Academia, International, Politics, Society

France Rejects Gender Neutral Words As A “Mortal Danger” To The French Language

300px-eugene_delacroix_-_la_liberte_guidant_le_peupleWe recently discussed how the leading Irish university has barred the use of “freshman” in favor of the gender neutral term “fresh.”  The French government came to the opposite conclusion this month after  French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe rejected the demand to make French more “female-friendly” by dropping masculine words.  French, like English, often use the masculine forms as neutral terms.  It will continue to do so.

An example of the change can be found with words like “readers” which is usually written as “lecteurs” rather than the feminine “lectrices”.  Reformers were demanding the rather cumbersome “inclusive” term “lecteur.rice.s”.

Philippe issues an order that reaffirmed that “The masculine (form) is a neutral form which should be used for terms liable to apply to women”.

This debate has been ranging after an elementary school book began to use inclusive versions such as references to farmers as “agriculteur.rice.s” and shop owners as “commercant.e.s”  The respected  Academie Francaise denounced the changes as putting the French language  “in mortal danger”.

 

29 thoughts on “France Rejects Gender Neutral Words As A “Mortal Danger” To The French Language”

  1. I have only this to say about France’s “gender-neutral crowd”: Baise toi !

  2. It is the French Academy which is attempting to set standards for the French language. Sometimes the academicians lose.

  3. Issac, please forgive me on my incorrect use of the French language. Also that grammatical fopa was my fault, not Donald Trumps!

  5. I don’t compliment the French often. I would now, but I suspect it directive has something to do with not pissing off their immigrants.

    1. thanx for posting Sqeeck! Quite the chanteuse — Forgot I had her CD – pulled out, blew off the dust and am happily listening to iher rendition of “La Vie En Rose” right now.

    2. Spot Nick. Remember Jose Bove – that French farmer who vandalized McDonalds 17 years ago? A university educated sheep farmer who felt he was protecting his country. He did go to jail, but continues the fight to protect food and animals. He continues his fight against

      posted 3 days ago on Twitter

      “The scandal of #Glyphosate continues. Consumer poisoning will continue for another 5 years. The precautionary principle is trampled on. #Bayer and #Monsanto managed to twist Merkel’s arm. This is the business’s victory over science.”

      If Brussels keeps this up I predict an even bigger push for Frexit.

  12. I love France annd am delighted to see them not fall prey to the insanity of the PC movement which seems to be spreading. They have always defended their culture – independent bookstores are subsidized and Amazon is heavily taxed. While they can’t compete with Hollywood blockbusters they still manage to produce many good films.

  13. No winners here.
    There is a war on our Culture.
    There is a war on our History.
    There is a war on our Constitution.
    There is a war against our Flag.
    There is a war against our National Anthem.
    Apologies to our Great Veterans.ø

  14. This is quite ironic since it was French philosophers who unleashed postmodernism to begin with.

  15. French phonology is symptomatic of severe gastrointestinal distress as wrought by any of four-hundred varieties of fromage. French orthography, c’est a l’usage qu’on peut juger.

    BTW, what nationality was Chauvin, anyhow?

  17. Western Civilization is going through a rough patch right now. Stories like this however give me hope the insanity the Left has been undermining western culture with might finally be losing momentum. Fundamental transformation is simply a fancy name for national suicide. Thank you France.

    1. What Would Allan Say:

      “Stories like this however give me hope the insanity the Left has been undermining western culture with might finally be losing momentum.” — Olly

      Allan would say:

      “This grammatically incorrect statement of yours creates the impression that principles were involved . . .”

      https://jonathanturley.org/2017/10/24/unfit-or-unpopular-trump-critics-turn-to-the-25th-amendment-to-end-his-presidency/comment-page-3/#comment-1675737

      Or he might say:

      “It was your spelling, grammatical errors and lack of proofreading that lead to my judgment.”

      https://jonathanturley.org/2017/10/24/unfit-or-unpopular-trump-critics-turn-to-the-25th-amendment-to-end-his-presidency/comment-page-3/#comment-1675752

      A judgment that consumes mere mortals; laying waste to all that does not spring from Allan’s eloquent strings of verbiage.

      It’s a shame only two links are allowed.

    2. “Rough patch?” I do believe a little rougher than rough. Fight for survival is more like it.

  19. Same with Spanish. My friends laughed about this and then got to the part about the word negro being banned.

    But how do they say negro then?

    They say black.

    Means the same thing so why are they substituting one same word for another,

    Beats me. nothing better to do at University I guess.

    We went on to a more productive conversation such as how manhy skilled experienced heavy equipment, welders, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, etc etc etc the US was going to need for the infrastructure rebuild. After all the employment rate is so low and it’s well known the one’s left refuse to work.

    Hmmm i thought about it… You have a good point. Just start doing conversational English. That will help and you don’t need anything else.

    Anyway thought about it and that’s how you bring them up to our level but it doesn’t solve the problem of home grown moochers.

    One last question. Will their unions up north object?

    Why should they you will be a dues paying member and the moochers provide them nothing.

    Just to turn this into a worth while conversation… Tht discussion takes place at least twice a week in one form or another. So now we’re teaching them how to afford passports. It’s like the student loans up north were supposed to be. They pay the cost back and it goes to another. If they don’t pay no more passport assistance.

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