#inclusive language

[i-just-like-commenting]

Text: decoupling pregnancy from femininity means accurate and more inclusive language and treatment, but it also allows cis women to refuse motherhood without refusing womanhood, which is great for feminism and terrifying for misogyny.

--THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS. As a sterile cis woman who doesn’t want to have children anyway I feel this is every ounce of my being. “Define woman” types tend to do so in a way that excludes me too, so I got to stand with my trans sisters.

[gay-impressionist]

Hi! I’m starting to learn French and one thing that’s both cool and weird to me is how everything is gendered in a way (referring to someone/whose saying the statement/etc.) and I was wondering how that relates to people who identity as non-binary or gender fluid in France? Are there equivalents to they/them pronouns or neo pronouns in French?

I do plan on doing my own research about this but I figured since I love your blog and you’re really open about different cultural lgbtq+ communities I’d try here first!

That's an awesome question... with a complicated answer lmao. So buckle up and bear with me !

Basically, you can't be non-binary in French. The community found ways to do it but it's not mainstream. Most of the time, they're going to get misgendered or will have to misgender themselves to get understood.

Some things I'm going to list here are not proper French. Actually, they can even be forbidden in some circumstances, according to the law (the use of inclusive language, and more specifically le point médian, was made illegal in schools in 2021 for ex) or simply because your company etc forbids it. So use this wisely, there is a time and place for inclusive language in France.

That said, things have greatly developed over the last two decades. Which was partly because of the queer community and mainly because of feminists, who are tired of the way French erases women. More and more people are using inclusive language, at least in some circumstances and circles (for ex, i wrote my master's thesis in inclusive language and it was accepted bc i was in a leftist faculty). And inclusive language is debated as a serious issue now, which is saying something.

So, how do you use inclusive language in practice?

There are different ways, as it's informal and mostly new. People are still testing new things and trying out various methods. You can stick to one or alternate or mix them up.

Pronouns

Officially, there isn't a gender neutral pronoun. We don't have an equivalent to they. You're either talking about a man or a woman. If it's both, you use masculine pronouns ("masculine trumps feminine" rule). Same thing if you don't know the gender of the person ("masculin générique").

The most common neopronoun is "iel" (plural : iels), which is obviously a contraction of the masculine pronoun "il" and its feminine equivalent "elle". It works for nb folks or to avoid talking about someone's gender or to refer to a group of men and women. So it's equally used by the queer community and feminists.

I'm pretty sure other neopronouns exist but I can't think of any at the top of my head.

Choosing the right words

Sometimes, inclusive language is just about learning to use alternatives.

Instead of using gendered words, you can choose to use gender-neutral words or words "épicènes", aka words which are identical in their feminine and masculine form. For ex, instead of "homme politique" or "femme politique", you can use "personnalité politique". Personnalité is a feminine word but it's actually gender-neutral as you can use it for women and men alike. "Élève" (student) is épicène, as a female student and a male student are both referred to as "élève". Although épicène words as a gender-neutral option only work in their plural form, as you have to choose either a feminine or masculine article for the singular ("les élèves" is inclusive but it can only be "un" or "une" élève).

As good as this method is, it can be quite limitating. Your vocabulary will be drastically reduced and it can be quite hard to master that kind of speech so you can reach the point where you don't have to think everything over for ages before you open your mouth.

With oral French, you can take it a step further by choosing words that sound the same even if they have a different spelling. Ex, friend is "ami" or "amie" but it's pronounced the same way so if you say it out loud, people can't know how you're gendering it (as long as there isn't a gendered article/word with it ofc).

It avoids misgendering people but the downside is that, as masculine is considered neutral in French, people will often think : no gender specified = masculine. Not even because they're sexist or whatever, it's just so ingrained in our brains that it's a knee-jerk reaction.

That's also why most feminists often prefer to use explicitly feminine words when talking about women. For ex, they prefer the word "autrice" to "auteure" (female writer) because the second one sounds the same as its masculine version "auteur". And as previously mentionned, out loud, people will assume by default you're talking about a man. It's a big debate though, lots of women prefer words that sound masculine - going as far as refusing to use feminine words at all! Which sounds cool and gender-bending as fuck but in reality comes from feminine words traditionally seen as less legitimate and serious. Even today, if you look up the word empress "impératrice" in a French dictionary, the first definition that comes up is "wife of an emperor". "Woman ruling a country" comes second. Using a masculine title to refer to women can also be a way to mock them and show they're not welcome (a french deputy got fined in 2014 because he called the female president of the national assembly "Madame le président" and refused to use the feminine title "Madame la présidente").

