The Senate wants to ban inclusive writing, a text deemed “retrograde” by the left

Lively discussions in perspective: while Emmanuel Macron reiterated his attachment to the “foundations” of the French language, the Senate examines Monday evening a bill aimed at “protecting” the French language “from the abuses of so-called inclusive writing”, a text deemed “retrograde” by the left. On the day of the inauguration by the President of the Republic of the International City of the French Language in the restored castle of Villers-Cotterêts, the coincidence of the calendar gives a certain echo to the work of the senatorial right, which promises some heated debates in the hemicycle from 9:30 p.m.

“Don’t give in to the times”

“We must allow this (French) language to live (…) but also keep its foundations, the bases of its grammar, the strength of its syntax, and not give in to the spirit of the times,” launched Emmanuel Macron at midday from the Château de l’Aisne. “In this language, the masculine is neuter, we do not need to add dots in the middle of words, or hyphens, or things to make it readable,” added the head of state in a statement. barely concealed offensive towards inclusive writing.

The text from Les Républicains senator, Pascale Gruny, tackles this even more head-on: it plans to ban this practice “in all cases where the legislator (and possibly the regulatory authority) requires a document in French”. A wide range is targeted: instructions for use, employment contracts, internal company regulations, but also legal acts, which would then be considered inadmissible or void if the measure were to be applied. The senators are calling for a ban on “grammatical words” constituting neologisms such as “iel”, a contraction of “he” and “she”, or “celeux”, a contraction of “celles” and “those”.

Midpoint, double flexion

“It is a practice which is precisely contrary to inclusion”, pleads to AFP the rapporteur (attached to LR) Cédric Vial. “The most impacted by its use are in fact people with disabilities and illiteracy, or those suffering from dyslexia.” Adopted and even strengthened in committee on Wednesday, the text arouses indignation among part of the left. “It is an unconstitutional, retrograde and reactionary text, which is part of a long-standing conservative trend in the fight against the visibility of women,” is offended by socialist senator Yan Chantrel.

On the other hand, the president of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen explained on the X network (formerly Twitter) that she wanted to “protect” the French language “against wokism, whose inclusive writing is a sinister and grotesque manifestation”. “The French language is a successful creolization” and it “belongs to those who speak it!” replied Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of France Insoumise. Described as a “mortal peril” by the French Academy, but conversely a tool for combating gender inequalities for its defenders, “so-called inclusive” writing designates, according to the Senate text, “editorial and typographical practices aimed at to replace the use of the masculine, when it is used in a generic sense, with a spelling highlighting the existence of a feminine form.

The inauguration of the international city of the French language in Villers-Cotterêts reminds us how much the soul of a people lives in its language. We must protect this inestimable treasure against wokism, of which inclusive writing is a sinister and grotesque manifestation.

— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) October 30, 2023

For the rapporteur, for example, there is “no problem” with the use of “double inflection”, which aims to decline the feminine counterpart of a word, such as “the senators and the senators” instead of “the senators”. The famous midpoint, as in “senateur.rice.s”, is clearly targeted. This is already banned in education by a 2021 circular from the former Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer.

ID cards

Yan Chantrel points out that the current wording of the text would render void all identity documents issued in the old format, which contains the words “born on” for the date of birth. Cédric Vial assures him that this does not fall within the scope of a substituted “generic masculine”. The bill has a good chance of being adopted given the domination of the right and the center in the upper house, which would be a first in Parliament. But there is no guarantee that it will subsequently be taken up by the National Assembly.

The ban on inclusive writing currently exists in a 2017 circular, issued by the former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. This “invited” the ministers, “in particular for texts intended to be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic, not to use so-called inclusive writing”.