London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 10, 2025

French say ‘non merci’ to nonbinary pronouns

French say ‘non merci’ to nonbinary pronouns

France is choking on ‘le wokisme,’ as speakers of the New Normal’s argot struggle to convert their fellows – forcing them through linguistic hoops that are not compatible with French language or culture.
French First Lady Brigitte Macron has affirmed the language has “two pronouns: he and she” (il and elle, en Français).

“Our language is beautiful. And two pronouns are appropriate,” she declared succinctly earlier this month.

Such seemingly-innocuous words have France’s would-be woke activists up in arms, accusing the centrist government of “violence.” Non-binary student Lilian Delhomme told the New York Times the expression “made [them] lose hope,” suggesting the age difference between the Macrons should have changed the first lady’s perspective on social norms.

But, like the distaste many native Spanish speakers feel toward “Latinx” – the genderless stand-in meant to delineate a Latino or Latina individual by woke (usually white) organizers in an effort to appear inclusive – most French-speakers find it at the very least unpleasant to attempt to communicate without gender.

Their language is structured based upon it. There’s no getting around the masculine and feminine nouns that describe every object – not that the wannabe-woke among the French haven’t tried it.

A movement for so-called “inclusive writing” has butted heads with France’s famously conservative Académie française, which described any changes put forth by the would-be reformers as “harmful to the practice and intelligibility of the French language.”

That hasn’t stopped a small but determined contingent from attempting to adopt a genderless pronoun, importing “le wokisme” from the US with the neologism “iel” (a mixture between the masculine “il” and the feminine “elle”).

It’s not going so well for iel, though. Center-right legislator François Jolivet has spearheaded a campaign to keep the gender-neutral pronoun out of Le Petit Robert dictionary, declaring its inclusion to be a form of “militancy” – “you legitimize words, you legitimize thoughts,” he said, describing himself in an interview with the French press as “a tolerant man convinced that ‘iel’ was the wrong battle.”

Even left-wing outlet Libération seems to not be entertaining the genderless American way, one headline snarkily describing “The Highway to Iel.”

The linguistic conservatism of the French is protected not only by the Academie française’s staunch opposition to what one member recently termed “brainless Globish,” but by a hard-coded avoidance of racial politics – the country is legally prohibited from compiling racial statistics, making it nearly impossible for le wokisme to find a foothold.

But “iel” made it into Le Petit Robert – the online edition, at least – upsetting education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer, who accused the publisher of “manipulat[ing] the French language.”

“Iel,” he said, was a clear expression of “wokisme.” It’s a subject he is familiar with, having blamed a backlash against American wokeness for the 2016 election of US President Donald Trump. Five years later, he has the French first lady on his side.

Indeed, the Macrons have proved to be a surprising ally for some. The French president – hardly a staunch conservative in the eyes of his supporters – might at first appear to be an easy convert to wokisme. Yet even he has bristled amid the onslaught of ‘brainless Globish,’ deeming “certain social science theories entirely imported from the United States” as a potential threat to French culture.

However, Robert’s managing director, Charles Bimbenet, echoed his American counterparts in defense of whatever “wokisme” might have found its way into his dictionary, insisting the reference book’s mission was “to observe the evolution of a French language that is in motion and diverse, and take account of that.”

As the Americans might say – and Macron might once have echoed – “diversity is our strength.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
×