Recently the tendency and official guidelines have been to feminize words, so I'd say go with that by default, but respect other people's choice if they specify how they want to be called.

Anyway I'm getting off-track but what I meant was that in French, if you avoid talking about gender, you're automatically erasing women (and nb people). So if you want to include everyone, you need to make it obvious.

Inclusivity as a statement

The most common way to make women and men equally visible is the "point médian" rule, which you can also use to refer to non-binary people as it avoids picking a specific gender.

Basically, it means pasting together the masculine and feminine forms of a word and using dots/middle dots/hyphens/parentheses/capital letters to create an inclusive word. For ex, instead of saying acteur (♂️) or actrice (♀️) for actor, you'll write "acteur.ice". For the plural form, there are two schools of thought : either you separate the feminine and masculine form AND the suffix used to signify the plural, or you don't. Aka, "acteur.ice.s" or "acteur.ices". Personally I prefer the second option because less dots makes it easier to read and faster to write, but it's an individual choice, both work.

There are two major downsides to this method : it only works in writing + it isn't doable for every word, as feminine and masculine words can be quite different and pasting them together that way would be unintelligible. Ex, "copain" and "copine" (friend or boyfriend/girlfriend depending on the context) would give something like "cop.ain.ine"...

You can work around that by choosing alternative words (as previously stated!). And it's still a pretty good method, especially as it works for any type of word (adjectives etc). Some people argue that it's hard to read and ugly but personally I think it's just a matter of habit (although it does pose a problem for people using screen readers). Be aware that it is the most controversial version of inclusive writing, as it's the furthest structure from how languages typically work.

If you don't like dots or want an alternative for oral speech, you can also straight up create new words that sound both feminine and masculine, making them gender-neutral. To use the previous example, "copain" and "copine" become "copaine".

Obviously, this only works if it's obvious which words they're based on. I think it's a great way to make French more inclusive but I'd advise against using it with uninitiated people as it would probably confuse them more than anything. This method is still quite niche.

An inclusive, yet binary language

As you've probably figured out, inclusive language remains quite binary in the way we approach it. It's more about making things both masculine and feminine than transcending gender and creating gender-neutral alternatives. Probably because inclusive language was more often a will to stop women from being erased rather than a non-binary friendly gesture.

Which means, there are also some rules that were created to avoid the "masculine trumps feminine rule" but don't allow room for non-binarity at all. I'll still explain them because they're interesting and you might encounter them at some point.

The proximity rule ("règle de proximité") is one of these. It existed in Ancient Greek and Latin but was dropped in Modern French in favor of the masculine trumps feminine rule. Basically, you gender things according to what's closest in the sentence instead of systematically using masculine words to gender a mixed group. For ex, instead of saying "Les hommes et les femmes sont beaux" you say "Les hommes et les femmes sont belles", as the subject "femmes" is closer to the adjective "beau/belle" than "hommes".

Another method is to systematically use both masculine and feminine words (which I personally find excruciating to write and read). Meaning, instead of writing "Les étudiants mangent à la cantine" (students eat at the cafeteria), you'll write "Les étudiantes et les étudiants mangent à la cantine".

This is mainly for the subject of the sentence : adjectives and such are gendered according to the masculine trumps feminine rule. The point is to explicitly include women, not to make the sentence unintelligible or gender-neutral.

When following this method, you also have to pay attention to whether you put the feminine subject first or the masculine. The rule is to follow alphabetical order. For ex, in "l'égalité entre les femmes et les hommes", "femmes" comes first because F comes before H. But in "Les auteurs et les autrices de roman", "auteurs" comes first because E comes before R. Etc.

This method is common as it's the only inclusive language you can get away with, given that it's a valid way of speaking French. It's even mandatory in some situations now, like in job descriptions for the french administration, in the spirit of gender equality.

So, how do I gender a non-binary person?

In short, you can use the pronoun iel + avoid gendered words and/or use the point médian and/or make up new words.

