Faced with the traditional rule of “male wins”, some teachers, like Alice, a professor from Jumet, choose inclusive writing to help the language evolve towards more equality. But what about official guidelines?
In its recommendations, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation encourages inclusive writing which does not exclude anyone, but has not included this practice in school curricula.
As linguist Laurence Rosier explains in an RTBF article, this subject is generally reserved for the last years of secondary school or university courses, where it is approached from a philosophical and linguistic angle. Moreover, in the government agreements of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation last summer, it is specified that inclusive writing can complicate the learning of French for certain students.
However, in terms of raising awareness of gender issues, several forms of inclusive writing were officially recognized by a decree of 2022. This text, which aims to reinforce the feminization of profession names, promotes non-discriminatory practices in official communications of the Federation. It assigns the government the task of establishing rules and recommendations for feminization, in consultation with the French Language Council.
Some practical advice
To accompany these guidelines, a guide has been published, offering practical advice for accessible inclusive writing. This guide, developed by two linguists, offers some principles that everyone can apply:
- Use formulations that can be pronounced naturally orally.
- Prefer feminine nouns to designate women, without systematically avoiding masculine terms.
- If you teach French, replace the rule “masculine prevails over feminine” with “masculine gender is also used for mixed groups.”
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