2 • Bucking the Trend: From Marking to Neutralizing the Difference

Bucking the Trend: From Marking to Neutralizing the Difference 2.1 LiVVaL 7 25 Inclusive Language in Italian, 23-46 (i.e., regendering) in Italian, whilst Section 2.3 presents virtuous gender-neutral as well as gender-fair examples attested in other languages. 2.2Degendering and Regendering Strategies Available in Italian Institutional and Academic GuidelinesFar from obtaining official guidance on the appropriate use of linguistic strategies to refer to others without specifying their gender, we are used to relying on vademecums outlining the strategies that are gaining momentum, which are, for this reason, deemed the most trusted sources to date.A number of prestigious institutions at the national level have taken a stance on the matter, by redacting distinct vademecums which share several points.2 The world of academia, in particular, has been exhibiting great commitment in the scrupulous selection of linguistic strategies enhancing gender differences, as reflected in the documents (Statutes, Regulations, and Codes) drafted by 91 Italian Universities gathered in the Corpus Normativo Universitario (CNU) created by Riccio (2024).The corpus-based analysis conducted by Riccio indeed confirmed the employment of strategies that either emphasize gender visibility or favor the use of gender-neutral formulations, 3 roughly coinciding with those introduced by the very first set of recommendations produced by Alma Sabatini in the volume entitled Il sessismo nella lingua italiana 'Sexism in the Italian language'.The aim of the document was to denounce the fact that the Italian language "is based on an androcentric principle" (Sabatini 1987, 24) undermining female representation in language.Sabatini's work was thus targeting a purely 'female inclusion' (De Cesare, Giusti 2024): there was no room for other gender identities or subjectivities to be recognized in their own specificity -making women visible was the only prerogative at the time.2 At the national level, see Giorcelli et al. 2015; Regione Emilia-Romagna 2015; MIUR 2018; Alma Mater Studiorum -Università di Bologna 2020; Università Ca' Foscari Venezia 2022.At the international level, the European Parliament issued in 2008 Gender-Neutral Language in the European Parliament, which provides a set of directives aimed at promoting gender-neutral language and was translated into all the official languages of the European Union.3 The quantitative analysis shows that the masculine forms studente 'student.M.SG' and studenti 'students.M.PL' are significantly more frequent than their female counterparts (i.e., studentessa 'student.F.SG'; studentesse 'students.F.PL'), confirming the widespread tendency to resort to an unmarked masculine (Riccio 2024, 36, 51).