Should German neutralise its genders?
Opinions differ on the question of whether the German language needs gender-appropriate formulations. Franziska Schmid and Rudolf Friederich, employees of ETH Zurich, stand up for their position.
For
In today’s gender-aware environment, the German language uses the ending *Innen to denote that a noun could be referring to males or females: the word Studenten, for example, technically only refers to male students, but including *Innen adds the female form too. This approach has been the subject of much debate – but why? Mainly because the asterisk makes us stop and think. Language and thought have always influenced each other, and claiming that a masculine plural word like Studenten naturally includes women goes against the body of research clearly showing the opposite. Children draw Wissenschaftler – the supposedly neutral word for “scientists” – as men, not women.
Studying German at university, I spent a lot of time grappling with language and thought – but I have to admit that I never paid much attention to gender-neutral language. When Sarah Springman became Rector of ETH Zurich, she introduced a gender-neutral language requirement for Corporate Communications – reminding us that this was our duty as federal employees. I’m immensely grateful that she did this: I have since written hundreds of texts incorporating this principle, and the process has made me much more aware of what is at stake. Gender neutrality isn’t just a matter of style – it has a direct impact on how we see the world.
I love the clarity of the German language, its unambiguous distinctions. But this clarity also poses a problem: it applies a binary approach to people that favours the masculine. Detractors often argue that the language has always been that way – changing it would be ungrammatical. However, this ignores the fact that language is both standardised and living at the same time: in other words, we need rules but we also have the right to change them. Unfortunately, no single solution to this problem will make everyone happy. Some don’t want anything to do with gender-neutral approaches and some want to throw out the rule book altogether, but these extremes say more about their proponents than the language.
I would urge everyone to be part of the solution. Use gender-neutral language wherever you can. This could mean experimenting a little, swapping between feminine and masculine forms. Let your texts show that you’re engaging with the question of gender – however you do it, and however consistently. Even if your readers find your approach bemusing from time to time, they’ll stick with you. You’ll gain a greater awareness of gender issues – and you won’t be betraying the rules as much as you might think.
Against
My dear readers – or should I say, liebe Leser – imagine revisiting classic works of German literature and finding that they’ve been made gender-neutral using the asterisk (Bürger*Innen), the capitalised I (MitarbeiterInnen) or even the underscore (Student_innen). Think about a Thomas Mann novel, with its intricate sentences: not only would it be grammatically incorrect, it would also produce something unreadable, with none of the original flow.
Applying gender neutrality ignores the fact that grammatical genders have nothing to do with biological sex. Der Mann (“the man”) and der Knabe (“the boy”) take the masculine article and refer to biological males; die Frau (“the woman”) takes the feminine article and refers to a biological female; and das Mädchen (“the girl”) takes the neutral article – and refers to an object? Of course not.
Those in favour of gender neutrality argue that language shapes our perceptions, so we need to rid German of its patriarchal remnants. Their intentions might be good, but they get one crucial thing back to front: our perceptions inform how we use language. No society has ever undergone change as a result of artificial tinkering with its language.
Der Schriftsteller (“the writer” with the masculine article) probably used to conjure up the image of a man, but that is because it was also said to be a job for a man. In fact, the word Schriftsteller is intended to refer to a trade and all its members, whether they’re men or women.
Another method of applying gender neutrality but avoiding insertions like the asterisk is to change the noun form into die Studierenden or die Mitarbeitenden (literally “the studying ones” or “the working ones”), for example. This is grammatically incorrect, however, as it indicates that the people have their heads in books or are sitting at desks at the moment you are describing them. They are still “students” and “employees” in their free time, so why not stick with simply Studenten and Mitarbeiter?
Gender neutrality also loses points for inconsistency: there is no consensus about how to apply it, when and to what. Why do we use Bürger*innen (“the citizens”), for example, but never Straftäter*innen (“the criminals”) – only the masculine form Straftäter? And you’re telling me that’s not discrimination?
Clearly language changes over time: nobody who speaks German these days uses the language of Goethe. But language changes to simplify things, not complicate them. Indeed, readability is a vital part of what encourages us to read – and reading is what helps us form our opinions. And because women now have just as much right to read what they like as men do, to the women reading this article, I hope you felt included in my address of liebe Leser – as you should!
This article appeared in the current ETH magazine "life"