Languages are more than just words and sentences strung together to make sense of the world. The words we use can also convey cultural and societal values. Just as society evolves so too does language, taking on new meanings and transforming to address challenges. Recently, languages around the world are in the process of finding inclusive solutions for a wide spectrum of gender identities.
When we’re talking about making a language more inclusive, we must consider much more than pronouns that identify he, she, or they. Gender neutral pronouns are just the first step of addressing heavily-gendered languages. For example, Mandarin doesn’t apply gender to nouns, but Spanish and French assign masculine or feminine to just about everything and everyone under the sun. For these languages, gender is unfortunately an integral part of the language structure.
While mandates regarding language aren’t always received well, activists and linguists insist official changes to the way a language handles gendered terms can move the needle towards tolerance. Nonbinary people who don’t identify as a male or female or consider themselves gender-fluid find the absence of non-gendered pronouns to be particularly harmful. And for the transgender community, who are often misgendered in daily conversations, inclusive language can support gender fluidity and increase tolerance.
With LGBTQIA+ hate crimes on the rise, specifically against transgender people, the consideration we put into words can translate into whether gender-fluid people feel safe in our communities and around the world.
What is Gender-Neutral Language?
Words are more than sounds and syllables. Gender-neutral language is defined as the use of words that avoid assumptions about sex or gender. Recently, the inclusive language movement has blossomed beyond that into a campaign to bring about social change and debunk gender stereotyping. The demand for gender-neutral terms spans a wide variety of concerns from use of gender-neutral pronouns like “they” to replacing gendered nouns with asterisks.
As Daina Ruduša from Outright International explains, gender-neutral language doesn’t just encompass non-binary and gender-fluid identities. It can be a way to address and dismantle sexism in language.
“Gender-neutral nouns strip a word’s association with a specific gender, and contribute to dismantling harmful and outdated gender roles, which language can enforce. For example, many languages default to the masculine pronouns when referring to a group of people, reinforcing global biases and sexism.”
The ongoing quest for gender-neutral language focuses on how words can evolve in a way that feels inclusive but that can also propel societal change. While the use of gender-neutral terms is hesitant and faltering in much of the world, there has been progress. And respectful language learners should be aware of what terms to use before they default to traditional phrasebooks.
To help, I interviewed a wide variety of native speakers within the global LGBTQIA+ community to determine the state of inclusive language around the world and provide gender-neutral language suggestions that’ll come in handy for travelers, students, and foreign language learners.
Gender-Neutral Language in North America
North America is undergoing a grassroots language revolution that demands inclusivity. The rise of gender-neutral pronouns in North America has fits and starts but is a continued effort to create communication that helps everyone feel at home.
The United States of America
While English mostly attributes gender through the use of pronouns, many words have assumptions about gender built into their meaning. So in addition to adding “they” as a gender-neutral pronoun, American English is undergoing further efforts to promote inclusivity and remove bias.
The nonbinary pronoun “they” was officially added to the Merriam Webster Dictionary in 2019 and the Associated Press Stylebook in 2017. But there’s also a whole group of gendered words that are evolving. Nat, who identifies as queer and trans/nonbinary, has lived both in the UK and the US. And he’s noticed subtle and less than subtle changes when it comes to inclusive language in both countries.
“It seems like people in the US are more likely to use gendered terms (e.g. “ma’am” “ladies” etc.). It was definitely a bit of a culture shock for me to suddenly be more heavily gendered in the US, because it’s seen here as more polite. On the other hand, there seems to be more recognition for the importance of gender neutrality and non-binary folks in the US than in the UK.”
Nat says sometimes it’s a relief to be in the UK because gendering is less of an issue, but he still continues to be misgendered in both countries on a regular basis. And Nat notes there’s an alarming absence of gender-neutral bathrooms in the UK, even in progressive cities like London. Nat’s advice for language learners is to proceed with caution, especially if you’re part of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Canada
Canada does a better job than most at officially encouraging gender-neutral language, but the reality for everyday conversations in the country can be different. Gender-neutral pronouns such as “they” or “them” are used most often, especially in urban areas that use English.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a Canadian nonbinary member of the LGBTQIA+ community says inclusive language is still a stumbling block for Canadians.
“It is not widely used here. Though I try to use it in my own life because of my experience being nonbinary, there are cases where there might not even be the right words that exist (e.g. what are gender-neutral words for uncle and aunt?). Many people are ignorant about the need for gender-neutral language and it gets tiring having to explain why it’s necessary.
