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Gender inclusive forms

Many people cannot or do not want to classify themselves under the norm of only two genders, and appellations or greetings such as “Bewerberinnen und Bewerber” do not correctly address them. In German, the underscore (Gender-Gap) or the asterisk open the possibility not only to make men and women visible, but also transgender and intersex people and all those societal positions that exist beyond female and male genders. Both forms are spoken with a “glottal stop”, a brief pause, where the underscore or the asterisk is.


German examples:

  • Sehr geehrte Professor*innen
  • [Vorname, Nachname] ist Mitarbeiter_in unserer Arbeitsstelle.
  • Alle teilnehmenden Student*innen erhalten eine Bestätigung.