Since the publication of a textbook by Hatier using this communication deemed non-sexist by its supporters, the subject has been the subject of discussion.
For the defenders of this writing, it makes it possible to take a step towards equality between men and women.
But these detractors find it too complex, too ugly...
Wanting to develop the French language is always a risky business.
The publisher Hatier realized this again by using inclusive writing in a CE2 textbook published for this start of the school year.
The names of professions are written there as follows: agriculturist.rice.s, craftsmen.es, tradesman.es Which triggered a slew of fiery reactions, both positive and negative.
Linguists, philosophers and intellectuals of all types are far from unanimous on the subject.
“Inclusive writing is becoming a social issue.
Before, it was a quarrel of experts.
Because we are going through a period of deconstruction of all the mechanisms of relegation of women, ”says Raphaël Haddad, author of an inclusive writing manual and founder of the Mots-clé agency.
It has even become a political subject, a group of LR deputies having written to the Minister of Education asking him to ban inclusive writing in school textbooks.
"Politicians are constantly having debates over words, so it's not surprising that the subject fascinates", comments Raphaël Haddad.
It accelerates “the deconstruction of inequalities between men and women”
On the side of the partisans of non-sexist communication, several arguments are put forward justifying its development in society.
First of all, granting trades, grades, functions, titles, according to gender, would have consequences not only on the representations that we have of them, but could also encourage female vocations.
“Inclusive writing is a powerful lever for the feminization of the workforce in certain professions,” says Raphaël Haddad.
On the other hand, advocates of this use of language also suggest replacing the words "man" and "woman" with more universal terms, such as human.
For example, we would no longer speak of “human rights”, but of “human rights”.
They also advocate the use of the midpoint including both genders so that the masculine no longer prevails over the feminine.
Instead of writing the senators, we would indicate for example the senators.
“Currently, the masculine is considered the norm, the feminine the exception.
Far from being anecdotal, inclusive writing accelerates the deconstruction of gender inequalities,” argues Raphaël Haddad.
Inclusive writing, “anti-sexist” writing that is #debating https://t.co/MQfZqXQhpj pic.twitter.com/RB0q8h7Cap
– Le Soir+ (@lesoirplus) October 8, 2017
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And he's not the only one to think so.
A few days ago, the Ministry of Labor published a guide to good practices to help small and medium-sized businesses achieve gender equality in the workplace.
Among its recommendations, "eliminate all sexist expressions" such as Mademoiselle ("Mister and Madam are enough"), match the names of professions with the sex of the person (engineer, team leader) or even use the masculine and feminine.
“Tell the customers and customers.
In writing you can simplify: customers,” recommends the guide.
Several corporate or institutional initiatives also show that inclusive writing is gaining ground in France.
The National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts now indicates “Engineering School” on all its communications.
Because our #trainings are open to everyone, we have changed the logo of our engineering school #EcritureInclusive #JNI2017 pic.twitter.com/HH11qEuyyT
– Le Cnam (@LeCnam) October 17, 2017
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She is accused of being illegible, ugly…
Still, the counter camp is quite upset on the subject.
And also advances many arguments.
“The primary intention of enhancing the visibility of women is good.
But I'm not in favor of inclusive writing.
First of all because the use of the midpoint leads to the dislocation of language and to heterogeneity in the reading of words.
How will children who are learning to read decipher these words including the midpoint?
asks the philosopher Catherine Kintzler.
An opinion shared by the Minister of Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer: “this inclusive writing, it breaks up the words”, he indicated this week on LCI.
"We have to go back to the basics of vocabulary and grammar, I find that adds complexity that is not necessary," he also said on BFMTV on Monday.
For Jean-Michel Blanquer, inclusive writing "adds unnecessary complexity" pic.twitter.com/YGDGowSr2R
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) October 16, 2017
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Catherine Kintzler also believes that inclusive writing poses other problems: “We say the victim, the person.
How do we deal with these feminine words which can nevertheless designate a man as well as a woman?
she asks.
More generally, she believes that inclusive writing “systematically introduces a distinction between the two sexes instead of indifferentiation.
We would like to separate men and women, we wouldn't do it any other way, ”she told
20 Minutes.
Positions that seem so clear cut that one wonders if they will be reconciled one day.
Raphaël Haddad remains confident: “language always evolves through controversy.
Ten years ago, some cried wolf when talking about Chancellor Merkel.
This is no longer the case today.
The new uses of the language always end up triumphing and being recognized in the dictionaries,” he says.
gender equality
Women
Womens rights
Education
French language
Discrimination
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