Even today, the feminization of certain profession names fuels numerous debates and the world of books and publishing is no exception. Opponents of the use of feminized trade names often use as an argument the fact that putting a trade name in the feminine form would amount to endangering the euphony of the French language. That is to say, making certain job names less “beautiful” because of their sound

Even today, the feminization of certain profession names fuels numerous debates and the world of books and publishing is no exception. Opponents of the use of feminized trade names often use as an argument the fact that putting a trade name in the feminine form would amount to endangering the euphony of the French language. That is to say, making certain job names less “beautiful” because of their sound . The word “ author ” is often the subject of this kind of criticism, which is strange when we know that professions like “presenter” or even “teacher” do not give rise to the same disagreements.

This is why there is still some vagueness regarding the use of certain trade names. Should we say an author? An author? Or even a writer?

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FEMINIZATION OF OCCUPATIONAL NAMES

In the Middle Ages, many profession names existed in the feminine form and this objection to feminizing them was much less present than today. At that time, we already said “painter”, “saleswoman”, “inventor” to describe professions carried out by women.

Resumed in the 14th century, the Salic law, better known as the law which ratified the ban on women from succeeding to the throne in France, clearly modified the place of women in society by relaying them to the rank of "wives of », which has reduced the common use of the feminization of professional names.

Contrary to what we might think, there is no real improvement with the French Revolution (despite Olympe de Gouges and her Declaration of the Rights of Women and Female Citizens ), nor even following the two world wars during which women were forced to practice professions previously “reserved” for men.

It was not until the 1980s that changes concerning the feminization of profession names began to see the light of day, as with the establishment of the “Terminology Commission responsible for the feminization of profession names and functions”. Even if the latter will not bring the expected improvements, it is already the start of a political initiative. In 1999, the Guide to Helping Feminization, also known as Femme j'crit ton nom , was created thanks to the National Center for Scientific Research as well as the National Institute of the French Language.

THE ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORDS AUTHOR AND WRITER

AUTHOR, WHERE DOES THIS COME FROM

The word “author” comes from the Latin auctor which means “one who pushes one to act”. Author comes from the verb augeo , augere which means “the one who is at the origin of something”. We therefore find this notion of creation , of action. In Old French, in the 12th century, the word auctur was used .

The natural feminine of the word auctor is auctrix , itself the ancestor of the word “autrice”. The Historical Dictionary of the French Language specifies that more than 400 years ago, words like “autoresse”, “woman-author”, “auteure” or even “auteuse” were already used to talk about women, authors who wrote literature.

The feminization of the word “author” is therefore much older than one might think.

Historical dictionary of the French language

The Historical Dictionary of the French Language by Alain Rey

WRITER, WHERE DOES THAT COME FROM

The word writer comes from the Latin scriba meaning “scribe”, “clerk” and the Old French escrivain . In the 12th century, a writer was a copyist and it was only a century later that this word referred to someone who wrote their own texts. Furthermore, we also note that a feminized form of the word “writer” already existed as early as the 14th century to designate an author. These women were writers . _ _ These words disappeared in the 17th century, when Middle French was replaced by so-called “modern” French.

THE RULES FOR THE FEMINIZATION OF PROFESSIONS

WHEN THE NOUN ENDS IN A VOWEL IN THE MASCULINE

If it ends in an “e”, the feminine and masculine remain the same: an architect -> an architect. Except for a few exceptions like a master -> a mistress.

If it ends with an “é” or an “i”, we add an “e” at the end of the name: a press officer -> a press officer.

WHEN THE NOUN ENDS IN A CONSONANT IN THE MASCULINE

If it ends in “eur”, we replace the feminine with the ending “euse”: a hairdresser -> a hairdresser. With certain exceptions for epicene nouns (a word whose form does not vary according to gender): a professor -> a professor.

If it ends with “teur”, we replace the feminine with the ending “trice”: an author -> an author, a presenter -> a presenter. Except for certain exceptions like a drummer -> a drummer.

If it ends with other consonants, in the feminine we add an “e” to the end of the noun: a policeman -> a policewoman, an author -> an author.

THE CASE OF EPICENE PROFESSIONS, WHEN THE FEMININE IS THE SAME AS THE MASCULINE

Abbreviations and acronyms, in the feminine only the determinant changes: a DJ -> a DJ, a CEO -> a CEO.

Words borrowed from another language, in the feminine form only the determiner changes: a judoka -> a judoka

To summarize, there are three ways to feminize a job name. There are morphological inflections , when the feminine mark is made directly on the noun; morphosyntactic inflections , when the feminine mark rests on the determiner (this is the case for epicene words); enunciative inflections by pronominal repetition (these architects, they are admirable), lexical (these architects are very creative) or by agreement phenomenon (these architects are gifted).

AUTHOR, AUTHOR OR WRITER: WHAT DOES THE FRENCH ACADEMY SAY TODAY?

the French Academy adopted the report on the feminization of the names of professions and functions . Its aim is not to legislate, but rather to report on the current state of the French language as well as to identify the uses lastingly established in society.

French author Dominique Bona , elected to the Académie française in 2013, strongly contributed to the adoption of this report . She also opened up, in an interview given in Challenges magazine, about the difficulties encountered by the Academy regarding the feminization of certain professions:

“Feminization is more difficult when you move up the hierarchy of professions and responsibilities. »

In this same interview, she underlines the Academy's desire to be open to the changes of our " contemporary era " thanks to the role of "observation, census and advice" of the forty members of the French Academy.

In this report, the French Academy emphasizes that the use of the words “auteure” and “autrice” is becoming more and more common and these terms are therefore fully usable and accepted in the French language. The Academy nevertheless judges that using “author” is “more satisfactory” than using “author”. The same goes for the term “writer” which “is spreading in usage without becoming established”.

IN CONCLUSION

Everyone can use the term they prefer since all three are accepted in the French language . However, the French Academy remains quite vague regarding the debates around the feminization of profession names, and in particular regarding the reasons used most often by people wishing to oppose the feminization of the words: "author" or "writer ".

It is important to remember that all the arguments aimed at slowing down this feminization of profession names – whether the masculine as being the neutral gender, the polysemy of certain words or even the aestheticism of words – are not valid to the extent where the words "author", "author" or "writer" are approved both in terms of grammar and spelling by the French Academy 

We hope that you have enjoyed this article and shed some light on the issue of the use of feminization of profession names. At Édith & Nous , and through our blog , we wish to provide all our advice to authors to enable them to better understand the world of books and publishing, while addressing current subjects that concern us. seem fundamental.