On a Non-Discriminatory Use of the Grammatical Gender in Spanish

Abstract

Whether understood in its third or in its eighth entry in the Diccionario de la Lengua Española (DLE), gender has probably become the hottest issue of sociolinguistics and normative grammar in contemporary Spanish. Nowadays, traditional approaches and attempted propositions about its conception and treatment seem to offer incompatible points of view. From a grammar perspective (mixed up with different psychological, sociological, ideological and politic topics about the relations between men and women), this subject reveals a social interest and a degree of controversy particularly high for a linguistic issue, not only amongst authorities in the matter but also in popular media. Within this framework, the present work offers a series of considerations, guidelines and examples that, as well as situating the subject, could be used as a guidance in order to avoid not only a sexist but also an androcentric use of Spanish.