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French senate aims to ban ‘inclusive writing’

Right-wing French senators have proposed a bill that would restrict the use of 'inclusive writing', a style that increases the visibility of feminine versions of nouns and offers non-binary substitutes for gendered terms.

Published: 30 October 2023 13:41 CET

French senate aims to ban 'inclusive writing'

Members of the French Senate in Paris on October 2, 2023. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)

The French senate on Monday will begin debating a bill that would ban ‘inclusive writing’ – a style intended to increase gender equality in the French language – in some parts of French society.

The bill, proposed by senator Pascale Gruny from Les Républicains (traditionally France’s party of the centre-right, though today increasingly populist) would ban inclusive writing “in all cases where the legislator (and possibly the regulatory authority) requires a document in French”, according to BFMTV.

Inclusive writing consists of using a ‘median point’ to include both the masculine and feminine version of words, particularly job titles.

Here are some examples:

musicien·ne·s – which refers to a male musician (musicien), a female musician (musicienne) and the masculine and feminine plural (musiciens, musiciennes)
citoyen·ne·s – a male citizen (citoyen) a female citizen (citoyenne) or the masculine and feminine plural (citoyens, citoyennes)

While it is not widespread, its use is becoming more common particularly in political contexts where it is especially favoured by left-wing groups.

The ban proposed by senators would include administrative documents, job adverts, employment contracts, internal rules and regulations for companies as well as legal acts, such as court documents.

Senators are specifically taking aim at the use of ‘néologismes’ – when a new word is created to combine both the masculine and feminine version. For example, the non-binary pronoun iel would fit into this, as it is a contraction of il (the masculine pronoun) and elle (the feminine pronoun).

Inclusive writing (écriture inclusive) is controversial in France, with the Académie Française, the country’s language protection body, having called it a ‘mortal danger’ for the French language.

Advocates say it allows the language to include everyone, rather than defaulting to the masculine forms of words.

A recent study found that 63 percent of 18-34 year-olds in France were in favour of administrations using the median point typical of inclusive writing, compared with 36 percent of the over-65s.

Spokesperson for the LR party, Cédric Vial, told AFP that “[inclusive writing] is contrary to inclusion. It’s an additional constraint, and the people most affected by its use are those with disabilities or dyslexia, as well as people who are not literate”.

He explained that the bill would not stop “double flexions” such as writing les sénateurs et les sénatrices instead of just the masculine form: les sénateurs.

However, it would target the usage of the term ‘sénateur.rice.s’ which uses inclusive writing to combine the gendered terms.

The bill has been blasted by politicians on the left. Socialist Senator Yan Chantrel told BFMTV that the text is “unconstitutional, retrograde and reactionary, and part of a long-standing conservative trend against the visibility of women”.

French President Emmanuel Macron waded into a culture war debate on Monday, saying France should “not give in to fashionable trends” as he appeared to back a bill to ban “inclusive language”.

“In this language, the neutral form is provided by the masculine. We don’t need to add dots in the middle of words to make it better understood,” Macron added.

Previous attempts at banning inclusive writing have been made, notably in 2021, former French education minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer sent out a memo to schools stating that the style should not be used in the public education system.

The bill may pass in the Senate, which has a majority right-wing distribution but it cannot become law without also passing in the Assemblée Nationale – it’s considered much less likely that it would pass, since it has a larger bloc of centre-left and left wing representatives.

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Azerbaijan vehemently rejects the accusation it bears responsibility for the riots that have led to the deaths of five people and rattled the Paris government.

But it is just the latest in a litany of tensions between Paris and Baku and not the first time France has accused Azerbaijan of being behind an alleged disinformation campaign.

The riots in New Caledonia, a French territory lying between Australia and Fiji, were sparked by moves to agree a new voting law that supporters of independence from France say discriminates against the indigenous Kanak population.

Paris points to the sudden emergence of Azerbaijani flags alongside Kanak symbols in the protests, while a group linked to the Baku authorities is openly backing separatists while condemning Paris.

“This isn’t a fantasy. It’s a reality,” interior minister Gérald Darmanin told television channel France 2 when asked if Azerbaijan, China and Russia were interfering in New Caledonia.

“I regret that some of the Caledonian pro-independence leaders have made a deal with Azerbaijan. It’s indisputable,” he alleged.

But he added: “Even if there are attempts at interference… France is sovereign on its own territory, and so much the better”.

“We completely reject the baseless accusations,” Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry spokesman Ayhan Hajizadeh said.

“We refute any connection between the leaders of the struggle for freedom in Caledonia and Azerbaijan.”

In images widely shared on social media, a reportage broadcast Wednesday on the French channel TF1 showed some pro-independence supporters wearing T-shirts adorned with the Azerbaijani flag.

Tensions between Paris and Baku have grown in the wake of the 2020 war and 2023 lightning offensive that Azerbaijan waged to regain control of its breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region from ethnic Armenian separatists.

France is a traditional ally of Christian Armenia, Azerbaijan’s neighbour and historic rival, and is also home to a large Armenian diaspora.

Darmanin said Azerbaijan – led since 2003 by President Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his father Heydar – was a “dictatorship”.

On Wednesday, the Paris government also banned social network TikTok from operating in New Caledonia.

Tiktok, whose parent company is Chinese, has been widely used by protesters. Critics fear it is being employed to spread disinformation coming from foreign countries.

Azerbaijan invited separatists from the French territories of Martinique, French Guiana, New Caledonia and French Polynesia to Baku for a conference in July 2023.

The meeting saw the creation of the “Baku Initiative Group”, whose stated aim is to support “French liberation and anti-colonialist movements”.

The group published a statement this week condemning the French parliament’s proposed change to New Caledonia’s constitution, which would allow outsiders who moved to the territory at least 10 years ago the right to vote in its elections.

Pro-independence forces say that would dilute the vote of Kanaks, who make up about 40 percent of the population.

“We stand in solidarity with our Kanak friends and support their fair struggle,” the Baku Initiative Group said.

Raphael Glucksmann, the lawmaker heading the list for the French Socialists in June’s European Parliament elections, told Public Senat television that Azerbaijan had made “attempts to interfere… for months”.

He said the underlying problem behind the unrest was a domestic dispute over election reform, not agitation fomented by “foreign actors”.

But he accused Azerbaijan of “seizing on internal problems.”

A French government source, who asked not to be named, said pro-Azerbaijani social media accounts had on Wednesday posted an edited montage purporting to show two white police officers with rifles aimed at dead Kanaks.

“It’s a pretty massive campaign, with around 4,000 posts generated by (these) accounts,” the source told AFP.

“They are reusing techniques already used during a previous smear campaign called Olympia.”

In November, France had already accused actors linked to Azerbaijan of carrying out a disinformation campaign aimed at damaging its reputation over its ability to host the Olympic Games in Paris. Baku also rejected these accusations.