Female politicians take flak for sultry calendar

The decision by a group of Public Affairs (VV) female politicians to pose seductively for a calendar has drawn accusations they are making an exhibition of themselves and demeaning politics.

Officially, the women say they posed to highlight the growing presence of women in politics. But despite the country returning the highest number of women MPs ever, 44 in the 200-seat Chamber of Deputies, there are no women in the 15-member Cabinet.

The 2011 calendar, which is being sold by VV for 399 Kč ($20) features the women in nonparliamentary positions and scant attire that could raise the blood pressure of more staid members of the chamber. The calendar can be bought online from the party's Web site.

"We want to draw attention to the fact that we have women in politics," said MP Lenka Andrýsová, who appears in a thigh-high dress kneeling on a sink.

Markéta Reedová, VV candidate for mayor of Prague, pictured reclining in an armchair, was far from apologetic and insisted the calendar highlighted the tolerance of society.

"Women's political influence is growing. Why not show we are women who aren't afraid of being sexy? Czechs are open-minded," she said.

Kateřina Klasnová, the 32-year-old deputy speaker, is photographed lying on a bed wearing a loose-fitting robe.

However, the calendar has drawn a sharp rebuke from other politicians and women's rights groups.

"From a formal point of view, shooting a calendar for the purpose of financing a political party is an entirely legitimate thing," Michaela Appeltová, deputy head of Fórum 50%, an NGO that promotes greater female participation in political life, told The Prague Post. "But we cannot agree with the content of the calendar. VV politicians confirm the stereotype. They are portraying women as sexual objects. The calendar shows women in highly erotic poses that have nothing to do with their political or professional work, only their sexuality. In other words, the calendar encourages voters to 'vote for us because we are beautiful and sexy.' It did not encourage voters to vote for them because they understand their jobs. The male politicians are not depicted in this way. In this respect, emancipation is not yet here."

The charge that the calendar depicts women in a negative way was repeated by Alexandra Jachanová-Doleželová, deputy director of the women's rights group Gender Studies.

"The calendar supports the stereotype that a woman should be beautiful and a sex symbol. This negatively impacts society. It tells women they have to be beautiful to get into the politics and that it is normal to ask women to pose in erotic positions. Politicians should be elected on the basis of merit, not according to their looks," she said.

"We can hardly believe a party promoting equal opportunities for men and women while it earns money through an erotic female calendar. The number of women in Parliament shows that voters want women in politics, but the new government indicated that there is not even a single woman among half of the population qualified to be a minister."

There was also criticism from other politicians.

"The Green Party has always advocated and promoted ethical and fully transparent fundraising and the participation of women in politics," said party spokeman Tomáš Průša. "This will only reduce the participation of women in politics. The ethical fundraising of a political party should not be in the form of cheap marketing."

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