I am constantly misgendered because I present as male. In some cases I can explain that I prefer gender-neutral language and that people can refer to me by my name as opposed to a pronoun, but every single time I hear the incorrect pronoun it stings.
My experience is only a drop in the ocean compared to those people who face a constant barrage of racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic rhetoric daily. I’d be guessing if I said most of it was just based in ignorance, but I’m hopeful that education will make it easier for members of our community to exist without being targeted and even killed.
Language matters. Words matter. Even if I get one person to have a different perspective about how they use language and words around me, I think it’ll make a difference.”
Gender-Neutral Language in Central and South America
You may have noticed the use of the term Latinx occasionally, but replacing gendered words in South America is still met with resistance. Gender-neutral terms are used almost exclusively by South American academics and activists in urban areas and have been slow to catch on in daily conversations.
Latin America
Latin America’s effort to evolve past gendered words has been fraught with controversy. For many, the option of adding an “x” to traditionally gendered endings seems more like a bandaid than a cure. Critics of this approach claim it relies on tokenism by those outside the region who don’t understand the cultural significance of gender bias in Latin America.
Currently, Latin America’s efforts to advance gender-neutral language have mostly stalled. Some advocates want to replace gendered endings with @ or get flexible with using alternative phrasing that avoids gender altogether. At the moment, in the absence of widespread agreement, there doesn’t seem to be a path forward for the Spanish language that feels inclusive to the LGBTQIA+ community.
Brazil
Portuguese has the same gendered pitfalls that plague Spanish. There has been some movement towards gender-neutral pronouns like el@, del@ and nel@ in written Portuguese, but the language remains alienating for nonbinary and gender-fluid speakers.
Elaine, a bisexual living in Brazil, says she’s heard more inclusive language in the last few years but Portuguese still has a lot of room to evolve.
“I feel like most people still haven’t been properly educated on this issue and don’t really understand why we use it and why it’s so important for some that you ask them about their pronouns and that you start using them once you have learned.My experience with it has been disappointing.”
Elaine advises Portuguese language learners or those who travel to Brazil to choose words carefully.
“The Portuguese language is heavily gendered so using a more gender-neutral language can be a little tricky, but in written language you can try and do that by replacing vowels with x’s. It avoids misgendering and is highly appreciated by everyone.”
Gender-Neutral Language in Europe
Some parts of Europe did an exceptional job at pivoting towards more inclusive language in the last decade. These countries can serve as models of what gender-neutral terms do to promote tolerance. However, romance languages like those spoken in France still create a heavily-gendered environment in some parts of Europe.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands has been slowly transforming both language and community to reinforce inclusivity. Official changes have been made to signage and announcements at train stations and airports to use gender-neutral terms such as passengers or people rather than ladies and gentlemen.
Dutch official paperwork even allows for selecting a “different” gender box in addition to male or female. Gender-neutral toilets are also widely available throughout Amsterdam, but ungendering some parts of the Dutch language remains difficult.
The United Kingdom
Like its American cousin, the United Kingdom’s subtle sexism underpins much of their language. While you can avoid heavily gendered nouns, there are many terms where the default use of masculine permeates everyday conversations. Think “manhole” or “chairman” and you’ll begin to see the scope of the problem.
In England, nonbinary folks within the community have been pushing the country to reconsider gendered bias in everything from language to passports. I spoke with Ethan Tai Bossuyt, part of the trans community in England, to get a better sense of how gender-neutral language works in the United Kingdom.
“I definitely don’t find that people go out of their way to include gender-neutral language in their communication, although I get the impression sometimes there has been a deliberate effort towards non-gender-neutral language in an effort to be inclusive (as if to say ‘see look we mean women too’).
There is something about the use of gendered language, where something gender neutral would have sufficed (and usually have been shorter) that feels like a deliberate attempt at inclusion that misses non-binary/trans people — and that particularly feels like being so non-mainstream that people aren’t even thinking of you in their attempt to be inclusive. It feels very marginalising and othering to be hit with nonbinary gender-exclusive language, and although to an extent you just get used to it and get over it, it still leaves a sour taste in my mouth and contributes to an over-all atmosphere of unwelcomeness.”
