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The Braunschweig linguist Martin Neef considers gendering to be problematic.
The use of the so-called Binnen-I for the female form of a word or the gender star for all genders is politically motivated, said Neef in an interview with the Evangelical Press Service.
“It is being promoted very successfully by certain circles.
And if you don't gender, you can be understood to mean that you are not in favor of equal rights. ”He himself is very much committed to equal rights, but considers Genderstern and Binnen-I to be hostile to men.
The word “participant”, for example, describes a woman, Neef explained: “And if I add a star or capitalize a letter, it still remains a 'participant' or 'participant', i.e. a woman.
Structurally, this means only women, neither men nor diverse. "
According to Neef, the German language used to be gender-equitable, even without gendering.
Today, however, everyone in school learns that gender and the grammatical category gender are the same.
“That is by no means the case.
Every noun has a gender, i.e. it is masculine, feminine or neuter, such as the mouth, the nose or the eye.
However, this has nothing to do with the human gender, which can only be specific to specific people.
The genera of language are grammatical categories, abstract quantities. "
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With this knowledge, there would be nothing against using words such as “participant”, but also “doctor”, “student” or “teacher” for all genders, including people of diverse genders, emphasized the expert: “Then nobody would be needed the gender star. ”However, because the“ -in-forms ”had prevailed in the past, it became necessary to invent a new form for the third gender.
Neef himself does not reject gendering categorically: "When I have a woman in front of me, I of course address her as a journalist." When he gives lectures on gender, he sometimes says "Dear people present".
“I want to be perceived as respectful and address everyone with respect.
In my opinion, however, a form like 'participant' is not respectful. "