Gender-neutral language

The notion that parts of the English language were sexist was brought to mainstream attention in Western English cultures by feminists in the 1970s. Simultaneously, the link between language and ideologies (including traditional gender ideologies) was becoming apparent in the academic field of linguistics. In 1975, the National Council of Teachers of English published a set of guidelines on the use of "non-sexist" language. Backlash ensued, as did the debate on whether gender-neutral language ought to be enforced. In 1983, New South Wales, Australia required the use of they in place of he and she in subsequent laws. In 1985, the Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion passed a motion for all its ensuing publications to include "non-sexist" language. By 1995, academic institutions in Canada and Britain had implemented "non-sexist" language policies. In 2006, "non-sexist" was challenged: the term refers solely to the absence of sexism. In 2018, the State of New York enacted policy to formally use the gender-neutral terms police officer and firefighter. at a feminist protest in Madrid, Spain ==Terminology and views==

General Historically, the use of masculine pronouns in place of generic was regarded as non-sexist, but various forms of gender-neutral language have become a common feature in written and spoken versions of many languages in the late twentieth century. Feminists argue that previously the practice of assigning masculine gender to generic antecedents stemmed from language reflecting "the prejudices of the society in which it evolved, and English evolved through most of its history in a male-centered, patriarchal society." During the 1970s, feminists Casey Miller and Kate Swift created a manual, The Handbook of Nonsexist Writing, on gender neutral language that was set to reform the existing sexist language that was said to exclude and dehumanize women. In 1995, the Women's Press published The A–Z of Non-Sexist Language, by Margaret Doyle. Both publications were written by American authors, originally without the consideration of the British-English dialect. It has become common in some academic and governmental settings to rely on gender-neutral language to convey inclusion of all sexes or genders (gender-inclusive language). Various languages employ different means to achieve gender neutrality: • Gender neutrality in languages with grammatical gender • Gender neutrality in genderless languages • Gender neutrality in English Other particular issues are also discussed: • Gender marking in job titles • Gender-specific and gender-neutral pronouns Gender indication There are different approaches in forming a "gender-neutral language": • Creating alternative gender-neutral pronouns, such as "hir" or "hen" in Swedish. Specific examples • NASA now prefers the use of "crewed" and "uncrewed" instead of "manned" and "unmanned", including when discussing historical spaceflight (except proper nouns). == Controversy ==

Argentina Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, implemented a policy in June 2022 that forbade public educational institutions from using gender-neutral language on the basis that gender-neutral language is grammatically incorrect and causes developmental learning issues for students. In the Spanish language nouns are either feminine (usually ending in "a") or masculine (usually ending in "o"), but in recent years gender-neutral endings like "x" and "e" have gained popularity; for example, "Latinx" or "Latine" have become the gender-neutral options for the previously binary "Latino" or "Latina." Buenos Aires' objection to gender-neutral language in the classroom stems from concerns about linguistic correctness and preservation of the Spanish language. A Law, sanctioned by President Lula on November 17 of 2025, instituted the National Plain Language Policy (Law 15.263/25), and in its item XI, Article 5, it states "not to use new forms of inflection of gender and number of words in the language in contravention of the consolidated grammatical rules, (Volp) and the Orthographic Agreement of the Portuguese Language, promulgated by Decree No. 6,583, of September 29, 2008". Supreme Federal Court (STF) has revoked several laws and law proposals against the use of gender-neutral language in schools, either municipally or statewidely, since 2023. The justices analyzed an Allegation of Non-Compliance with a Fundamental Precept filed by the and the Brazilian Association of Homotransaffective Families in a virtual plenary. and the ban entails censorship of teachers, affecting the dignity of non-binary people — those who do not identify exclusively as male or female — by prohibiting them from using the language in which they feel most comfortable. The institutions recall Supreme Court decisions that recognized the rights of the LGBTI+ population. Canada University of Toronto psychology professor Jordan Peterson uploaded a video to YouTube expressing his opposition to Bill C-16 – An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code, a bill introduced by Justin Trudeau's government, in October 2016. The proposed piece of legislation was to add the terms "gender identity" and "gender expression" to the Canadian Human Rights Act and to the Criminal Code's hate crimes provisions. In response to the passing of the bill, Peterson has stated he will not use gender-neutral pronouns if asked in the classroom by a student. A number of French politicians opposed the new addition. Jean-Michel Blanquer, the French Minister of Education, tweeted: "inclusive writing is not the future of the French language." Similarly, François Jolivet, a French politician, accused the dictionary of pushing a "woke" ideology that "undermines [their] common language and its influence", in a letter addressed to the Académie Française. Italy The Italian language contains grammatical gender where nouns are either masculine or feminine with corresponding gendered pronouns, which differs from English in that nouns do not encode grammatical gender. For example, "tavola" (in English table) in Italian is feminine. Developing a gender-neutral option in Italian is linguistically challenging because the Italian language marks only the masculine and feminine grammatical genders: "friends" in Italian is either "amici" or "amiche" where the masculine "-i" pluralized ending is used as an all-encompassing term, and "amiche" with the feminine "-e" pluralized ending refers specifically to a group of female friends. Some Italian linguists have signed a petition opposing the use of the schwa on the basis it is not linguistically correct. Other solutions proposed are the asterisk , the , the at sign , the and omitting gender-specific suffixes altogether. In March 21, 2025, the Italian Ministry of Education mandated that schools in the country ban the use of gender-neutral language, such as asterisks and schwa. Philippines The Supreme Court of the Philippines in a 16-page judgment promulgated in October 2023, reminded "judicial officers to be circumspect in their language after it observed that both the judge and prosecutor in the case used nongender-fair language. Together, the foregoing reinforces the trope that women are out to entrap men into marriage. The disparaging language shifts the blame on the woman for marrying the unfaithful man after getting pregnant as if society did not stigmatize single mothers,” Acting Chief Justice Marvic Leonen held. United States The American English language contains gendered connotations that make it challenging for gender-neutral language to achieve the desired linguistic equality. "Male default" is especially prominent in the United States and often when gender-neutral language is used around traditionally male institutions, the neutrality does not prevent people from automatically translating "they" to the default "he." Tensions over gender-neutral language in discussions of pregnancy, such as the use of the term "pregnant people" instead of "pregnant women", have become part of the broader American culture wars. ==See also==