Re: [minor patch] Amend CoC

["Jonathan McHugh" <indieterminacy@libre.brussels>]

Hi Liliana,

[dropping ML CC for this reply as its offtopic re Guix]

Thanks for the clarification.

Living in Belgium, this advert for bars/cafes always wrankles me:
```
cherche serveuse
```

It may be that Im missing some linguistic touches but I dont know why such gender inference is legal.

The francophone language doesnt fit in my head very well - my brain cant handle all these gender registers for every (effing) noun:
* Pencil - probably a male?
* Coffee - definately a male?
* large coffee - probably the same as a regular coffee?
* Tablecloth - male?
* Spacestation - ...female?

Its farcical, and weird that we tollerate gender specific nouns to be codified writ large across society.

Personally, Im getting better at using gender neutral nouns in English given this growing frustration. It takes time to undo such legacy habits but I consider that people should actively control language and alter it with greater autonomy.

Also, Im happy that Belgian laws allow for giving children both parents' surnames (which I did for mine), as well as establishing that wives should not have to lose their surname (almost wrote maidenname, grrrr).

Dont get me started on weeklong knights and princesses themes at my childrens' school. My son picked up a lot of chauvanism very quickly from the 'institution'.

Thanks all for an interesting thread, I appreciate your perspectives re trying to make people feel more confident in their own skin.


Jonathan


February 20, 2022 10:12 PM, "Liliana Marie Prikler" <liliana.prikler@gmail.com> wrote:

> Salut Jonathan,
> 
> Am Sonntag, dem 20.02.2022 um 20:56 +0000 schrieb Jonathan McHugh:
> 
>> Hi Liliana,
>> 
>> February 20, 2022 8:37 PM, "Liliana Marie Prikler"
>> <liliana.prikler@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Am Sonntag, dem 20.02.2022 um 19:45 +0100 schrieb Maxime Devos:
>> 
>>> 
>>> To me, this seems a rather contrived scenario though ...
>> 
>> In this "contrived" scenario Harold would still (intentionally or
>> otherwise) be discriminating Victor·ia over their gender by
>> publicly pointing out the disconnect between the two. In the daily
>> experience of trans people, such remarks typically serve to
>> invalidate their identities.
>> 
>> I notice the use of an an interpunct with your typing for Victor·ia.
>> 
>> Ive never noticed such a puncuation previously.
>> 
>> Is it a common typographic device for such instances of
>> identification?
>> It seems a beautiful technique for providing subtle signalling for
>> what can (unfortunately) be a sensitive area for communication.
> 
> Wikipedia has the following to say: "In modern French, the interpunct
> is sometimes used for gender-neutral writing, as in « les salarié·e·s »
> for « les salariés et les salariées » [1]." I personally picked it up
> after someone mentioned it in the IRC.
> 
> More generally speaking, there are few conventions that are really
> widely agreed upon. In my own country, there's at least three
> competing standards, so obviously borrowing from the French and
> introducing a fourth is the only right solution.
> 
> Bisous
> 
> [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpunct#French