Some reflections on grammatical gender in Spanish

Abstract

Among the many issues related to grammatical gender in Spanish, two topics appear frequently in the media, arousing controversy among speakers. First, we refer to the formation of new feminine forms (miembra, jóvenas, portavoza, pilota, detectiva...), and new masculine forms (matrón, comadrón, amo de casa...), created from existing masculine and feminine words. Secondly, we refer to the replacement of the generic masculine (todos los niños) by other formulas, such as the use of a collective term or an expression with a generic meaning (infancia, niñez), repetition (todos los niños y todas las niñas), the use of graphic sollutions (tod@s l@s niñ@s, todxs lxs niñxs), and the implementation of a third gender morpheme, new in the inflectional paradigm of Spanish (todes les niñes).

In this article we will analyze both phenomena and establish a comparison between them, following the same methodological approach: brief summary of the theoretical framework, proposal of exercises in the ESO classroom, and evaluation of this experience and its effectiveness in encouraging students to reflect on language.