Q&A: Gendered Inflection in Forms of Address in Hebrew
Gendered Inflection in Forms of Address in Hebrew
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I’m interested in your opinion on the issue of gender inflection in words, which has been occupying many people lately. Is it important, in official documents/formal exams/etc., to match the gender of the form of address to the addressee, or to maintain neutrality?
To be honest, until recently I thought this was just another piece of unnecessary feminist propaganda, but then I came across the following study:
Click to access gender-writing.pdf
Obviously the Rabbi doesn’t have time to read it, so I’ll be brief: it’s an empirical study showing significant and recurring gaps in test results depending on the form of address used. Women who solve tests that address them in their own grammatical gender do better than women who solve tests addressed to them in the masculine form.
What do you think?
Answer
First, although I haven’t read this particular one, I tend to be skeptical of studies like these (and of studies on social phenomena in general), and I’ve also read critiques of them. But beyond that, if this matters to people, then fine. What’s the problem with it?