We Need New Glyphs and We Need Them Now! Gender Neutral Language and Typography

This talk examines gender in typeface design and the written word. Widespread cultural assumptions persist about the perceived gender message embedded in a font’s appearance (big/heavy/bold = masculine, curly/decorative/light = feminine), and many people are starting to find the European Romance language use of gendered pronouns and articles for nouns problematic. Consider that pronouns were genderless in China before 1919, and personal pronouns did not even exist in Korean or traditional Japanese. More succinct than a non-gendered pronoun such as they/them, a single glyph has the power to communicate gender neutrality quickly and simply. Isn’t it time to establish a Latin-based glyph to represent a pronoun for any and all of us, as well as a character for a gender neutral article?