Ethan feels that there isn’t a concerted effort to ungender the language in the UK, but that the British aren’t openly hostile to inclusive language in the way some countries are.
France
French is a language full of heavily gendered nouns and masculine pronouns used as a default for mixed gender groups. French feminists have pushed back on this overt sexism inherent in romance languages with mixed success.
Recently, it’s been suggested the use of asterisks could create more gender-neutral case endings. While the suggestion gained some early traction, the French government has since banned the use of inclusive language in official documents and set back the effort to find gender-neutral ground in French communities.
Germany
In January 2019, the German city of Hanover became the first in the country to mandate official communication use gender-neutral terms. In 2014 various German institutions such as the Federal Justice Ministry also required gender-neutral language on all its paperwork.
Despite official changes, what happens in daily conversations is often quite different than what’s mandated. Andy, a gay PhD student from Germany, gave me his impressions of inclusive language in Germany. He sees encouraging signs, but also expresses frustration at how long the struggle for inclusive language is taking in Germany.
“The problem with the German language is that almost all nouns referring to a human being exist in two forms: male and female, so there are two words to describe a doctor, a chef, a teacher etc. Like it is in English with the words “waiter” and “waitress.” Traditionally you would only use the male plural form to describe a group containing both men and women from any given profession. But this of course stems from the historic background that women weren’t allowed in these professions and studies have shown that if you use the male plural form to describe a group, people think of a male only group. By the late 90s, it became common to always use both forms, so you would say “the waitresses and waiters at this restaurant are on strike” for example. There were still people refusing to do that when the discourse moved on to find gender-inclusive terms.”
Andy says that while you won’t find an official approach for gender-neutral language in Germany, you will discover that it’s part of the conversation. Germans can apply either gender star (*) or the gender gap (_) to make their written language more inclusive. While ten years ago gender-neutral language use was confined to German universities, today it’s grown common to hear these terms among the general population.
“For some words there is a third way to find gender neutral terms, if the nouns are linked to a verb, like student is linked to study (study in German: ‘studieren’), in this case you can sometimes create a new gender-neutral word from there, so now the phrase ‘Studierende” (literally meaning ‘people who study’) is most commonly used to describe university students and it’s the term the law uses in most parts of Germany. Such a word is scientifically called a deverbative.”
Andy says that as a cis male, he’s not directly affected by inclusive language, but it does signal to him the values of a community.
“Just keep in mind you are stepping in the middle of an evolving language. We are trying to find new words here and it can change from year to year or from institution to institution or from region to region what the commonly used term is..”
Italy
Is it a person, place, or thing? Then Italian is determined to assign it gender. When gender is unknown, Italians, like the French, fall back on the masculine. Italian minister Laura Boldini, who served as President of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy, sought to be addressed as la Presidente instead of il Presidente, and was strongly criticized by her male colleagues for it.
Italians have attempted to remove sexism from the language with double terms of address such as “signore e signori,” but these still exclude nonbinary or gender-fluid identities. LGBTQIA+ activists have recently suggested asterisks to replace Italian gendered endings with mixed success. Making spoken Italian gender-neutral continues to remain an elusive goal for linguists and activists.
Spain
Like other romance languages across Europe, Spanish has long struggled with gendered language that defaults to masculine endings. This is something Spanish feminists have tried to address for decades through language reform. Recently, a campaign to rewrite the Spanish constitution with gender-neutral language was met with opposition from the conservative Royal Spanish Academy.
While the suggestion to double up on referring to both masculine and feminine nouns is well-meaning, this fails to address concerns from the LGBTQIA+ community, specifically those who are nonbinary. Alex Henke of Madrid spoke to me about the state of gender-neutral language in everyday conversations in Spain.
“It is not widely used, but those who use it are conscious and at times militant about being inclusive. An example that comes to mind is a left-flank liberal political party Podemos (We Can), whose leadership made a conscious choice when merging with another political group Unidos (The United, in general-use masculine) became Unidas Podemos: (Together We Can, with feminine ending to the plural adjective united). And so the message was clear: feminism extends to the language. The way we speak will either be inclusive, or it will be wrong.”
Alex is a cis-gendered bisexual man of European descent, so he understands his privilege means he’s minimally affected by the lack of inclusive language. However, other members of the LGBTQ+ community may feel differently about gender-neutral terms. Alex’s advice is to be aware of some offensive slang words Spanish language learners might hear tossed about. And to realize that in Spain, inclusive language isn’t widely used nor a one-size fits all proposition.
