Abstract
Thirty years after the Velvet Revolution and the extensive alignment of the Czech anti-discrimination norms and policies with the European and international standards, the development of de-facto gender equality in the Czech Republic is still very slow. Based on a historical analysis of the Czech female empowerment, this paper argues that the present perception of the Czech society regarding gender equality is to a great extent influenced by its past, during which it was developed and shaped in the context of having a constant external enemy.
The paper also points out that this pattern and the construct of a common enemy is being evoked and used in the latest populist attempts to preserve "traditional Czech values" in opposition to liberal western values. Such strategies prevent further progressive development in the field of gender equality and worsen the Czech Republic's cooperation with its Western European partners