"Inclusive language is an imposition, and that's enough"

Carme Junyent (Masquefa, Barcelona, ​​66 years old) is a professor at the University of Barcelona, ​​a linguist, an Africanist and a feminist.

She has coordinated for Eumo Editorial the book

(We are women, we are linguists, we are many and we say enough), in which 70 authors take part.

It is an allegation against inclusive or non-sexist language.

Junyent abhors the formulas "gentlemen and ladies", "them and them", "boys and girls" and opts for the masculine plural as a generic that includes the feminine.

Carme Junyent is very angry.

Ask.

“We are women, we are linguists, we are many and we say enough is enough”.

Enough for what?

Answer.

With the "we say enough" I was thinking of

Raimon.

We all feel like saying "no" to many things several times a day.

P.

Yes, but you had in mind a more concrete “enough”.

A.

Yes, this whole inclusive language thing is an imposition from above, and I wanted to say that it's okay.

And that whoever wants to speak and write like this should do so, but leave the rest of us in peace.

P.

Do you think that inclusive language helps in the struggle of women for equality or the opposite?

R.

Many times that language ridicules the struggle of women.

And it hinders the message, because we end up talking about how things are said instead of what is said.

Q.

That happens all the time today, and in many areas.

A.

Yes, but in this matter, since those who propose this type of language are supposed to be the good ones and the ones who are right, they are even more dogmatic.

Q.

Are you a feminist?

A.

I am a feminist because I cannot be anything else, but I have not written this book because I am a feminist, but because I am a linguist.

And I know that this language not only contributes nothing, but also complicates everything.

P.

You are angry because those who promote inclusive language go beyond linguists, right?

R.

Yes. Someone has an idea and starts proposing things.

Things that, if you know how languages ​​work, don't make sense.

But since no one listens to the professionals… Although the professionals haven't spoken either.

P.

Yes, she looks upset with that.

R.

"Annoying" is not the word, but most do not want to complicate their lives. But we are wasting time and resources on something that is useless… because, for example, we have already seen that girls exclude themselves. There are girls that you tell them "This movie is for boys" and they answer: "And not for girls?". And I think that is negative. In any case, all that stuff about professionals not speaking happens in the case of Catalan, right? In the case of the Castilian, the RAE did make its position clear and said that this did not make sense, and it did so with a very reasoned report by Ignacio Bosque, who was mounted a discredit campaign. Here, the Institute of Catalan Studies says nothing. The excuse is usually that this, if it ends up being accepted by people, they will have to accept it. There are teachers who force their students to write like this.Who protects the student? In teaching there are clear guidelines. The texts published by the University of Barcelona are all written like this. Of course, they have not consulted any philologist.

P.

And the Administration?

R.

Same.

The Generalitat does not accept any project that is not written in inclusive language.

P.

And the LGTBIQ community, where is it with the "them and them"?

R.

In that all those who do not feel like a man or a woman are excluded.

In public transport in Amsterdam they have removed the gender divisions because they discriminated against the LGTBIQ group.

The problem is not the language.

The problem is that they accept us all as we are and that we can live the life we ​​want.

If someone knows of a social change produced as a consequence of a linguistic change, I rethink everything.

But there are no examples of that.

Q.

Hey, why do only women write in this book?

R.

Because I didn't have the courage to ask any colleague to go through what I went through... surely in his case it would be worse, due to the aggravating circumstance of being a man.