Sweden
While some European countries are still grappling with removing gendered structures from their language, Sweden has been using gender-neutral language for the last decade. In 2012, Sweden adopted the gender-neutral pronoun “hen” and today it’s found in daily conversation throughout the Scandinavian country.
Sweden’s advocacy of gender-neutral pronouns is evidence that inclusive language may also increase tolerance. Sweden is consistently named one of the most tolerant countries for LGBTQ+ travelers and is surrounded by equally progressive Nordic neighbors.
Turkey
Turkish doesn’t have grammatical gender, so you might assume the language doesn’t require reform but linguists disagree. Like English, many Turkish words still imply gender. For instance, words for preschool teachers in Turkish are feminine while terms for police officers convey the masculine.
Turkey also unfortunately reveals that gender-neutral language doesn’t automatically evolve into tolerance. Turkey has a deeply patriarchal cultural structure that discourages equal rights for the LGBTQIA+ community and hate crimes and harassment are growing common throughout the country.
Gender-Neutral Language in Asia
Many Asian languages are considered genderless. China, Korea, and Japan as well as Polynesian and other Indo-European countries speak languages that have genderless pronouns. However, this doesn’t mean these languages are gender-neutral. Many Asian languages imply gender in words and structure. Many of these countries also do not express tolerance for the LGBTQIA+ community.
The Middle East
Unlike Persian and Kurdish, Arabic is grammatically gendered. Nouns, verbs, and adjectives must be either male or female. As with romance languages, plurals default to the masculine in Arabic. Some dialects like Tunisian have made progress in switching to a universal feminine pronoun, but most Arabic-speaking countries have not embraced more inclusive language.
LGBTQIA+ communities in the Middle East struggle to gain acceptance even for words that define gay, bisexual, or transgender. Some use “mujtama’a al meem” (مجتمع الميم) or meem but in other places like Lebanon, the word for gay still translates into deviant.
China
A more traditional approach to gender-neutral language is gaining momentum in China. Mandarin already contains a third person pronoun tā (他) but it fell out of use in the 20th century alongside a push for stricter gender roles as a result of Western influence.
Recently the third-person pronoun has made a comeback, but Mandarin’s writing system still lags behind. Many of the radicals used in Mandarin ascribe negative stereotypes to the feminine and have heavily gendered characters.
The Philippines
Tagalog is light years ahead on inclusive language because Filipino culture embraces a fluid understanding of gender. The pronoun “siya” is used in the same context as “them,” and is gender-neutral. Gender-neutral terms are common among the Austronesian language family due to indigenous influence.
Filipino transgender activists point out that the idea of fluid gender is not a new one and has been present in most cultures throughout history. Only in the 19th and 20th century has there been focus on restrictive gender roles.
Israel
Hebrew can be problematic because it has verbs, nouns, and adjectives that are gendered. Hebrew feminists suggest inverting the gender of words to rely on the feminine over the masculine, but that leaves nonbinary and gender fluid Hebrew speakers in the lurch.
The Nonbinary Hebrew Project is an campaign to encourage the use of a third gender in Hebrew as referenced in the Talmud and Torah. Lior, a Hebrew speaker who does trans activism and queer education, says the language can be tough on nonbinary folks.
“Gender-neutral language is not really an option in Hebrew, unfortunately. Moreover, the unmarked default is male coded language and even using female plural form for a mixed gender group is considered radical (while using male plural is seen as “neutral”). That also goes for general speak of a person of an unknown gender — referring to them as male would be the neutral default.
That makes things quite difficult for nonbinary people to choose our pronouns, and there is some variation among us. Some use their assigned pronouns, due to habits and lack of a good alternative; some use mixed language — alternating he and she during speech; some use the pronouns “opposite” to those assigned to them; some use plural (but plural form in Hebrew is also gendered).”
Lior admits the Hebrew language can lead to many Hebrew nonbinary and transgender speakers feeling misgendered.
“It is very frustrating for me. I tried using mixed language but it mostly feels as if I get misgendered twice, from two different perspectives. Sticking to my old pronouns also makes me feel “not trans enough” or invalidating in a way. In writing I try to avoid gendered language as much as I can, and it sometimes leads to very complex phrasings. In speech I often “slip” to English when talking with people close to me. In other contexts I do use mixed language since I feel it affirms my identity in some way, but I would not like it to be a longtime solution.”
