While politically correct people struggle with the natural and grammatical gender of nouns (NG and GG) in German-speaking countries, gender developments are becoming insane in the UK.
Like Latin, as you may know, the German language has three grammatical genders, much to foreign learners' chagrin. Simple sets like cutlery come in three GGs, i.e., der Löffel, male (the spoon), die Gabel female (the fork), and das Messer neuter (the knife).
Already Mark Twain complained: To continue with the German genders: a tree is male, its buds are female, its leaves are neuter; horses are sexless, dogs are male, cats are female -- tomcats included, of course; a person's mouth, neck, bosom, elbows, fingers, nails, feet, and body are of the male sex, and his head is male or neuter according to the word selected to signify it, and not according to the sex of the individual who wears it -- for in Germany all the women, either male heads or sexless ones; a person's nose, lips, shoulders, breast, hands, and toes are of the female sex; and his hair, ears, eyes, chin, legs, knees, heart, and conscience haven't any sex at all. The inventor of the language probably got what he knew about a conscience from hearsay.And then Twain drives the difference between GG and NG ad absurdum in a conversation about die Steckrübe (the turnip) and das Mädchen* (the girl):
*All words in German ending on the diminutives -chen or -lein are neuter.
Gretchen: Wilhelm, where is the turnip?
Wilhelm: She has gone to the kitchen.
Gretchen: Where is the accomplished and beautiful English maiden?
Wilhelm: It has gone to the opera.
During my time at the university, we were Studenten (students), and it was understood that the word comprised both male and female students. The problem arose because die Studenten is the plural form of der Student. So feminists argue that female students are not included in the "male" plural form.
Well, you could use the female form Studentin and address a crowd of students as Liebe Studenten, liebe Studentinnen, but never say Liebe Studenten. The German federal justice ministry now emphasizes that all state bodies should stick to "gender-neutral" formulations in their paperwork.
In the case of Studenten, a dreadful form based on the present participle Liebe Studierende (Dear those that study) is officially used as "gender-neutral" throughout. The American AYF-Studierenden in Freiburg got a special treat. They are affectionately called Studies.
In my days at the University of Tübingen in 1955, we frequently had our lunches not at the student's canteen but at the Schlatterhaus on Österberg. The Haus was run by the Evangelische Studentengemeinde (Lutheran Students' Community). It not only had better food but many female students. Girls visiting the community house did not mind being called Studenten.
How different the situation is today. In Freiburg, the Lutheran Regional Church proudly presents the word monster Evangelische Studierenden-Gemeinde.
There are other proposals to remedy female discrimination in "male" words. Red Baron already reported the gender starlet forming the non-discriminating form of Student*innen comprising all students. Other suggestions are the Binnen-I (within-I), i.e., StudentInnen, or the gender gap is written as Student_innen.
In the meantime, radical feminists supported by the University of Leipzig simply demand the total Frauisierung (womanizing) of the language, i.e., the female form Studentinnen is used throughout, making male Studenten look bad. Others argue that Studentinnen will comprise transgender people?
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| Proposed gender-appropriate traffic signs of crosswalks in Hamburg (©Elbvertiefung) |
Spoken language is important too. In fact, anchor "people" on German television have started
replacing die Demonstrierenden in Myanmar with die Demonstrant'innen, marking a hiatus behind the "t." What a mess!
This could have been avoided had Luther used the low German dialects when translating the Bible from Greek. Lower German knows only one article, "de" instead of "der, die, das." So we Germans call anglophone speakers lucky. With their "the," they avoid any gender madness. Really?
Recently The Guardian reported that the Brighton and Sussex University Hospital (BSUH) is the first in the UK to formally implement a gender-inclusive language policy for its maternity services department — which will now be known as "perinatal services."
BSUH follows in their approach the British Medical Association, which said pregnant women should not be called "expectant mothers" but "pregnant people" as it could offend intersex and transgender men.
The BSUH Staff have been told to avoid using the word "mothers" on their own. They have been given a list of alternative terms to use when addressing patients, including "mothers or birthing parents," "breast/chestfeeding," and "maternal and parental."
Instead of saying "breastmilk," they can choose from "human milk," "breast/chest milk," or "milk from the feeding mother or parent."
This could have been avoided had Luther used the low German dialects when translating the Bible from Greek. Lower German knows only one article, "de" instead of "der, die, das." So we Germans call anglophone speakers lucky. With their "the," they avoid any gender madness. Really?
Recently The Guardian reported that the Brighton and Sussex University Hospital (BSUH) is the first in the UK to formally implement a gender-inclusive language policy for its maternity services department — which will now be known as "perinatal services."
BSUH follows in their approach the British Medical Association, which said pregnant women should not be called "expectant mothers" but "pregnant people" as it could offend intersex and transgender men.
The BSUH Staff have been told to avoid using the word "mothers" on their own. They have been given a list of alternative terms to use when addressing patients, including "mothers or birthing parents," "breast/chestfeeding," and "maternal and parental."
Instead of saying "breastmilk," they can choose from "human milk," "breast/chest milk," or "milk from the feeding mother or parent."
Don't they have any other worries?
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