La vie et le genre de la langue

Life and gender of language Reflection on how language and other semiotic systems account for gender difference and how they contribute to the construction of gender has been at the centre of public debate for more than a decade. In terms of usage, we have witnessed major innovations that have changed established and codified habits. The record shows us that these changes are neither linear nor unambiguous. This essay examines some examples taken from Italian political communication to show that the issue is not just inclusion, but rather the capacity of each language to welcome and express new meanings from the resources of the system. The category to be evoked is therefore not inclusion: language is by its very nature inclusive, to the extent that the system allows it. Instead, it is about expression, the possibility of allowing historically unprecedented experiences - the entry of women into the public sphere- to access meaning and find a place among the signs of a language.