Gender-Inclusive Language in English Translation

I’ve been meaning to write a blog post about gender-inclusive language for quite some time now and I’m really excited to finally be getting around to it. This was actually the focus of my MA dissertation (although with a slant towards literary translation) and I’m constantly impressed to see how this conversation has evolved in the almost five years(!) since I finished that piece of work. From having to fight tooth and nail against grammar “purists” who refused to admit there’s anything wrong with the generic masculine, we’ve now seen Merriam-Webster formally accept “they” as a singular non-binary pronoun. Things are clearly changing fast and for the better, so where does this leave you as a translator? Why should you care about making sure your texts are gender-inclusive and how can you go about achieving this?

Obviously, the entire nature of this conversation differs massively depending on which languages you speak. Certain languages have grammar systems that force you to reference gender much more frequently than you would ever need to in English (examples include German, French and Spanish) but even here, steps are being made to make language more inclusive. For the purposes of this post, however, I’m going focus on my mother tongue: English.

Why Is Gender-Inclusive Language So Important?

Language is powerful. If you’re a language professional then you’re probably already aware of this. The words we use are not merely a reflection of how we see society, they can also help to shape it. When we use language that renders certain groups of people invisible, we’re signalling an allegiance to a (usually historically entrenched) belief that these people are less important and less valued in our society; regardless of whether we truly feel that way or not.

If you’re a marketing translator, like me, then you also have to consider the effect that exclusionary language can have on your ability to sell a product or service. Are people really going to connect with a text that doesn’t seem to include them? What happens if these people take to social media to complain about your language choices? How will this affect the image of the brand you’re working for? I always want any translated or transcreated text I produce to be fit for purpose and, as a result, I very much see it as my responsibility to make sure I’m using inclusive language.

How Can I Make Sure My Language Is Gender-Inclusive?

Now that I’ve sold you on the importance of inclusive language, you may be looking for some guidance. Fortunately, there are some great resources available. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, the European Union put together a 12-page document on gender-inclusive language. It’s really useful and I’ll link it here. As kind of a supplement to that, I wanted to put together a list of my three core strategies and how they work in practice. Think of it as a starting point, if you like.

1. Use Gender-Neutral Language Whenever Possible and Appropriate

Just because your original text makes a reference to gender doesn’t necessarily mean you need to carry this across into your translation. The most obvious example is job titles. Instead of picking words like “fireman”, “policewoman” or “air stewardess” go for the much commonly used gender-neutral alternatives of “firefighter”, “police officer” and “flight attendant”.      

If your source text uses the generic masculine (it refers to a non-specific person as “he”) then you’ll want to eliminate this when you’re writing in English. There are various ways of doing this and, by far the most common, is to switch to the plural “they”.  There was once a time when this was considered to be bad practice from a grammatical perspective but, as I mentioned in the introduction, times have moved on and it’s now generally accepted in most scenarios. If your text is incredibly formal, you can always use “one”, but this does sound quite old-fashioned. Another option is to re-write your sentence (or sentences) so that no pronouns are required. You might be able to do this by switching to the passive voice or by using the relative pronoun “who”.      

Wherever possible, I also try to avoid words like “manpower”, “manmade”, “craftsmanship” etc. It might seem like a small thing, but there’s almost always a gender-neutral alternative, so why not go for it?

2. Be Considerate When You Need to Specify Gender

There are always going to be scenarios when it’s not possible to take a gender-neutral approach. If you’re referring to a specific person, for example, then you’ll probably need to use gender pronouns (although you can always try re-writing your sentence using the methods mentioned previously). In these situations, it’s essential that you’re using the correct pronouns – don’t make assumptions if you aren’t sure. 

If you need to use a title then it’s important to remember that Mr and Mrs (or even Miss) aren’t your only options and they certainly don’t include everybody. Some women prefer to use Ms and many non-binary people favour Mx. Again, this is something you might need to check with the author if it isn’t clear from your text.

3. Steer Clear of Stereotypes

This one doesn’t just apply to gender – it also comes up in conversations around race, class, sexuality, etc. The best way I can really illustrate this is to use examples from my own work.       

I was once translating a product description for a piece of women’s clothing when I came across a sentence that literally translated to: “Men won’t be able to take their eyes off you when you’re wearing this sexy T-shirt.” Now this is problematic for a number of reasons. Firstly, it assumes that any woman reading this is heterosexual, which may not be true, but it also plays into an outdated stereotype that women are only interested in impressing men when it comes to the way they dress. This isn’t something that rings true for most modern women and it’s unlikely to be particularly persuasive in terms of selling the product (it could also offend potential customers, especially when the client isn’t using similar statements to sell its men’s clothes – as was the case in this instance). I ended up changing this sentence to: “You’ll feel fantastic in this flattering T-shirt”. A sentence like this is much more likely to resonate with the target audience. You might think that this was an overstep of my role as translator, but since the client had asked me to transcreate anything I deemed culturally inappropriate, it fell well within my remit. In other scenarios, I’d recommend suggesting the change to your client.

Similarly, I once worked for a client who wanted to refer to tennis as “the white sport”. They meant it as a reference to the fact that people often wear white when they play tennis, but obviously it doesn’t come across this way. I ended up sticking with the term “tennis” and the client agreed that this was the right move. 

You might feel nervous about making (or suggesting) alterations to a text in order to avoid potentially offensive stereotypes, but in my experience, clients generally appreciate this kind of input. They don’t want to exclude potential customers any more than you do.

Final Thoughts

Obviously, gender-inclusive language is a broad topic and it’s ever-evolving. This post doesn’t cover everything, but hopefully it’s given you a few things to think about and some strategies you can adopt while you’re translating. It might seem like a small thing, but one of the ways we can positively impact the world around us is to incorporate our values into the work we do. Not only does it bring us personal fulfilment and improve the quality of our work, but it genuinely has the potential to be part of a creating a more inclusive society when we’re all doing our part.