8 May 2021
France’s education ministry rejected leftist demands to radically feminise the French language in schools, which supporters claimed would have fostered a more gender-inclusive society.
Leftists in France have increasingly targetted the grammatical structures of the language itself, with many adding the feminine “e” to the end of words that would not normally have it. The activists claim that by feminising the words, they are making women more “visible”.
France24 explained the grammatical changes put forward by the left, as thus:
Take the generic French word for leaders – ‘dirigeants’ – for example. For some, that masculine spelling suggests that they are generally men and makes women leaders invisible, because it lacks a feminine ‘e’ toward the end. For proponents of inclusive writing, a more gender-equal spelling is ‘dirigeant·es,’ inserting the extra ‘e,’ preceded by a middle dot, to make clear that leaders can be of both sexes.