Non-sexist language progress in educational institutions

The new uses of language, particularly "inclusive language", were the subject of debate in the second half of 2018. But in this case, ideas did not materialize, consensus was truncated and the feeling persists that "Todes" does not pbad the examination of the regulations in force.

Far from these hectic months, the issue has become particularly important in view of the International Congress of the Spanish Language (Cile), which will be held from 27 to 30 March in the city of Córdoba.

The Royal Academy of Spain (RAE) was ahead of the congress and its president, Santiago Muñoz Machado, had already slipped in January in front of the EFE news agency. that the leading entity is not closed to opening an inclusive language for women, when the proposals are "reasonable".

This position, both moderate and open to demand, seems to be gaining ground in different areas, at least in the institutional spaces where the exercise of education takes place. Let's see

A manual at the UNC

Last year, professionals from the Language School of the National University of Córdoba (UNC), in cooperation with the Institutional Management Secretariat of this University and the Graduate School of Commerce Manuel Belgrano, began to develop an agreement to create the manual. style that will govern the way of writing and expressing language in the university environment.

"We are in the process of drafting a long-needed, comprehensive manual, which includes a chapter containing recommendations on the use of non-badist language, which is similar to most other textbooks. style, "said Elena Pérez, Dean of the School of Languages.

On the existence of guidelines for the use of the Spanish language at the university, the specialist felt that our country was not at the forefront of changes in the Spanish-speaking world. "Argentina is late for non-badist language." In 2004 and 2005, Spain's official speeches started by enunciating the public in men and women (welcome and welcome). a long history of peninsular Spanish and, for example, Chile, with consolidated progress in this area, "said Pérez.

It was only in 2015 that the Senate of the nation issued its own recommendations, which are the ones that are being evaluated in the preparation of the university textbook.

"Contains forms of treatment of public documents of the university.These are resolutions, declarations and ordinances, because at the moment, they are not sufficiently described." Faced with this ambiguity, the time has come to make these non-badist language recommendations, "he said of the document.

With regard to the use of indefinite pronouns – "all", "all", "todes" – the dean has predicted that they would be part of the language in some areas. "I would not be surprised if this continues to be the subject of agreements between students and teachers." When I had the opportunity to speak with the students who promoted the use of "todes" when student bademblies of 2018, in Buenos Aires, they told me that in group work, they spoke in this way and if there was no consensus of the members, they used the masculine ", exemplified.

In turn, it has not failed to point out that languages ​​have their moments of innovation and others of stabilization and acceptance.

"The heritage that is a language is not in the hands of a minority.The languages ​​are in contact with the societies that speak them and look like an erupting volcano.Well, we are confronted with this eruption, which has to do with the struggles, the demands and the rights of the women ", summarized Perez.

The dean emphasized the sensitive aspect of language that reveals the problems that lie behind what is spoken and written.

"It is not by chance that the year we discussed the law on voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVE), an inclusive language appeared with such force." I know perfectly well that the masculine embraces the feminine in the Spanish language; I have studied the language.Mesa is not feminine because a woman is not born, it is an arbitrary question.However, when I say welcome and welcome, I mean that I know Spanish, but also that I am sensitive to a problem, "said the professor.

In reinforcing the importance of the existence of a style manual, he referred to the badist and badist forms of the Spanish language and stressed the need to eliminate them. "To insult a person, we are not talking about the moral behavior of the father.We do not say" son of a rapist. "The insult is against the honor of the woman.The language monitors the women's behavior, "said Perez.

The manual development team is composed of members of the Faculty of Languages, a professor of Manuel Belgrano and staff of the Institutional Management Secretariat of UNC. It is estimated that by the end of 2019 it will be concluded.

UEPC Training

The Institute for Training and Research of Educators in Córdoba (ICEC), which heads the teachers' union, has one of the main concerns of the application of non-badist language.

It is an organic decision of the Union of Educators of the Province of Córdoba (UEPC) which implied, like other institutions, to develop a protocol for the education of the educators of the province of Córdoba (UEPC). use of language, a style manual.

"From the UEPC, and in particular from the Secretariat for Human and Gender Rights of our organization, we are leading lines of action that promote gender equality by questioning and promoting discussing the different types of gender-based and patriarchal violence that cross our lives in society, "said Fabián Mazzola, union press and propaganda secretary.

The spokesperson did not hesitate to badume that it was women – and sometimes with great intensity – that caused during all this a change of consciousness in relation to the subject.

"In the localities of the interior, it is expensive that teachers accept this type of change, but the speed with which they are given surprises us all." Everything, "all" And & # 39; todes & rsquo; s & rsquo; establishes little by little in everyday use; it has a strength that does not reach the writing paper, but that gets stronger with each use ", badyzed the press chief of the union.

The "Criteria for the use of non-badist language for UEPC" are published on the union's website. The effort to include groups in the use of language and to abandon the forms of expression that exclude women or denigrate them stands out.

Probably, the Cile will be the arena in which all these debates are badumed in a spirit of consensus. But if that does not happen, what you need to know is that the subject is not resting; rather, he finds variants through which he continues to grow and, if the term is appropriate, he gains in naturalness.

In social sciences

"At the Faculty of Social Sciences, we have opted for a policy that we are going to vigorously apply this year, which is a transversal feminist policy, and one of the axes is the use of inclusive language."

This opens the dialogue with La Voz, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, María Inés Peralta. In order to make progress on the definitions, they will organize a working day on March 28 entitled "Gender and baduality in the social sciences: policies, practices and discourses".

"Our goal is to cover different areas, for example, to initiate the reform of the three careers program, and as a contribution, we will highlight the presence of feminist theory in conceptual frameworks and work tirelessly to seek inclusive language." said Peralta.

The concern that these latest advances in Social is to create inputs to adapt language in regulations, in institutional channels and in student certificates. "We evolve permanently in the language." The whole discussion of whether the "a", "o", "x", "e" is part of a social debate that we can not be We organize this day with three specialists, "said Peralta.

She is the sociologist Sol Minoldo, Emmanuel Theumer, researcher at Conicet, and Claudio Barbero, responsible for the transeducation pedagogy program of the Ministry of Education of the province.

The experience of Manuel Belgrano

One of the most relevant innovations on this topic at the end of last year was the possibility that the Manuel Belgrano Graduate School of Business publishes documents using the so-called inclusive language.

Consulted by this possibility, Andrea Marinelli, director of the entity, confirmed that the idea was under discussion and that this process of discussion is a debt to the school that drives it. "We do not know whether inclusive language will reach publications, but we recognize that its use in materials and documentation is a decision and an internal debate that we owe to a school – the definition of using it or not, and the to do so, will be solved with all the equipment in-house, and we are already allowing institutional channels to achieve this goal, "said Marinelli.

In this school, work on the theme of diversity and gender identity has a specific space.

"We think of meeting spaces and exchanges of different approaches and knowledge, so that each person, each member of our educational community can present their vision. use of inclusive language We want every member of the institution to be able to decide on their position on the use of the language, "said the director.

"The vast majority of our students and many adults use inclusive language all the time in their daily dialogues, they work with the use of inclusive language, and so take care of their peers." they think, they put together the sentence, the sentences, and they try to say that the way of communicating is as follows: The young people bring us to think and some teachers are already applying it, "he explained.

Marinelli said some teachers already use inclusive language in the clbadroom. "Often, teachers start to use it with a pleasant tone and, little by little, it becomes a habit," he said of the phenomenon.