Changes to Spain’s ‘sexist’ constitution cause uproar

THE Real Academia Española (RAE), the official arbiter of the Spanish language, has become embroiled in a dispute over gender equality after the government asked it to examine rewording the country’s constitution.

Spain’s deputy prime minister and equality minister, Carmen Calvo, said earlier this week that she would ask the academy to look at ways of updating the 1978 constitution with “inclusive” language. “We have a constitution in the masculine which dates back to 40 years ago,” she said.

Traditionally, Spanish uses male pronouns and nouns to refer to both genders collectively. Critics say that makes women invisible, while their opponents accuse them of whipping up fury over non-existent sexism.

When the new government’s majority female cabinet was sworn in in June, members were applauded for referring not to the Consejo de Ministros (Council of Ministers) but to the Consejo de Ministras y Ministros.

The proposal has exposed divisions in the RAE. The writer Arturo Pérezreverte has threatened to resign from the RAE over the issue. He responded to a Tweet suggesting he storm out in protest if the proposal went ahead by saying, “You have my word.”

Fernando García de Cortázar, an award-winning historian, said the idea was “absurd” and the result of a feminism that “crosses all red lines”.

Other academicians have defended the idea, however. The philosopher Inés Fernández-ordóñez said the RAE should be “open to the demands of society”, adding that if a meeting can open with señores y señoras (ladies and gentlemen), ways could be found to “mark the female presence”.