadership and have
it would really add anything. For the moment, more women on company boards. Diversity gives
I remain sceptical. rise to more choice for decision-making roles. How
does this work? To boost momentum, quotas are
Is it important to get rid of gender stereotypes? interesting but in Monaco, because of the size of
The aim is to mobilise more men to stand the country, they are not applicable everywhere,
up for women’s rights and that men should all the time. We need custom-made solutions.
feel concerned by this subject – progress in
women’s rights is progress for all. Raising One development in women’s rights is that
awareness is essential in order to get rid of being head of the household is no longer the
stereotypical clichés in, for example, things like sole preserve of men – at least in the case of
women’s mental load. This is the aim of our new civil servants and the self-employed…
campaign, which highlights men and women in Female civil servants and women who work
reversed roles (shopping, looking after children, for the state and who live in the Principality
can now be the head of their household whilst
DIY and so on). The central message is that
© Direction de la Communication - Michael Alesi How do we end the disparity between men’s Eligibility for the family allowance has now been
at the same time receiving family allowances.
everyone has their place in society.
extended to include the self-employed. This is
a noteworthy development, even if it is not yet
and women’s salaries?
Inequality in the workplace between men and
applicable in the private sector.
women is not only noted in the difference in their
pay packets. We also need to examine recruitment,
career paths, the percentage of women in positions As a woman, are you happy about the
decriminalisation of abortion? It remains,
Why does the administration still refer to of responsibility and poverty, as well as the however, forbidden in the Principality.
“Madame le Directeur”? When will job titles difference in pensions. The crisis caused by the As Chief Officer for Women’s Rights and as a
be feminised within Monaco? Coronavirus pandemic has enabled us to shed woman, I am, naturally, satisfied by any measures
I would like to able to move forward on this light on a paradox: women are under-represented aimed at improving women’s rights (including
symbolic question. The custom is that we in decision-making roles and over-represented on the right to control over one’s own body), whilst
respect these ranks, which are expressed in the the front line (nurses, cashiers etc). respecting our values and particularities.
masculine, which actually results in a grammatical
error. Women should be at liberty to decide to
feminise their job titles if they wish, of course,
but we must not put pressure on anyone. Some
women believe they will be less respected if they
feminise their title. Personally, I I have feminised
my title. Language gives structure to thought and
this says a lot about our society. In the Middle
Ages, titles could be expressed in the feminine © Dépositphotos/R4Design
with no problem. [Ed: noble and religious titles
were also widely feminised at that time.]

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