With your Hashtag #aufschrei has launched a debate to everyday sexism. Now it’s Anne Wizorek is a matter of equality in the language. Why should we change our language?, we asked the feminist.
Deutsche Welle: Ms. Wizorek, you have People in your together with the woman Lühmann published book”?!” on the topic of gender justice in the language of the Pro-Position was taken. Why do we have to genders?
Anne Wizorek: Because I need to clean up first with a basic misunderstanding: People, we can already do that now. A gender-free language does not exist. The question is, how do we do that. When we talk as in the past, especially in the male Form, then that is People already – but then that means only men. And we all know that our world looks different. In this respect, a gender-fair language is one that does not mean other gender only, supposedly, but actually. Then we think you will also.
Language is ultimately exercised, of course. With this discussion of gender-fair language will be stimulated to think about how we so far exclude people, or perhaps even to discriminate against them.
Would you agree with the formula, the language is determined by the consciousness we want to change the consciousness, so we need to change the language?
The I would agree. If we suddenly find that we find ourselves in the everyday language of more, then it encourages me as a part of this society. Maybe I can take advantage of me, even as a political entity again is quite different and also my needs better formulate.
How should you like gender-appropriate language in concrete terms? Like, they are fixed in writing? We have the Single I, the Gender Gap, the Double entry… As you people personally?
I’m doing this so far, with the Gender Gap: a mark that creates in the truest sense of the word, a space, this gap, to highlight that, besides female and male, other genders. In this respect, I think it’s important to highlight the so and not to use, for example, the Single-or Double entry, because the limited to male and female. It was always a reality, but in the meantime, it is perceived that there are in addition to male and female gender identities.
Initiated in 2013, Anne Wizorek with other young women in Twitter campaign against sexist Attacks, a large debate triggered
This is also the reason why you think of the generic feminine, so the masculine includes the locking end of the female Form, nothing?
Oh, that’s what I would use. The Nice thing is that there is now a Form. We discuss also still, which is perhaps the best of them. But I also believe that the process will always evolve, because language developed as well.
This is also context-dependent. I can imagine contexts where it is super easy to use the generic feminine. I’ve done that too sometimes.
What do you expect from the Council for spelling? He will take a decision on the proposal of the working group for “gender-fair case-sensitive”?
Of course it would be nice if something more would move and if there would be a recommendation. I think this is also what a lot of people understand so far miss or misinterpret: It is not a fixed rule, as formulated, but rather a recommendation If you were to do that, I’d say that was an important Signal. It would mean, at the end, Makes you think about how your language been used, and how you can maybe gender.
Why do so many people of the topic and the consequences so severely and personally attacked?
This is a classic Problem when it comes to internalized forms of discrimination. These are generally things you have not previously questioned. And then we will ask you for a way very much behind – because people tend to be so that you have to go on the Defensive and not very change are willing. Since it then needs sometimes just a longer process, to think about it. But I think we are generally on a good path. If you look at the surveys, are quite and more people are open to gender-fair language, as it always is.
At the same time, one should not underestimate also that there are quite a proportion that is clearly understood as an attack on gender justice in General. If we look at how the AfD with the whole issue of Gender bypasses at all, and then again language is a party, the used own language, in an extremely brutal Form, in order to operate verbal warfare. The Power of language very well aware of the wants of the present, but always so, as that would be, any luxury, any problems, any things, and you should not worry. This is of course total nonsense.
Language is what we use every day as a main tool. And of course, we must ask ourselves: How do we use language? If language is discriminatory – and that’s not just the sex – then we should always ask the question: do we Want to continue to use discriminatory, offensive language? Or do we want to change that? I want to change to a Better.
Anne Wizorek is a self-employed digital media consultant, author, and feminist activist. She lives on the Internet, in Berlin and is the founder of the Grimme Online Award nominated community blogs kleinerdrei.org. Of the it has initiated the Hashtag #aufschrei launched in 2013, a debate about everyday sexism and was rewarded as the first Hashtag with the Grimme Online Award. As a member of the expert Commission of Anne Wizorek worked on 2. Equality report of the Federal government.
In the fall of 2018, the pamphlet appeared in the Duden publishing house “People?!”, in a plea for gender-fair language has written.