“The permanent secretary is dead,” or the painful feminization of job titles

The permanent secretary of the French Academy, Hélène Carrère d'Encausse, died in August 2023. The first woman to hold this prestigious position, the historian nevertheless insisted on the masculine gender, and had insisted on this point since her appointment in 1999. "She emphasized that this election was 'important for women,'" wrote Le Monde at the time, "but decided that she would call herself 'Madame Perpetual Secretary.'"

Did "the secretary," in the feminine, refer in her mind, as in that of many of her contemporaries, to a subordinate function... and typically feminine? In most companies of the ^21st century, moreover, secretaries have disappeared in favor of assistants who fulfill more or less the same functions, under a different name, freed from its pejorative flavor.

A living language is a language that evolves; it's even what characterizes it. Since the Second World War, French women have taken an increasing role in economic life. The feminization of women, particularly in the names of professions and positions, is the project—still ongoing—that has most profoundly changed French in recent decades. Blending language, politics, and society, this feminization ignites passions. Should we say: "I like this author," "this author," or "this authoress"? "We welcome Madame le ministre" or "Madame la ministre"?

Edith Cresson, who became the first French woman to become Prime Minister in 1991, was never referred to as anything other than "the Prime Minister." Le Monde of February 8, 1992, quotes, in a disturbing feminine-masculine mishmash, a deputy "seduced by the Prime Minister's intervention: 'She was a real mobilizing force for the left (...) , a real campaign leader'" ... Clearly, French did not foresee that a woman would one day assume the functions of prime minister... or that she could be head of anything. Linguist Bernard Cerquiglini published a book with Seuil in 2018 entitled Le ministre est enceinte , whose title alone says how urgent it was for vocabulary to catch up with the evolution of society. Especially since prestigious positions were not the only ones lacking feminine nouns. "Predecessor", "driver", "buyer", for example, were considered masculine nouns ("this woman, who was my predecessor at the wheel of this semi-trailer, is an excellent driver").

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