But keep in mind that if you're not talking to someone familiar with these rules, you'll have some explaining to do. And looots of people are still very anti inclusive language, because they're sexist and/or transphobic, ignorant, language purists, etc. A few years ago it was the thing to be angry about for conservatives and anti-feminists so it's still very controversial. But if you're in a trans inclusive queer space or talking with intersectionnal leftists, go for it !

I hope I covered everything (fellow french, don't hesitate to comment!) and didn't put you to sleep lmao. If you want to see some examples, you can look it up on Wikipedia or check #bagaitte on tumblr (it's the french queer tag) 😉

[philosophicalconservatism]

When some people insist on the use of "inclusive language" what they are referring to is the use of words without clear or stable definitions. "Tolerance" for them means to be liberated from the constraints of coherent meaning. They are not at war with the narrow judgmentalism of particular individuals but with rational order itself. To work without clear definitions is to abandon reason.

And as I have argued before, the ultimate political tyranny is the one that is not even constrained by principles of reason; a political tyranny that is able to shape reality itself.

[is-it-gender-neutral]

Check back in a week to see the results! If the majority of people vote “No, it is gendered”, then another poll will be done, to determine if the term is feminine or masculine.

[starberrywander]

I'm tired of people debating semantics and derailing conversations so y'know what I'm gonna express my frustration by making shit up. I'm just gonna make up gibberish words, give them definitions, and start using them to confuse people.

Join me if you'd like. I would be very happy if people helped me spread chaos. Like hey, if they're gonna complain and be petty about inclusive language, lets just go all out and really make a whole new vocabulary that they have to learn if hey wanna fight us on this. Make them regret complaining about easy to understand word changes.

I can and will make an entirely new language if that's where this leads.

Process:

Keysmash

Make it pronouncable

Make it sound more englishy (optional)

Add the desired definition

Violá

So topic number one is Sex

Hiksu = The group of categories describing bodily features or functions related to reproduction.

Coiheb = A person who was born with a vagina, uterus, and ovaries. (regardless of their functionality) A person who was, at birth, identified as the phenotype associated with the production of egg cells.

Cewu = A person who currently has a vagina. (does not have to be naturally occuring)

Oweb = A person who is capable of becoming pregnant.

Rucrex = A person who was born with a penis and testes. (regardless of their functionality) A person who was, at birth, identified as the phenotype associated with the production of sperm cells.

Ruedi = A person who currently has a penis. (does not have to be naturally occuring)

Xeituk = A person who is capable of getting another person pregnant.

Cygria = A person of unspecified hiksu.

Edits: Tweaks to the definitions of Coiheb and Rucrex to better address the phenomenon of reproductive-role based physiology differences. This is intended to emphasize the health aspects of hiksu while Cewu & Ruedi emphasize the aesthetic aspects and Oweb & Xeituk emphasize the reproductive aspects.

[ineffectualdemon]

We were talking about inclusive language around pregnancy and childbirth and Kiddo brought "spawn point" to the table

This is my new favourite thing

I am no longer their mother (a term I used even post coming out because I'm lazy) I am now their Spawn Point

This is so fucking funny to me

My kid is fucking hilarious

"Spawn Point"

omfg

[thoughtportal]

Non-binary pronoun in french

[water-kelp]

as a NB linguistics student, whenever I hear a teacher talks about inclusive speech (in gendered languages especially), that makes them so interesting to me. I will 100% follow this course with attention and dedication

[snowgall]

How to sign ‘gay’ or ‘queer’? American Sign Language users don’t agree

Nice article in the Washington Post on the Deaf community’s search for inclusive signs for “queer”, “trans”, “gay” etc. 

“With signs related to identity, it’s personal, and it’s hard to find one sign that works for everyone,” said Julie A. Hochgesang, a Deaf linguist and professor at Gallaudet University in Northeast Washington.

For almost every concept mentioned in the article, there are at least 2 or 3 different ways to sign it, and no clear consensus yet. The one exception is the newer sign for “trans” which was coined in 2003 by a group of Deaf trans people attending a conference:

Morgan Jericho signs “trans” in ASL. (Video: The Washington Post) 

This one is generally accepted by the Deaf trans community, if not yet widely known outside of it.

