“The use of the masculine does not exclude women”

The University of Barcelona (UB) has signed a instruction in which the institution renunciation of inclusive language and commits to using grammatical gender again male as generic neutral when they can be “generated ambiguitiesYomaccuracies or worded that are difficult to interpret,” the text states.

The instruction, dated July of this year, maintains that “the regulatory effectiveness and legal certainty of regulations, instructions, mandatory compliance protocols and other standards require clear, concise, precise and understandable writing.” In this sense, it maintains that the inclusive language recommendations included in the university’s style book continue to be applicable as long as they do not generate misunderstandings.

End to splits

The text specifies that when references to positions and professions do not allow “agile and natural inclusive strategies” such as the use of “collective, invariable or unmarked” words, the masculine is adopted as generic and “the they reject systematic splits of the masculine and feminine forms. women or non-binary people.

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The instruction does provide for the use of the double form in singular references to sole positions “in order to make women visible” and in the texts thatand refer to gender or equality issues.

The decision, applauded by teachers such as Elisenda Paluzie for avoiding “systematic duplications without meaning and stylistically disastrous”, has also been harshly criticized by feminist assembly of the University. “The UB has published an instruction by which we once again use the masculine as a generic-neutral. How can this be? The university must immediately rectify this instruction. We will fight back! Not one step back!”



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