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Neutral is not fair enough: testing the efficiency of different language gender-fair strategies

In many languages with grammatical gender, the use of masculine forms as a generic reference has been associated with a bias favoring masculine-specific representations. This article examines the efficiency of gender-fair forms, specifically gender-unmarked forms (neutralization strategy, e.g., “l&#...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Spinelli, Elsa, Chevrot, Jean-Pierre, Varnet, Léo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10570613/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37842707
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1256779
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author Spinelli, Elsa
Chevrot, Jean-Pierre
Varnet, Léo
author_facet Spinelli, Elsa
Chevrot, Jean-Pierre
Varnet, Léo
author_sort Spinelli, Elsa
collection PubMed
description In many languages with grammatical gender, the use of masculine forms as a generic reference has been associated with a bias favoring masculine-specific representations. This article examines the efficiency of gender-fair forms, specifically gender-unmarked forms (neutralization strategy, e.g., “l'enfant”) and contracted double forms (re-feminization strategy, e.g., “un·e enfant”), in reducing gender biases in language. Extensive empirical research has shown that gender-fair forms have the potential to promote more gender-balanced representations. However, the relative efficiency of these strategies remains a subject of debate in the scientific literature. In order to explore these questions, two experiments were conducted in French. We analyzed the response times and percent correct scores using a sentence evaluation paradigm, where the participants had to decide whether a second sentence starting with a gendered personal pronoun (“il” or “elle”) was a sensible continuation of the first sentence written in a gender-fair form. Experiment 1 confirmed that gender-unmarked forms are not fully effective in neutralizing the masculine bias. In Experiment 2, a comparison was made between gender-unmarked forms and contracted double forms, to assess their respective abilities to generate more balanced representations. The findings indicated that contracted double forms are more effective in promoting gender balance compared to gender-unmarked forms. This study contributes to the existing scientific literature by shedding light on the relative efficiency of neutralization and re-feminization strategies in reducing gender biases in language. These results have implications for informing efforts to promote more inclusive and unbiased language practices.
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spelling pubmed-105706132023-10-14 Neutral is not fair enough: testing the efficiency of different language gender-fair strategies Spinelli, Elsa Chevrot, Jean-Pierre Varnet, Léo Front Psychol Psychology In many languages with grammatical gender, the use of masculine forms as a generic reference has been associated with a bias favoring masculine-specific representations. This article examines the efficiency of gender-fair forms, specifically gender-unmarked forms (neutralization strategy, e.g., “l'enfant”) and contracted double forms (re-feminization strategy, e.g., “un·e enfant”), in reducing gender biases in language. Extensive empirical research has shown that gender-fair forms have the potential to promote more gender-balanced representations. However, the relative efficiency of these strategies remains a subject of debate in the scientific literature. In order to explore these questions, two experiments were conducted in French. We analyzed the response times and percent correct scores using a sentence evaluation paradigm, where the participants had to decide whether a second sentence starting with a gendered personal pronoun (“il” or “elle”) was a sensible continuation of the first sentence written in a gender-fair form. Experiment 1 confirmed that gender-unmarked forms are not fully effective in neutralizing the masculine bias. In Experiment 2, a comparison was made between gender-unmarked forms and contracted double forms, to assess their respective abilities to generate more balanced representations. The findings indicated that contracted double forms are more effective in promoting gender balance compared to gender-unmarked forms. This study contributes to the existing scientific literature by shedding light on the relative efficiency of neutralization and re-feminization strategies in reducing gender biases in language. These results have implications for informing efforts to promote more inclusive and unbiased language practices. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-09-29 /pmc/articles/PMC10570613/ /pubmed/37842707 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1256779 Text en Copyright © 2023 Spinelli, Chevrot and Varnet. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Spinelli, Elsa
Chevrot, Jean-Pierre
Varnet, Léo
Neutral is not fair enough: testing the efficiency of different language gender-fair strategies
title Neutral is not fair enough: testing the efficiency of different language gender-fair strategies
title_full Neutral is not fair enough: testing the efficiency of different language gender-fair strategies
title_fullStr Neutral is not fair enough: testing the efficiency of different language gender-fair strategies
title_full_unstemmed Neutral is not fair enough: testing the efficiency of different language gender-fair strategies
title_short Neutral is not fair enough: testing the efficiency of different language gender-fair strategies
title_sort neutral is not fair enough: testing the efficiency of different language gender-fair strategies
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10570613/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37842707
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1256779
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