In the past couple of years “gender” has been at the very centre of Hungarian politics and media attention in various connotations.
The word itself irritates the government, often reduced to representing atypical sexual behaviour. Gender studies have officially been removed from higher education curricula.
Regarding equality of chances, the current government has a double faced record. While the 11% share of women in Parliament is the lowest in the EU, and the parliamentary Subcommittee on Women’s Dignity has been inactive for years, two of the most prominent ministers are women.
Despite frequent divorces and scandals linked to prominent members of the governing elite, the conventional family pattern is proactively promoted: the 9th amendment of the constitution establishes that “the mother is a woman, the father is a man”. A change of sex is legally forbidden and same sex marriages are not allowed in Hungary. A law on paedophilia was in the last round combined with restrictions on sexual education stigmatised as propagating and popularising homosexuality and other diversions.
This last legislation piece has a direct bearing on culture. Without details of its implementation, theatres, film-makers, cinemas, publishers, booksellers etc. are kept in uncertainty about possible punishment for violations.
The me-too phenomenon erupted a few years ago with theatres at the centre; cases of harassment and abuse came to light together with stage directors’ bullying behaviour, often in the angle of the bitter political division of the society.
The listed turbulences do not affect the status that women have over the past century achieved in culture and related fields in our society. The outstanding performance of Hungarian women is acknowledged within and outwith the borders in filmmaking, fine arts, literature, theatre, and other cultural areas, including science and sports.
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