The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, yesterday closed the presentation of the Guía de comunicación no sexista (Guide to Non-Sexist Communication), a book published by the Instituto Cervantes and Penguin Random House to celebrate International Women’s Day.
During the event, the director of the Instituto Cervantes, Luis García Montero, stated that democratic values and the defense of equality “are at stake in speech” and, therefore, “we have the right to take seriously language policies that seek equality and democratic values”. Although at the Institute “we are not prescribers, we can promote equality with books like this one”, he added.
For her part, the director of the literary division of Penguin Random House, Pilar Reyes, recalled that the first edition of 2011 “was a pioneer in the analysis of the egalitarian use” of language, an issue that “has grown in depth and nuances” and so “it was necessary to review and accommodate alternatives that have emerged in recent years” through a completely revised and updated practical guide.
During the closing of the event, the Minister of Foreign Affairs warned that the COVID-19 pandemic could mean a setback on the road to equality between men and women, something against which “we must shout more, do more, say more”. For this reason, González Laya assured that the recovery plan being prepared by the Government will include a gender equality dimension and announced that her Department will adopt this very week a Feminist Foreign Policy Guide that will give more weight to women in Foreign Action and in the diplomatic corps.
The Guide to Non-Sexist Communication has been prepared by University of Valencia philologists Mercedes Quilis, Marta Albelda, Pilar Montañez and Andrea Carcelén, under the coordination of Antonio Briz. The publication, already on sale, brings together all the recommendations, options, information and help that the reader needs to use the language in an inclusive way. It also revises and updates the first edition of the Guide to Non-Sexist Communication, also published by Cervantes and Penguin in 2011, and complements it with new chapters on the Internet and social networks.
The presentation of the Guide was also attended by the Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Ángeles Moreno Bau; journalist Montserrat Domínguez; Carmen Pastor, academic director of the Instituto Cervantes; and two of the authors.
