Draško Đenović and Tatjana Macura discussed the video of Patriarch Porfiri in which he called women “poor women”.
Draško Đenović, a religious analyst, and Tatjana Macura from the Association Mame se zakon discussed the controversial performance of Patriarch Porfiri. Đenović reflected on the patriarch’s words, wondering if it was really about insulting the female gender.
“First, is that statement addressed to all women or to a specific woman who came to a certain place by political will and who believes that the Serbian language should be violated, changing it in some unnatural way. I think that our language is gender sensitive and lawless.’ Jadnica’ and ‘wretch’ are expressions that have existed for hundreds of years. The Serbian language accepts the feminine gender, there are plenty of examples of that. The problem is when something unnatural is imposed. The problem with the video is in the clip that someone skilfully cut and manipulated to show that it applied to all women,” Đenović began.
Then Matsura interjected and said that the whole clip was even worse:
“Believe me, it’s even worse if the whole recording is heard, maybe it’s good that only this shortened part was heard. Is it normal that after 48 hours of this, I can freely say the incident, where the head of the SPC had no information that he was being recorded because his speeches in public, when he knows that he was being recorded, are completely different. As a believer, I can say that I was just misled by his public promotion. So, it was a modern patriarch at the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church who listens to Azra, who listens to the needs of citizens and believers. And then you get this slap of reality behind the scenes, when the spotlights go off and there are no cameras.
“I would cry, I would scream in agony, when I see a poor woman who changes her thesis, then says “why didn’t they take care of women, women are endangered`. Well, they are threatened, we are all threatened by you, poor wretch,” are just some of the words of Patriarch Porfirio when he spoke about “sensitive language” in a video that recently appeared on social networks.
As you can see, the patriarch said them, among other things, at the candlelight feast while someone present was filming him.
“In days of sadness and pain, and when we count the 18th woman victim of domestic violence, and while women are exposed to various forms of discrimination, violence and aggression, the least that is expected of all of us is to be aware of the weight and responsibility for the words spoken,” stated Brankica Janković, Commissioner for the Protection of Equality in her post on the Facebook social network.
Afterwards, Matsura cleared up two misconceptions, but she also mentioned that the patriarch’s words were ill-mannered and rude.
“Instead of getting an apology from the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church because he said something that is unexpected from a man who claims to spread love, peace, and tolerance. Instead of apologizing and saying that he was wrong, it is human to err, all those words were omitted. Women who belong to the SPC and who are believers and how they found themselves offended, there are a lot of us who don’t want to be poor, miserable, maids, housewives… One misconception, I’m sorry that you said that (cf. author. addressed to Đenović), is that the reaction was to gender-sensitive language, and that is not true. Our reaction was rudeness, impoliteness. I also want to dispel another misconception, which is that there is a law on gender-sensitive language. There is no such law. Our Constitution precisely defines that we are a gender-equal country,” said Macura.
Đenović had one question that he did not manage to finish.
“If someone is a believer and is offended by what the patriarch said, I would like to ask if that person went to pray for the patriarch if he thinks he was wrong,” he began, but soon Matsura interrupted him with her presentation
“After all, did the patriarch pray or issue such a statement?! You cannot propagate double standards in our society. You cannot! If we want a society that has no tolerance for violence, then everyone who is in public space must have the same Arshinas about what is socially acceptable.There is no insult or justification that one woman is offended and not all.
After that, there was a lively debate about femicide, but also the number of women and men killed.
Matsura shared the shocking message she received from a retired priest: “I was approached by a priest two days ago who told me that we are not normal mothers. He was referring to the women who rebelled against the terms “poor” and “wretch”. .
Đenović followed up on that.
“What I would add is that the patriarch is very gentle. The only thing that prevents me from saying some things publicly is my home upbringing. I am one of the few religious analysts who does not need the patriarch’s written permission to appear in the media. That is why I know to be critical of to anyone and anything. I don’t believe in political correctness”
Matsura asked him how he would feel if someone called a woman close to him poor and wretched, and Đenović said:
“My mother experienced worse insults. She dealt with it. Everyone finds their own way to do it. I claim another thing, that I have politically correct language if I close the door and beat my wife. “What is happening is much more important to me than what is being said,” he said.
(Mondo/Kurir)