The modern world is changing rapidly, and language practice is transforming along with it. Feminitives can be found more and more often in various publications, posts on social networks and news announcements. Such words help to get rid of stereotypes and prejudices. Feminitives are feminine words formed from masculine. As a rule, they indicate representatives of a particular profession, their type of activity. Today, such word forms can be seen in announcements, advertising, they are often used in texts for websites.
When it comes to content, authors of articles use feminitives to emphasize that companies are interested not only in men (whether a client or an employee), but also in women. This creates an emotional connection with the audience and speaks of gender equality. Previously, feminitives were not used in spelling rules. For example, job postings could simply indicate that they accept both men and women. Today, it is enough to add the appropriate suffix to the noun and thus indicate who is required. For a long time, authors did not have appropriate feminitives for many words.
One of the main reasons for using feminitives and why they are needed in principle is the desire to eliminate gender inequality. Traditionally, texts often reflect the patriarchal views of society. This is due to the fact that masculine forms of words are used as universal and standard. Thus, the illusion is created that information with nouns is focused exclusively on men, and feminine word forms act as additional or secondary.
The introduction of gender words emphasizes and recognizes the presence of women in various fields of activity. Feminitives were often found in colloquial or artistic speech, dictionaries. Now they are used in scientific, official and business style. So, we have defined what a feminitive is. Where can it be used? It can be:
The changes concern words that have a feminine form, and the suffixes correspond to the type of activity of the person.
Language is an adaptive tool that changes along with society. The inclusion of feminitives helps to diversify it, making it more flexible and open to new forms. Feminitives are, in simple words, a form that is used to address a woman, reflecting her profession.
Progressive publications adapt and change their editorial policies, regulations and structure of writing articles, trying to include feminitives in texts to designate a woman as a specific worker. This applies to all areas of activity. Speaking about feminitives, as an example, we can cite the following: instead of the word “deputy”, the authors use “deputatka”.
The most common forms, where the suffix “-er” or “-ist” is added to the main word – teacher, dancer, motorist, student, writer. But there are also neutral ones with prefixes. They imply that the profession or role is common. As an example, the word “pedagogue”, which can be used in both masculine and feminine genders.
Feminitives in the text in the Ukrainian language are formed using 13 suffixes. However, mainly only 4-6 are used. Interestingly, some women prefer neutral forms or traditional male titles. They claim that significance and professionalism do not depend on gender identification. The hollow cluster does not matter in this case. Such a desire and behavior is due to ignoring all the canons of the modern language movement in society.
Above in the article, we defined feminitives, what they are, how and where they can be used. However, it is equally important to know how to organically add them to the text. Their use refers to a more informal and inclusive language. In business correspondence or official documents, it is important to be careful. Many organizations continue to use traditional forms of address. However, if a particular company supports gender equality, you can safely add feminine word forms, especially if this matches the style of the organization.
In journalism and literature, feminitives are a natural part of the language. Thus, the plot becomes more diverse, interesting and open to understanding. It is especially important to use feminitives in articles about women, career successes or social activities. This helps girls to put forward their candidacies for the role of the first persons in the global system of patriarchy.
Feminitives can also be safely used in social networks. This is a unique way of self-expression and support for equality. They make the text more personal and attractive to the audience. Often, influencers actively popularize feminitives to express their feminine position.
For those who are wondering: feminitives, how to use them correctly, there is a detailed algorithm for the formation of word forms:
Before publishing articles with ambiguous phrases, clarify whether such use of words is acceptable. Feminitives are more often used in informal, colloquial and feminist environments.
Despite the positive changes, the use of such word forms has not yet taken root. Given the current development trends, there is a good chance that the language culture will change in favor of all genders.
