Gender star


The gender star is a nonstandard typographic convention used in gender neutral language in modern forms of German. It is formed by placing an asterisk after the stem and appending the feminine plural suffix "-innen". For example, label=none becomes label=none. The gender star makes it possible to refer to all genders while also including non-binary people.
Alternatives to the gender star include, the gender gap or using inherently gender neutral terms, such as 'people' instead of 'man' or 'woman'. The gender star was named the German Anglicism of the Year in 2018 by the Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache.

Pronunciation

In speech, the gender star is sometimes signaled by a glottal stop.

Usage

The use of the gender star can be traced back to 2013. It has been used by the Berlin Senate since 2017, and the German Green Party since 2015.

Criticism

The Association for German Language in 2019 launched a petition against the use of the gender star, saying it was a "destructive intrusion" into the German language and created "ridiculous linguistic structures". It was signed by over 100 writers and scholars. Luise F. Pusch, a German feminist linguist, criticises the gender star as it still makes women the 'second choice' by the use of the feminine suffix.