"Nothing wrong with the rector's lipstick"

‘At the VUB, we write as inclusively as possible,’ according to the university’s style guide. ‘When referring to a job title, we use the masculine form of the word as standard so as not to disrupt the flow of the text. So it’s rector, vice-rector, professor, researcher and student.’ Now it’s your turn, Professor Vosters!

Rik Vosters: "I fully understand the corporate identity guidelines, but personally I'm not a big fan of this kind of very general advice. Linguistic choices are always determined by your goal. In a smooth marketing text, without any barbs, you can indeed use neutral job titles. For example, you might be talking about scientists. But if you want to raise awareness, it sometimes makes sense to make male and female visible. In this case, you could write about scientists and female scientists. That might rub some people the wrong way, but that's okay. ” 

Many male job titles – rector, professor, researcher – are now considered gender neutral.
“Rectrix is the female form of rector, just as dominatrix is the female form of dominator. But no one refers to a female rector as a rectrix. Professor also sounds neutral, because there is no obvious female counterpart.”

And yet these are originally masculine words?
"Certainly, even though they no longer feel that way. Now they are used in a gender-neutral way, but there is still a pitfall we need to be aware of: when they hear the words rector or professor, many people still unconsciously think of a man, because these are positions that were long held almost exclusively by men. When I talk to students about “the rector's lipstick”, they always look a little surprised. Even though rector seems to be a gender-neutral term, because there is no common female equivalent, the word continues to evoke masculine associations."

That effect is less pronounced with the word researcher?
“Perhaps because there is already more gender balance at that level. The higher up the academic ladder, the fewer women there are and the stronger the male connotations.”

You teach male and female students yourself. How do you address them?
"I would start an email with 'dear students'. But sometimes I also have groups that consist entirely of women. In that case, you can use the word 'studentes' (Dutch for 'female students'). A retired colleague always refers to them as 'studentinnen' (archaic Dutch for 'female student'). That makes me smile involuntarily, because it sounds so archaic to my ears.’

We have to inflect the word alumnus, using Latin endings.
"It is indeed alumnus and alumni for masculine singular and plural, and alumna and alumnae for feminine singular and plural."

But for a mixed plural – including one man is enough – we do have to write alumni. Or do we not really have to?
“Those kinds of rules are under fire these days. Even though some conservative voices call it a neutral grammatical rule that has nothing to do with gender or society. That is nonsense, of course: these are choices we make, in which inequalities from the past continue to reverberate in the language. As far as I'm concerned, you can write alumni and alumnae, or use an avoidance strategy and refer to graduates. That way, you don't exclude people who don't identify as male or female."

Moving on to UZ Brussels, the hospital of the VUB. Although more women than men have been graduating in medicine there for years, it took until 2013 for the Order of Physicians to replace the word 'geneesheer' (Dutch for 'male doctor') with 'arts' (Dutch for 'doctor').
"You can't keep using 'geneesheer' when there is a predominance of female doctors. Yet here too, there is a blind spot: when people think of a doctor, they still very often think of a somewhat older, white man.’"

Female job titles appear to be less persistent: they are replaced more quickly than male ones.
“That's right. Gender-neutral terms in predominantly female professions such as teachers and nurses have been established for quite some time. They no longer feel strange. Apparently, it was decided early on that a solution was needed for the few men who felt uncomfortable being 'verpleegsters' (Dutch for 'female nurses'). That was sorted out more quickly than the doctors.”

'Verpleegster' now even sounds a little... condescending, perhaps?
“That connotation is indeed there. Just like the word 'juf' (Dutch for 'female teacher') for a woman who teaches a class.”

Is that also why female managers prefer to be called 'directeur' (Dutch for 'manager') rather than 'directrice' (Dutch for 'female manager')?
“Nowadays, we associate ‘directrice’ more with a primary school than with a department of an international company. That evolution is not yet complete. In education, too, the rise of female directors will probably be unstoppable.”

There is still one proud male midwife working in the maternity ward of the UZ Brussels hospital.
“That's great. But perhaps an exception?”

Is that a trend today: more gender-neutral job titles, even though they often have masculine origins?
"I think so. That's a break with the more militant feminism of the 1970s and 1980s. Back then, feminine or dual job titles were often introduced deliberately to raise awareness of gender equality. The Australian feminist linguist Dale Spender wrote a book about this in 1980 that is still well worth reading: Man Made Language. In it, she explains how patriarchal dominance is reflected in language. The struggle at the time often revolved around specific terms and constructions, such as the so-called generic masculine: 'every student brings his book' or 'every student brings his or her book'. "

How do you tackle this battle today?
“First and foremost, we need to realise that language is just language. We are not going to fundamentally solve gender inequality issues by erasing linguistic differences or focusing fetishistically on a few isolated words, without paying attention to the broader image and context. That said, research does show that inclusive language can have a certain effect on people.”

How?
"Job vacancies are a good example. If a vacancy uses inclusive language and female job titles, women feel more inclined to apply. The effect is limited, but it is there. The same applies to study brochures. Communication must be in line with the organisation and its values. Encouraging girls to pursue a STEM degree when it turns out that only male professors teach those subjects is not credible. Tweaking the language only makes sense if it is accompanied by more far-reaching policy."

Lastly, we have only been discussing men and women.
“That is indeed another difficulty. In the past, the debate mainly focused on masculine and feminine forms in language use, but gender-neutral terms allow us to move beyond that strict dichotomy. By focusing solely on feminine forms, we risk excluding people who fall outside that binary gender spectrum. New generations of feminists often see things in less binary terms. They rightly pay a lot of attention to multiple inequalities, of which gender is only one possible factor."