More from the article:

"While spoken and written languages can spread swiftly through a number of formats, ASL has typically spread through face-to-face interactions and can’t be easily shared by written word, so it can take longer for consensus to form around new signs. For much of ASL’s history, those who have had the most power to disseminate signs have been straight, White, cisgender people, according to Deidra Pelletier, vice president of the Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf. “In the past, much of the queer community was closeted, so they didn’t really have the chance to discuss or analyze signs in large groups with straight people,” she said. The rise of video-based social media is allowing ASL to spread more rapidly and is empowering the Deaf queer community to exert more influence over American Sign Language."

This is a gift link to the article, and should work even if you don't subscribe to the Washington Post:

https://wapo.st/3qZtNyY

[dykeredhood]

I would never lie about The Wiggles btw

The Wiggles' songwriting and performances were rooted in their professional training as pre-school teachers and in the concepts of early childhood education. Field reported, as he studied music for young children at university, being "shocked ... at the non-inclusive way music for children was usually performed". According to Field, children had to sit silently as musicians played "traditional songs often featuring negative or outdated lyrics and dealing with subject matter of no interest to small children". The lack of songs with themes and topics that interested children inspired Field to record the Wiggles' first album. …

They believed in empowering children by practices such as greeting their audience members with "Hello, everyone", instead of "Hello, boys and girls" which, as Paul Field explains, "unnecessarily separates children and has undertones of condescension".

[sarcasticsweetlara]

How to write in Spanish using neutral language

As a native Spanish speaker, I want to tell you how to use an inclusive language without assuming how a person identifies.

As a gendered language, Spanish has had the use of masculine (Él/el/lo/o) and feminine (Ella/la/a) nouns, just like the use of neutral terms (words like: * persona/médico/profesional/cliente/pareja, etc), and the neo nouns (elle/ele), and this is where it can get confusing.

Elle and ele are used usually for people who identify as non-binary or are gender fluid, and there is nothing wrong with using neo nouns but the term is a label that does not exactly fit everyone and without specifications it can be a little bit exclusive as you don't know if your reader is on the fence regarding how they identify or if they already identify as a man or a woman.

So here is how you have to write:

- Use neutral terms, like the ones mentioned above 🔝*

Other examples: ° "Sonriendo, aceptaste el regalo de la persona enfrente tuyo" - Translation: "Smiling, you accepted the gift from the person in front of you".

° "El anfitrión va a anunciar a la persona que ganó" - Translation: The host is going to announce the winner. ~ Tip: Saying "la persona (que)" alongside a verb/adverb/adjective gives the object or subject whom we are referring into a gender neutral meaning.

- Use neutral possessives:

° "Su risa era contagiosa" - Translation: Their laugh was contagious. ~ Tip: When "su" is written it's like a neutral possessive, like saying "their".

° "El cabello de (character) se mecía en el viento" - Translation: (character)'s hair was flowing in the air.

I hope this will help you.

[ipsogender]

Asking fellow intersex people about use of h-word in biology

Hello fellow intersex tumblr people! I wanna get a sense of how other intersex people feel about the use of the h-word in biology and what alternatives, if any, should be used, to ensure that intersex people feel comfortable when there's discussion of species that reproduce as both male and female.

I'm asking both as a co-organizer of @intersexbookclub (plenty of scifi and fantasy have aliens/fantasy species that reproduce as both male & female) and as somebody who works as a science educator. There is an explanation of alternative terms below the poll if they're new to you! Please only vote if you know you are intersex.

Explanation of Alternative Terms

Biologists distinguish two types of h-word:

Simultaneous H-word. Species that can reproduce as both male and female at the same time. Botanists call this "cosexual" so there's already an alternate word for this.

Sequential H-word. Species that can reproduce both ways, but only one way at a time. Botanists call this "dichogamous" so again, alternate word available!

But to the best of my knowledge, there's no existing alternate word for referring to both cosexual and dichogamous species.

The opposite of the h-word in biology is gonochoric, which refers to species that reproduce sexually but individuals are either female or male.

The term "non-gonochoric" gets used in the scientific literature to refer species that are cosexual, dichogamous, or who reproduce asexually (e.g. through parthenogenisis).

I spent a bunch of time brainstorming ideas for coining a term to replace the role of the h-word in biology. The term I'm happiest with is gonosyne, designed to contrast with gonochoric. Gonochoric comes from old Greek affixes (gono- for generation, now associated with reproduction; -choric for separated). Whereas syn- refers to together/combined, so gonosyne for together/combined gonads.

Let me know what makes sense for you, if you have questions, or feedback!

