Od prorokini do marszałkini, czyli o derywacji w miarę potrzeb

The subject of the article is the asymmetry of gender in the Polish language, especially as far as the names of the prestigious professions and functions are concerned (i.e. feminatives). It also considers the function of the feminatives in both language and culture, as well as their modern use especially in ideological disputes. Short history of feminatives in Polish shows, that their presence is a natural way of filling in the lexical gaps related to development of society and changes of civilisation.