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Poll: Have you been asked to adapt a translation to include gender-neutral people?
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ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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Mar 1, 2023

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you been asked to adapt a translation to include gender-neutral people?".

This poll was originally submitted by Iulia P.. View the poll results »



 
neilmac
neilmac
Шпанија
Local time: 20:53
шпански на англиски
+ ...
Other Mar 1, 2023

Not directly from clients per se, but I have noticed that some of the journals to which the articles I revise (proofing/post editing) are being submitted for publication are becoming more picky on this issue.
I must confess I find it a bit of a pain (to put it mildly) and rather absurd to conflate biological sex and 'self identification' with linguistic gender, but as the saying goes, "the customer is always right"… even when they may not be.


expressisverbis
Dina Lebedieva (X)
Philip Lees
David Jessop
Hanna Voloshyna
 
Christina Pauly
Christina Pauly  Identity Verified
Local time: 20:53
Член (2008)
англиски на германски
+ ...
Yes, and I accepted Mar 1, 2023

But I can imagine that there are languages in which it isn't possible to express gender-neutrality.

Matthias Kavuttih
Sławomira Kaczmarek
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Maria G. Grassi, MA AITI
Dina Lebedieva (X)
Eleanor Odhiambo
 
Matthias Kavuttih
Matthias Kavuttih  Identity Verified
Кенија
Local time: 21:53
Член (2013)
англиски на свахили
Other (please share) Mar 1, 2023

My target language, Swahili, is gender neutral so such a localization is not applicable

Sławomira Kaczmarek
Peter Simon
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Португалија
Local time: 19:53
Член (2007)
англиски на португалски
+ ...
Other Mar 1, 2023

So far, I haven’t been asked specifically, but that’s something I’m attentive to.

Sławomira Kaczmarek
Silvia Pellacani
Tom in London
Maria Sato
Aline Brito
 
Sławomira Kaczmarek
Sławomira Kaczmarek  Identity Verified
Член (2007)
англиски на полски
+ ...
Not yet, but in Polish it would not be a massive challenge Mar 1, 2023

So far I've only been asked to make sure all masculine names of professions have their feminine equivalents (not always a given in Polish). That was for an educational project promoting involvement of schoolgirls in traditionally 'non-girly' subjects. I enjoyed it!

Rasa Raceviciute
 
Nikolay Novitskiy
Nikolay Novitskiy  Identity Verified
Руска Федерација
Local time: 23:53
Член (2018)
англиски на руски
Never been asked Mar 1, 2023

I've never been asked to do it for Russian. Even if I would, I would have politely rejected such an offer - for ethical reasons.

Because as a professional, I must protect my potential clients from... say, losses.


 
Alessandra Turconi
Alessandra Turconi
Италија
Local time: 20:53
англиски
+ ...
Never been asked Mar 1, 2023

I have never been asked before, but I can see it happening sooner or later given the fact that I translate subtitles and the audiovisual field is introducing non binary characters in movies and tv shows.
Italian doesn't have a neutral gender, but inclusive language can still be done adopting circumlocution.
It's indeed not immediate because we're used to be very direct in speech but I'm sure it would be a stimulating task.


Luciana Trevisi
Rasa Raceviciute
 
Enrico Zoffoli
Enrico Zoffoli  Identity Verified
Италија
Local time: 20:53
Член
германски на италијански
+ ...
Other Mar 1, 2023

More than yes: They didn't ask, they demanded.

Évariste Willy Noah
Bruna Mattos
 
Matthieu Ledoré
Matthieu Ledoré
Франција
Local time: 20:53
англиски на француски
+ ...
Asked to? No, but... Mar 1, 2023

I try to use inclusive words, which can be challenging in French, a gendered language.
The software Antidote is quite useful in that respect.
This being said, human proofreading is the most important part of the translation flow.


Kay Denney
 
Claudio Machado Junior
Claudio Machado Junior  Identity Verified
Бразил
Local time: 15:53
Член (2014)
англиски на португалски
+ ...
Yes Mar 1, 2023

... and I will ALWAYS accept it. Inclusion is not optional.

Joeri Van Liefferinge
Charlotte Farrell
The Shredder
Kay Denney
Mauricio Muñoz Gómez
 
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Yetta Jensen Bogarde  Identity Verified
Данска
Local time: 20:53
Член (2012)
англиски на дански
+ ...
Yes, Mar 1, 2023

and the first time I went along. It was an extensive project with seminars about inclusion for coworkers etc.

But the second project (for the same agency) I politely declined, although they assured me I had done such a good job.
Personally, I just got tired of that circus. I am too old to worry about political correctness. As far as I am concerned there will always be just he or she.


Bruna Mattos
Alex Lichanow
John Fossey
expressisverbis
Alexandra Speirs
IrinaN (X)
Andre Borges
 
Bruna Mattos
Bruna Mattos
Бразил
Local time: 15:53
англиски на португалски
+ ...
Yes, but Mar 1, 2023

Sometimes the client demands it. But I only use this language when I am explicitly demanded to do so.

[Edited at 2023-03-01 13:31 GMT]


Alessandra Turconi
Andre Borges
 
Shocking Mar 1, 2023

I’m shocked that 20% of people here would refuse to do this.

Kay Denney
Peter Dahm Robertson
Aline Brito
 
Jennifer Levey
Jennifer Levey  Identity Verified
Чиле
Local time: 14:53
шпански на англиски
+ ...
No. Mar 1, 2023

My one-word answer to the poll question is “No” (I’ve never been asked to adapt a translation to include gender-neutral people).

That said, being transgender (and certainly not ‘gender-neutral’) myself, I have a keen personal interest in the motivation behind the imposition of ‘inclusive language’ in different contexts – and especially in formal settings (in public administration and in legislation, for example) where imposed ‘inclusive language’ can very easily
... See more
My one-word answer to the poll question is “No” (I’ve never been asked to adapt a translation to include gender-neutral people).

That said, being transgender (and certainly not ‘gender-neutral’) myself, I have a keen personal interest in the motivation behind the imposition of ‘inclusive language’ in different contexts – and especially in formal settings (in public administration and in legislation, for example) where imposed ‘inclusive language’ can very easily be counter-productive with regard to the mental, social and spiritual well-being of the very same people the ‘PC’ folk claim to support.

Before replying yes or no to any such request I’d want the potential client to answer some questions from me.

For starters:
- What does the expression ‘gender-neutral people’ mean to you?
- What do you mean by ‘include’, in relation to gender-neutral people?
- Why do you think this specific translation should be adapted to ‘include gender-neutral people’?
- Have you considered how gender-neutral people might react when they discover they have been ‘included’ as members of a specific sub-set of the general population?
- Why do you suppose the author of the source text didn’t use inclusive language (which would have made your request for adaptation of the translation unnecessary)?

Only in the (very unlikely) event that, after sharing our views on those matters, the potential client and I found ourselves in agreement that it would be appropriate to adapt the translation in a manner that is inclusive of gender-neutral people, might I be inclined to say ‘yes’.

And then would we need to thrash out an agreement on how to be ‘inclusive’, while at the same time respecting the established principles of translation theory and practice, but that's a whole new can o' worms!
JL
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Barbara Carrara
Alessandra Turconi
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
P.L.F. Persi (X)
neilmac
 
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Poll: Have you been asked to adapt a translation to include gender-neutral people?






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