A new revolution is under way … against the macho French language
There’s a feminist linguistic campaign happening and French language purists are alarmed
Moves to make French more female-friendly have sparked impassioned debate in France, with an appalled Academie Francaise warning of a “mortal danger” to the language of Moliere.
At the centre of the debate is the growing use of formulations such as “lecteur.rice.s” for the word “readers” to embrace both genders.
Several government ministries, universities and labour unions use so-called “inclusive writing”, but it had largely escaped public notice – until this autumn when it turned up in an junior school history textbook.
The Academie Francaise, the arbiter of the French language which has inducted just eight women since its foundation in 1635, did not mince words.
“In the face of this ‘inclusive’ aberration, the French language finds itself in mortal danger,” the body intoned.
The widespread adoption of inclusive writing would add a layer of complexity that would make French less attractive on the world stage to the benefit of other major languages, it argued.