Inclusive language has arrived on the ground: the government recommends not calling on “agricultural engineers” or “husband and wife” in a sectoral body

The National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) is dedicated to promoting research and innovation in the field, nationwide with 15 regional centers, 52 experimental stations, 6 research centers and 22 research institutes and more than 350 extension units. From now on, the very large number of staff working in the decentralized public body have a manual enabling them to contribute to gender equality in terms of writing and speaking.

The 22-page publication was released this year and is titled “Recommendations for the Use of Inclusive Language at INTA”. From the technological institute, they specify that the publication is intended for the staff of the agency. The text itself clarifies this role.

“This manual is yet another contribution to this institutional journey to eliminate gender differences. It is aimed at all INTA staff and, as we mentioned earlier, it is neither punitive nor restrictive, but rather seeks to be a guide, a useful working tool with a gender perspective. We aspire to allow ourselves to review the uses in different communication situations (oral, written, formal and informal, internal and external) and to promote the use of an inclusive language that avoids discrimination and the reproduction of gender stereotypes ” , he explains.

In addition to explaining public initiatives in the direction of gender equality, one precedent for example is that of the Central Bank, the manual suggests avoiding most of the more common variants of colloquial or informal inclusive language, such as use of “x” and “e” to avoid gender definitions. For INTA, these alternatives beyond its reach “are counterproductive when it comes to merging inclusive language and grammatical consistency”.

He also speaks out against the use of the at sign: “It is not a linguistic sign, it breaks with the grammatical rules of the language and is unpronounceable.”

Then move on to recommendations. For example, he suggests avoiding unnecessary gender definitions. He proposes to replace “to be a beneficiary of a master’s scholarship funded by INTA, the candidate must meet the following conditions: be a university student of a public university” by a more neutral wording such as “To obtain a scholarship of master’s degree funded by INTA, regardless of the candidate, you must meet the following conditions: be in possession of a university degree from a public university ”.

In addition, he suggests using “genderless” pronouns with various examples. He suggests replacing “the subscriber” with “the subscriber”. In addition, “candidates must be agricultural engineers” for “each candidate must have a degree in economic engineering”,

He also suggests avoiding formulas that “subordinate or hide the female sex.” In other words, the meaning of the message communicates the subordination of women to men ”. Thus, he proposes to avoid that “husband and wife” do not lean towards “spouses” (by the way: the manual is separated at this stage from the Royal Spanish Academy, which considers any spelling other than “spouse” incorrect. ).

He also suggests “workers and their families” for “workers and their families,” shortly after recommending avoiding repetitions of this type.

At another point, for example, the manual focuses on “expressions that perpetuate stereotypes about socially attributed gender roles”, which it recommends avoiding. For example, he suggests replacing “Engineer Roberto Gómez and Alicia will attend training” with “Engineer Roberto Gómez and Engineer Alicia Tucci will attend training or“ we invite you to come with your wife ”to“ we invite you to come with your partner “.

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