How to choose an approach to gender-neutral Spanish
In an era of heightened awareness and social recognition, organizations are adapting their messaging to be more inclusive of individuals across the gender spectrum. This evolution reflects a deeper understanding and appreciation of diverse gender identities and experiences.
By crafting communications in this meaningful way, organizations demonstrate their commitment to respect for all individuals. This intentionality and shift toward inclusivity enhances organizational reputation and strengthens connections with diverse audiences, ultimately driving positive societal change.
When it comes to multilingual campaigns, organizations face additional challenges to their commitment to equity. In many languages, including Spanish, traditionally, the neutral takes the same form as the masculine. However, there is progress being made.
Openness toward gender identity and diversity has shed light on how traditional approaches to language may be indicative of unconscious gender bias. New language models are sparking important conversations and offering options for achieving a gender-neutral Spanish.
At Alboum, our goal is to craft truly inclusive and representative messaging that maintains the integrity of organizations’ content once translated. We work to craft translations that are culturally sensitive, grammatically correct, and mindful of the target audience.
The problem with gender-neutral Spanish
Spanish is a strongly gendered language. Many words can, and do, take gendered forms and very few are truly neutral. While Spanish does have a neutral form, it (not so coincidentally) is the same as the masculine.
This overlapping of neutral and masculine results in women and diverse populations feeling left out or ignored in the use of language.
At the same time, the Spanish language affords us multiple options to steer away from the linguistic neutral and step into the world of inclusive communication. Utilizing existing elements of the language allows an opportunity to create messages that are both grammatically correct and easily understandable.
Creating understandable, gender-neutral Spanish translations
If gender-neutral Spanish is preferred, organizations can ease the translation process by using inclusive language that avoids gendered terms in the original content.
Here are a few examples of approaches along with equally inclusive options for Spanish translation.
Use sentences that avoid gendered terms, including pronouns:
| Board members participate in the annual meeting. | Las personas integrantes de la Junta Directiva están invitadas a la reunión anual. |
| Las personas que integran la Junta Directiva están invitadas a la reunión anual. | |
| Quienes integran la Junta Directiva recibirán una invitación para la reunión anual. |
Utilize neutral terms which do not carry gender markers:
| The Arts Department invites the school community to our annual fundraising event, which will benefit students and teachers alike. | El Departamento de Arte invita a la comunidad escolar a participar del evento anual de recaudación de fondos, que beneficiará tanto a estudiantes como a docentes. |
| This county has a higher number of gynecologists/obstetricians than other neighboring ones. | Este condado tiene un índice más alto de profesionales de la ginecología/obstetricia que los condados vecinos. |
Use “they” instead of “he/she” when protecting an individual’s identity or when the individual’s identity is unknown:
| The only participant who said they frequently felt tired after the treatment did not provide additional details. | La única persona participante que dijo sentir cansancio con frecuencia después del tratamiento no dio más detalles. |
Use the second person “you” instead of gendered identifiers, particularly when creating traditionally binary content, such as health-related topics or restrooms:
| If you are pregnant, complete this form with your contact information. | Si usted cursa un embarazo, complete este formulario con su información de contacto. |
With these different options, organizations can determine which style best matches their overall communications style and audience preferences.
What about newer language trends?
Over the past few years, as communities seek to find inclusive, comfortable gender-neutral language, disruptive options have emerged.
While popular in some communities, these are not always grammatically correct or align with linguistic guidelines. Inconsistent adoption of these options worldwide and even within communities complicates translation for organizations attempting to reach large, diverse audiences with a single communication.
The use of elements such as the neutral e, an x, or symbols like @ intend to communicate both inclusivity and (often) a political stance. While seemingly progressive on the surface, use of these approaches is not without controversy and its own set of challenges.
When considering which approach is right for your organization, it is important to consider your audience and intended use for your materials.
One noteworthy criticism of these options is that electronic reading devices for visually impaired individuals cannot process terms with an x or an @. This both impacts usefulness and overall inclusivity of the material and challenges compliance with Section 508.
Others note that the use of e is essentially agrammatical and unnecessary because a neutral form of Spanish already exists.
Some organizations find that use of the e, combined with a more neutral approach to the text in general, provides the most inclusive approach for their community, even if not truly linguistically necessary.
Unfortunately for organizations working to reach a global audience, some governments in the Spanish-speaking world have adopted their own stances on gender-neutral language. These guidelines vary and range from required use to prohibition of some elements. This underlines the need to localize translations to meet the needs of specific countries or utilizing more neutral language to reach broader audiences with a single version.
So, what’s the answer?
It depends. Organizational style, geographic location (and origin) of intended audiences for translated content, and even personal preferences will guide how each organization approaches inclusive content creation and gender-neutral Spanish translation.
Alboum always works to deliver translations that are both culturally appropriate and linguistically correct. We ensure that your translated messages are as understandable and impactful as the original source (usually English for our clients).
Contact us to discuss your communications goals – we’re happy to create a glossary of gender-neutral terms and a style guide for inclusive communications specific to your organization’s goals and audiences.
