Sexism and feminization of language: a process of manualization

Abstract

Based on theoretical perspective of Discourse Analysis in conjunction with the History of Linguistic Ideas, this paper analyzes the manual Femme, j’écris ton nom... Guide d’aide à la féminisation des noms de métiers, titres, grades et fonctions (1999), aiming to reflect on what is the process of manualization of a non-sexist language, in which the feminization of language is present, and how it is established. By a feminized language manualization, it produces a knowledge about the morphological gender, explaining how to form the feminine of the names of professions, functions, degrees, and titles, and the Manual Femme, jécris ton nom marks that women can and carry on the different professions listed there in their guide, and that the male form as generic is a mistake and an aggression to the woman.

Keywords:
Feminization; Manualization; Discourse Analysis; History of Linguistic Ideas