Lior advises Hebrew language learners to be aware of how heavily gendered the language is and to understand that even when you’re asking which pronouns to use, the question itself still forces you to imply gender.
“It also means every interaction you have with random people on the bus, in the store, etc., always involves some gendered language and the option for all trans and nonbinary people to get misgendered is very present.”
India
The Hindi language is rife with gender, including gender that both forces agreement with adjectives and verbs and determines inflection for nouns. Ironically, the language is so heavily gendered that much of the queer and nonbinary discourse surrounding theses issues has to take place in English.
Rohini Malur, a queer cis woman from Bangalore, India, is a founding member of the All Sorts of Queer Group. She says that in India, gender-neutral language isn’t widely used in daily conversations, but it is catching on within the queer community
“I think it’s not widely used in mainstream cis/het society. It is slowly catching on in queer circles because young enby/gender queer/gender fluid peeps are coming out and asserting their space and dignity — but it’s not automatic, and there is cis/het resistance to going beyond the binary.”
Rohini says the inclusive language she hears happening in India is confined to “they” dropped into conversations but everyone still seems to struggle with whether or not it is grammatically correct.
“I’m a cis woman, and so inclusive language is a learning process for me along many lines. I’m affected because I know people now that I did not before. My understanding of gender expands, and I have to sit with it when it makes me uncomfortable or when I do not understand. I make mistakes, and need to learn the ways to acknowledge and atone for those mistakes and not make them again. Changing our language changes the way we think and interact in a community.”
Rohini says language learners should know there are several non-cis genders in India but the country still stresses the use of ma’am or sir due to strict hierarchy structures in India’s caste system.
Japan
Japan’s history of gender fluidity might lead you to expect a gender-neutral language and a culture that supports transgender rights. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. In the Japanese language, gender is often implied in the words and the country’s regressive laws restrict equality for the LGBTQIA+ community.
In fact, in order for transgender people to be recognized officially in Japan, they must be diagnosed with gender identity disorder and undergo medical sterilization. Japanese transgender people cannot have children or be married in order to be eligible for gender affirming medical care.
Korea
A society as technologically advanced as South Korea’s should have embraced LGBTQIA+ rights and inclusive language by now. Sadly, South Korea still relies on strict gender roles due to Confucianism, which is based on men holding the power of the church as authority figures.
However, South Korea is becoming increasingly Westernized and traditional gender roles are growing more flexible among Korean youth. Korea’s constitution also declares equality for all and protections that extend to the LGBTQIA+ community, but activists describe the culture as hostile towards inclusive language. In the Korean language, there remains no third or gender neutral pronouns in use at this time.
Iran
Persian divides pronouns into living and non-living which makes finding gender-neutral terms much easier. If you’re human, you have one pronoun in Persian and it’s “U.” Ironically, gender-neutral Persain or Farsi is spoken primarily in a country where the theocratic government made same-sex relationships a crime in 1979.
Farsi or Persian speakers insist the gender-neutral structure of the language is a way to increase tolerance and even equality in Iran. In Persian, the same nouns are used for male and female roles so you won’t find pesky assumptions like the “mailman” or “man and wife” lurking in a Persian’s vocabulary.
Russia
In Russian, every word with the exception of adverbs implies feminine or masculine constructs. This leaves nonbinary and gender-fluid Russians with few alternatives to express themselves. Online, Russians are inventing their own gender-neutral language, repurposing the Russian neuter “ono,” used for non-living things as a gender-neutral pronoun.
Russians don’t have a clear path forward for inclusive language and their culture does not widely support LGBTQIA+ rights. Many Russians feel compelled to choose between masculine or feminine pronouns in the absence of a true gender-neutral approach to the Russian language.
Inclusive Language in 2022 and Beyond
It’s clear there is much work to be done before the words used in everyday conversations around the world embrace the full spectrum of gender identity. Each region faces different challenges as they seek to evolve their language to embrace tolerance. Globally, a one-size-fits-all approach to gender-neutral terms remains elusive.
For language learners, there’s food for thought in how we engage and converse with LGBTQIA+ native speakers around the world and what we can do to advance equality around the world. The willingness to learn and to act with consideration and compassion translates well no matter which language is spoken. Do your research, choose your words carefully, and when in doubt, simply ask.
