As part of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, we are launching the campaign
“DEX NEEDS SISTERHOOD!”
It is an initiative through which we ask the Romanian Academy to introduce the word “sisterhood” in the Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian Language (DEX).
Help us spread the message!
Sign the petition: https://shorturl.at/eHv71
In a modern society, the official recognition of this concept is essential for strengthening civic and social language, as well as for recognizing the values associated with 4solidarity between women! Sisterhood has existed for centuries, but has long been ignored and underestimated throughout history. The phenomenon has been widely promoted within feminist movements, as a tool for claiming essential rights, fighting against sexism, misogyny and patriarchy, inequalities and for building a fair and safe society for all:
– the suffragette movement that led to women gaining full voting rights;
– 1960–1970, feminist movements used sisterhood to demand equal rights in work, education, to combat violence, and to reclaim control over one’s own body;
– In the 1970s, the Women’s Liberation Movement in the UK, USA, Canada, and France was a political and social movement that involved women’s groups, conferences, protests, and advocacy actions, through which they demanded equal pay, equal access to education and work, the freedom to decide over one’s own body, and financial and legal independence;
– 2017, the #MeToo Movement, a social and cultural phenomenon, a form of solidarity against sexual harassment and abuse.
These are just a few of the movements that show how sisterhood can be the collective force that changes the world.
The word exists in dozens of languages: sisterhood in English, sororité in French, sorellanzá in Italian, hermandad in Spanish, irmandade in Portuguese, sestertvo in Czech and many more. In Romanian language … the word exists, but it is not legitimized.
However, the phenomenon is present daily in the social and community reality in Romania and around the world. We encounter it in friendships, in support groups, in empowerment programs for women and girls, in public policies, in social movements and in everyday life.
Sisterhood exists, lives and functions, and the lack of a name in the DEX limits its visibility and recognition. Sisterhood deserves to be named. Sisterhood deserves to be recognized. Sisterhood deserves to be in the DEX!
In the spirit of sisterhood, we continue an initiative started in 2020 by Aurora Martin, Expert within the National Agency for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men, who for the first time requested the Romanian Academy to officially recognize a term in Romanian to designate empathy, feminine power and solidarity between women.
We thank her enormously and recognize her contribution and are proud to continue her initiative – for all women in Romania!
Why is it important?
✊ Support the introduction of the word “sisterhood” into the DEX!
We live in a patriarchal society that, subtly or directly, teaches us that women must compete with each other. But sisterhood exists and we see it every day!
Sisterhood means the bond of support, empathy and solidarity between women!
The word “sisterhood” originally appeared in the English language, in the 14th century (according to the Oxford English Dictionary and the Online Etymology Dictionary), to designate the biological relationship between sisters. Over time, it has become an essential concept in feminist movements and women’s communities! Sisterhood means that no woman is left behind! It teaches us to recognize and understand that what happens to a woman is not “her personal problem”, but part of a system that can only change through people coming together. It means that her suffering becomes ours, and an isolated experience becomes part of a common struggle.
Sisterhood means transformative collective power, power that can change the world! A phenomenon that has crossed centuries, feminist movements, social revolutions, defined communities, alliances, political changes… and yet… this word, recognized in dozens of languages, does not exist in the Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian Language (DEX).
Through this petition, we ask the Romanian Academy to introduce the word “sisterhood” into the DEX.
We want the Romanian language to officially recognize what already exists!
We want this form of support, collective action and solidarity between women to be visible, named and legitimate!
We want girls and women in Romania to be able to open the DEX and find in it the word that expresses their bonds, connections and inner strength.
We want female power to be officially recognized.
Sisterhood in the DEX it is not a symbolic gesture – it is a necessary step for every woman in Romania – for representation, visibility and recognition!
When a phenomenon has a name – it also has legitimacy!
When it has legitimacy – it has POWER!
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