Page 107 - Šolsko polje, XXXI, 2020, 5-6: Teaching Feminism, ed. Valerija Vendramin
P. 107
. šorli ■ feminism and gender-neutral language: between systems and effects
A Brief Overview of the History of GNL in Slovenia and Abroad
It is important to note that specifically addressing the topic of gender equal-
ity began in feminist linguistics and in women’s studies of the 1970s, pro-
ducing the strongest traditions in France and the USA. A ground-break-
ing work about gender categories in language from this period is Language
and Woman’s Place by Robin Lakoff from 1975, although the author’s bi-
nary oppositional conceptualisation of gender and gender difference is ob-
solete from today’s perspective. Another book, Man Made Language by
Dale Spender from 1980, also gained a lot of attention. The icon of French
feminism, Simone de Beauvoir, wrote: “Man is defined as a human being
and a woman as a female – whenever she behaves as a human being she is
said to imitate the male” (in Moran & Mooney, 2002, p. 479). Among the
younger generation of French feminists who strongly insisted that every
representation, be it male or female, is first rooted in language and only
then in politics, culture, economy and history are the most prominent
theoreticians and philosophers, e.g. Luce Irigaray, Hélène Cixous and the
Bolgarian-French semiotician Julija Kristeva, who were particularly con-
cerned with language reform. However, de Beauvoir’s quote remains at
the centre of the polemical debates that have emerged time and again over
the decades, and that are likely to continue, as indicated by recent discus-
sions about language (in)equality in Slovenia and abroad. Certain initia-
tives that took place in the past (Žagar & Milharčič Hladnik, 1996; ac-
tivities of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport and the Office
for Women’s Politics; Stabej & Mihovar Globokar, 1995, see Umek, 2008,
p. 59; Government Office for Legislation, 2004/2008/2018; Commission
for Women in Science (Šribar), 2010; for an overview of the guidelines
to date see Dobrovoljc & Stabej, 2019), were followed by a period of ab-
sence of public debate until the decision of the Senate of the Faculty of
Arts of the University of Ljubljana on 25 April 2018 to promote GNL in
the faculty’s rules and regulations. This discussion generated wide pub-
lic and media interest and went on for several months.2 Interestingly, the
part of the discussion concerning linguists – who soon formed two op-
posing camps – was somewhat overshadowed by social and philosophi-
cal reflections on (grammatical) gender. Like two decades earlier, the first
camp strongly disapproved of the politically-motivated language inter-
vention, while the second camp saw the need for gender neutralisation of
language and discourse as advocated by some proponents (linguists, social
scientists and post-structuralists). Furthermore, the second camp argued
2 A round table entitled Gender and Language at the Faculty of Arts was held on 23 October
2018, and a discussion entitled Gender and Respect, organised by the Research Centre of the
Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, took place on 14 November 2019.
105
A Brief Overview of the History of GNL in Slovenia and Abroad
It is important to note that specifically addressing the topic of gender equal-
ity began in feminist linguistics and in women’s studies of the 1970s, pro-
ducing the strongest traditions in France and the USA. A ground-break-
ing work about gender categories in language from this period is Language
and Woman’s Place by Robin Lakoff from 1975, although the author’s bi-
nary oppositional conceptualisation of gender and gender difference is ob-
solete from today’s perspective. Another book, Man Made Language by
Dale Spender from 1980, also gained a lot of attention. The icon of French
feminism, Simone de Beauvoir, wrote: “Man is defined as a human being
and a woman as a female – whenever she behaves as a human being she is
said to imitate the male” (in Moran & Mooney, 2002, p. 479). Among the
younger generation of French feminists who strongly insisted that every
representation, be it male or female, is first rooted in language and only
then in politics, culture, economy and history are the most prominent
theoreticians and philosophers, e.g. Luce Irigaray, Hélène Cixous and the
Bolgarian-French semiotician Julija Kristeva, who were particularly con-
cerned with language reform. However, de Beauvoir’s quote remains at
the centre of the polemical debates that have emerged time and again over
the decades, and that are likely to continue, as indicated by recent discus-
sions about language (in)equality in Slovenia and abroad. Certain initia-
tives that took place in the past (Žagar & Milharčič Hladnik, 1996; ac-
tivities of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport and the Office
for Women’s Politics; Stabej & Mihovar Globokar, 1995, see Umek, 2008,
p. 59; Government Office for Legislation, 2004/2008/2018; Commission
for Women in Science (Šribar), 2010; for an overview of the guidelines
to date see Dobrovoljc & Stabej, 2019), were followed by a period of ab-
sence of public debate until the decision of the Senate of the Faculty of
Arts of the University of Ljubljana on 25 April 2018 to promote GNL in
the faculty’s rules and regulations. This discussion generated wide pub-
lic and media interest and went on for several months.2 Interestingly, the
part of the discussion concerning linguists – who soon formed two op-
posing camps – was somewhat overshadowed by social and philosophi-
cal reflections on (grammatical) gender. Like two decades earlier, the first
camp strongly disapproved of the politically-motivated language inter-
vention, while the second camp saw the need for gender neutralisation of
language and discourse as advocated by some proponents (linguists, social
scientists and post-structuralists). Furthermore, the second camp argued
2 A round table entitled Gender and Language at the Faculty of Arts was held on 23 October
2018, and a discussion entitled Gender and Respect, organised by the Research Centre of the
Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, took place on 14 November 2019.
105
