While on the networks, masses of Internet users are waging the war on inclusive writing, in the Assembly, members of Parliament are squarely in favor of its ban. Explanation of a rear guard fight.
When a small midpoint has the effect of a bomb: about sixty deputies from the ranks of La République En Marche and the Republicans will soon propose a law to ban inclusive writing in administrative documents and for legal persons entrusted with a public service mission. The text, which will be tabled within the framework of the law known as “against separatism” therefore has above all a symbolic significance. Its opponents, mainly from conservative currents of thought, rally to the opinion of the French Academy, which makes it a danger for the French language by citing, among other things, reasons of readability for people with dyslexia. .
It is no wonder that this fight against inclusive writing comes to us from reactionary political forces. Indeed, our language shapes our view of the world. By making it more egalitarian, the whole of society would be changed in the medium term, as the University of Saclay explains: little girls would more readily imagine themselves as an author or XX, employees would find themselves more supported in gender equality in business and the masculine gender would cease to prevail in texts as in life, at least we can hope in the long term. An ambition that is not to the taste of the guardians of the patriarchal order …
Behind the inclusive writing ban, the ultraconservatives
Éliane Viennot, linguist and professor emeritus, reminds us: the first debates about inclusive writing were launched by the Manif Pour Tous in 2017. The anti-gay marriage collective then just noticed the presence of inclusive writing, under the form of abbreviations with midpoints, in a textbook. Raising the shield: the Manif Pour Tous succeeds in bringing the subject back to the Ministry of National Education, which declares itself against its use in textbooks. Indeed, for this collective, this job reflects the significance of what he calls "the ideology of gender" which is diffused in education. Inclusive writing, which makes it possible to encompass the different genres in a whole, would be harmful for the construction of benchmarks, necessarily binary according to its opponents, children.
This reactive fight will therefore have infused even among the "Sages" of the Academy, who needed to justify their opinion "objectively". And are rallying for that to the opinions of certain scientists or social workers. For the former, inclusive writing is nothing less than a "mortal peril" that risks destroying the unity of French people (just that). For the latter, and this is more annoying, the midpoint would hurt people with great difficulty with reading or spelling. We can still be surprised that academics are based on this opinion, knowing that the rest of the time, the fate of these people does not move them much … The fact remains that they are today taken up by part of the political class.
"Medicine" and "painter", or when the language was inclusive
In February 2021, MP François Jolliet and his right-wing supporters want to ban inclusive writing. Éliane Viennot discusses their action on her Facebook page. And the finding is severe: "No one knows what inclusive writing is, and no one has tried to find out. All these little people are fighting against typographical signs – which are to inclusive language what sardines are to wearing Marseille. Here colorful protests, there administrative appeals against regulations where there are some. But the funniest thing, these days, is the quarantine of sheep ready to follow the leading ram François Jolivet and to jump into the sea to dislodge the said sardine. By signing a bill to ban these signs. " Another problem noted by Éliane Viennot: "The signatories take a position in favor of the 'generic masculine' (…) an (approximate) way of speaking of mixed groups". According to the specialist, this recommendation poses a problem, because it effectively makes the feminine invisible. "This is a false theory, dozens of psycholinguistic experiments prove that we represent men when we hear of a group in the masculine form), she explains, who only tries to explain why the terms designating women are absent from a text where, however, it is a question of them.No grammar, that I know of, has ever instituted a rule stipulating that feminine terms, or their marks should disappear from this type text."
In addition to serving an agenda that smacks of hegemonic masculinity, this case is also ironic. Because inclusive writing and inclusive language in general are not a "trend" or new – these are old rules that are simply being rediscovered. Éliane Viennot claims to be a "teacher", "and Voltaire did not say anything else" she specifies. Before him, in the Middle Ages, street criers used the formula "to all". And if certain words have lost their feminine character following the prohibition of certain professions for women, it was nevertheless admitted in the past to be "medicine", "painter", "author" or "procurator". It is even a pillar of egalitarian language, explains Éliane Viennot, because to think about equality between women and men, we must also be able to represent women in the language.
When de Gaulle spoke inclusive language
This is the heart of the matter: choosing inclusive is nothing more than writing including both men and women. This is done in different ways: by associating the feminine and the masculine words; or by finding tips that are gender neutral. Thus, De Gaulle spoke inclusive language with his famous "Françaises, Français", which he was the first to use. Mocked at the time by academics (already them!), This term is now a staple in political discourse, underlines Éliane Viennot. The linguist also takes issue with the legibility argument. Writing inclusive would be elitist and penalizing for people who speak the language less well? "I do not brush aside the difficulties, but they are caused by bad practices" answers the professor. The difficulties are caused by a lack of common standards; However, these are in the process of being put in place by the High Council for Equality, whether concerning midpoints or majority and proximity agreements, in a project expected in spring 2021.
When we know the best practices, and new work is currently being done to make them accessible, they are applicable by everyone. Knowing that this little gymnastics quickly becomes a reflex: feminizations are indeed instinctive. It is also possible to be cunning, using encompassing expressions: to speak of "the student community" instead of "the students", for example. And why not change the status of auto-entrepreneur (male) to a status of auto-enterprise (inclusive)? "You have to observe the language, rethink it and reflect on your language responsibilities", invites Éliane Viennot, who runs an exciting blog for anyone interested in the subject. The researcher also proposes to write to the deputies who signed the bill to suggest that they reflect on this responsibility. To your keyboards, inclusive, of course!