[is-it-gender-neutral]

Check back in a week to see the results! If the majority of people vote “No, it is gendered”, then another poll will be done, to determine if the term is feminine or masculine.

[rjalker]

[ID: Several slides made in MS Paint, with black bold font against a white background.

The first reads, "Why is inclusive language so important when talking about the right to have an abortion? Here's the simple answer." with three simple figures of people below it, one pink, one yellow, and one blue, using the default colors of MS Paint.

The second reads, "Because not everyone who has a uterus and the ability to become pregnant is a woman. Cis women, some nonbinary people, and trans men can all become pregnant - but they're not all women.". Gender symbols have appeared on the chest of each figure: The Venus symbol, a circle with a line going down, crossed with a smaller line on the pink person, a nonbinary symbol with a circle and a diagonal-to the upper left line with a smaller circle on the end for the yellow, and the Mars symbol, a circle with a diagonal to the upper right line with an arrow on the end for the blue.

The third reads, "These people aren't all women, but they can all become pregnant.". with black lines pointing from the text to each person, who are now labeled, "Cis women" for the pink, "nonbinary people" for the yellow, and "trans men" for the blue.

The fourth reads, "Now you might be tempted to argue, 'It's still an attack on cis women!' And you'd be right! But it's not just an attack on cis women. Trans men and nonbinary people do not have access to abortion and other reproductive healthcare just because they aren't women". The gender symbols remain on the chests of the figures, but the other labels are gone.

The fifth reads, "In fact, there are even more barriers between nonbinary people and trans men and getting the reproductive healthcare they need than cis women! Read that again: It is even more difficult for trans people to get access to healthcare than it is for cis women.".

The sixth reads, with lines pointing down from the text again, and the other labels back, "These people can all become pregnant. They are not all women. The system does not care about that. Nonbinary people and trans men do not get any special privileges for not being women.".

The seventh reads, "Women deserve the right to have safe, normalized abortions. So does everyone else who can become pregnant.".

The eighth has the three figures now holding hands and raising them above their heads, with a shared speech bubble that reads, "We deserve the right to decide what happens to our bodies!"

The ninth shows six figures, all with their arms raised and hands clasped, two of each gender, with a shared speech bubble over their heads as they shout together, "No one gets left behind!".

End ID.]

[cepheusgalaxy]

On inclusive language: by a nonbinary transmasculime person

"Ladies and gentleman", "boys and girls", "man and woman". Gendered language is everywhere, and if we want to pratice more inclusive language to represent more people and not be dumbass assholes, we gotta be thoughtful.

I see some people around trying to substitute "ladies and gentleman", with things like "ladies and gentleman and those of us who know better" etc and etc, but I'd like to offer the inight that maybe that's not themost inclusive language out there.

We are accidentally excluding questioning people, people who both "know better" and are a lady or a gentleman, etc etc.

But that would leave us down a rabbit hole, where we keep adding and adding specifics to include every person out there, and it wouldn't work.

The solution? Generalize.

When we try to substitute "women" in certain cases, like with people who have periods, we might feel prone to say "afab people" but wait! What about intersex afab people without uteruses or afab people who had their uteruses removed? What about amab people who have uteruses? What about afab people with uteruses that don't have periods for a variety of reasons? We couldn't possbly list them all in a practical sentence!

Unless we generalize. Say "people with periods". No need to specificate. That's what relevant for what you're talking about.

"Men and women?" Avoid "men and woman and nonbinary people and multigender people and questioning and...", try "people/human beings/mankind". What I've found extremely upsetting with inclusive language is when people take an outdated but generalized term (e.g. using Men to say Human kind) and specify it more to include more people ("men and women") but by taking the generalization away, you exclude so many people. That's why we should generalize.

Another example of overspecifying is in my language, with lots of gendered nouns (like president or doctor) who were usually used in a masculine looking form, are now being susbtituted by alternatives that include a masc and a fem form. O presidente + A presidenta. That includes she/hers but its not including everyone. Sometimes it includes less people, because it takes the generalization away. But does that mean we should go back? No! No, I say. We need to go further. Include more people by saying less.

That said, my favorite substitute for Ladies and Gentleman? "Beloved audience". It's classy, it sounds nice (unlike esteemed guests, for me dont judge me) and better, it's general.

So, yeah, TL;DR: Don't overspecify. Generalize.