Approaching gender in the French language

Gender  issues has been a hot topic for us at Apostroph Germany for quite some time now – for the German language. But what does this entail in my native tongue of French (important detail: in France!)? 

As I recently read a very interesting French book about gender and trans identities (Une histoire de genres by Lexie), since the topic interests me also from a linguistic point of view, and because I suddenly didn’t know any more what I was allowed to say/write in French to whom, I decided to examine the issue more closely. Gender identity, gender inclusiveness, gender neutrality … it’s all quite overwhelming! 

French is spoken by about 300 million people around the world – that’s around four per cent of the global population – and the International Organisation of La Francophonie has of course published recommendations for writing in a gender-sensitive and gender-inclusive way. These recommendations also reflect those of the UN. Important international authorities on the French language, including the Quebec Board of the French Language, Canada’s Translation Bureau, the Direction of the French language in Belgium, and Switzerland’s Central Language Services, Terminology Section, have also issued recommendations that are more or less the same, but with some small but subtle differences. There are also recommendations for the French-speaking population in Africa. The African Union has made available relevant guidelines to its member states.

But what is the situation for the French language in France?

There are, of course, recommendations. It’s just that those of the Haut Conseil à l’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes of the French Republic contradict those of the Académie française, the body that regulates and standardises how the language should officially be used in France, even though there has not been a linguist among the 40 ‘immortals’ – as its members are known – since 1903. 

The Académie française takes a conservative approach. As in the German language, French uses the ‘generic masculine’ form to represent both men and women. And that is not allowed to change. Even today. Not even if you are speaking about 99 women and one man. Moreover, in 2014, the Académie deemed feminine terms for professions like chirurgienne (female surgeon) to be barbaric. However, the Académie has since then become more flexible on this matter and stated in 2019: ‘Il convient de laisser aux pratiques qui assurent la vitalité de la langue le soin de trancher : elles seules peuvent conférer à des appellations nouvelles la légitimité dont elles manquaient à l’origine’ (English: The decision should be left to practice or to the practitioners [of the language] who ensure the vitality of the language: only they can give new terms the legitimacy they originally lacked).

So what are we to do?

I believe it simply depends on who the text is for and what kind of text it is!

Is French an inclusive language?

Unlike in German, it is possible to use French in a completely ‘non-binary’ way – with newly formed gender-free or hybrid pronouns. However, this linguistic form is still very rare and still feels very strange to read or write. In my opinion it only serves a political or sociological purpose and does not even have official status at this point, although the new pronoun ‘iel’, which is gender-neutral, did enter the Robert lexicon in 2021. 

I’m not feeling any less overwhelmed. Quite the opposite!

Because these days it’s simply not enough to just translate a text. Questions and more questions: French. But for what country? What kind of audience is the text destined for? What style should it be written in? Are there glossaries to follow? What is the purpose of the text? And – very important – does the client want gender-sensitive language or would it be counterproductive for the intended purpose? And, not least, depending on the context: does our client want not only gender-sensitive language but also a style that addresses all genders, including non-binary people? 

Only by taking all of this into consideration can we best satisfy our clients’ needs and communicate their message in a modern and accurate way – and that’s in line with the desired purpose of their text. All of these factors definitely make writing and translating more complex, but also much more challenging and exciting!

Corinne Gardivaud

Corinne Gardivaud - our charming and absolutely irreplaceable colleague in our Bremen office who, as part of our French team, has been very committed and successful in ensuring the quality of our French translations since 1996 and, together with her colleagues, looks after many other languages on top of that. A high quality of work and smooth working processes are as indispensable to her as a harmonious, well-coordinated team. A colleague we can always rely on
Corinne Gardivaud