Purging sexist references

IN A move that spells trouble for half of Europe's national anthems, Austria's Minister for Women's Affairs has demanded wholesale changes to her country's paean to purge it of sexist references.

References to the "fatherland", "great sons" and "brotherly choruses" should be replaced by gender-neutral terms such as "homeland" and "joyful chorus", said Maria Rauch-Kallat, whose quest stands a fair chance of success.

No matter that Austria apparently has the only national anthem in Europe written by a woman. "Our national anthem is discriminatory," Frau Rauch-Kallat, of the centre-right People's Party, said.

"The federal hymn should be part of every Austrian's identity ... Women's politics are also the politics of language and of shaping consciousness." If she gets her way national anthems across Europe could be in for a shake-up, because all too often they celebrate male heroism hand-in-hand with national identity.

The Italian anthem opens: "Brothers of Italy ...". The French Marseillaise, the most blood-soaked of national anthems, begins: "Children of the fatherland ...," and complains about soldiers who "come to slaughter our children, our wives".

Germany's Deutschland Uber Alles is unthinkable without the fatherland, and in its second verse makes women seem like a quaint tourist attraction: "German women, German loyalty, German wine and German song/ Shall retain in the world/ Their lovely old ring."

Perhaps the least sexist of all national anthems is Britain's God Save the Queen. Since 1745 it has swapped King for Queen, depending on the monarch of the day.

The Austrian national anthem, sung to the tune of a 1791 Mozart cantata, was written by the late Paula von Preradovic in 1947, two years after the modern Austrian State was formed. It won a hotly contested competition in which 1800 possible anthems were submitted to the Government. Frau Rauch-Kallat's call for it to be rewritten has sparked controversy.

Uwe Scheuch, the general secretary of the centrist Alliance for the Future of Austria, called it senseless, and suggested that the minister concentrate on more practical ways of improving the lives of women and girls.

But Liese Prokop, the Interior Minister and a former Olympic pentathlon silver medallist, said that it was only natural to change an anthem to reflect changes in society.

Fritz Molden, Frau von Preradovic's son, told Austria's Kurier newspaper that he had no problem with the proposed changes. The opposition Social Democrats and Greens have also expressed support for the changes, making it likely that they will win the approval of the national assembly.

Frau Rauch-Kallat's move is timely. In neighbouring Germany Angela Merkel remains just about on course to become the country's first woman Chancellor, prompting Austrians to ask whether enough women are involved in their country's politics.

Empress Marie Therese was one of the most influential of Habsburg rulers and is considered, in Austrian textbooks at least, to be a great role model. - © Times News Service, London