Tips to be gender-inclusive in French

You want to write in French but you don’t want to follow the traditional binary way of expressing yourself? Here are some easy to follow tips to be gender-inclusive.

💡 Use gender-neutral words: “personne”(person) and “individu” (individual) are you best friends to talk about people without giving away their gender. Be careful though, French doesn’t like repetition.

💡 Opt for epicene words: they are those that have the same form for both masculine and feminine genders. For example, « élève » (student) and « collègue » (colleague) are epicene words. But remember, French is tricky, and you have to insert these in sentences where other words around won’t be too gendered either.

💡 If you feel political, use the midpoint: use the typographic midpoint (·) to include both masculine and feminine forms within a word. For example, « ami·es » (friends) or « étudiant·es » (students). You can insert it between the masculine and the feminine ending of words to include everybody.

💡 Alternate gendered terms: if using the midpoint feels too clunky, consider alternating between masculine and feminine forms throughout your text. Ensure a balanced representation by switching gender references equally. Seems risky though, because people could think these are mistakes.

💡 Employ neologisms: embrace new words and creative endings to avoid gendered language. For instance, use « traductaire » instead of « traducteur » or « traductrice » (translator).

❓ Other tips you implement to write in a gender-inclusive way in French?