Article,
Algunos rasgos sexistas en el diccionario de la Real Academia Española de la Lengua
Some Sexist Traits in the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy of Language, (1998)
Abstract
Seizing upon the good intentions of renewal and improvement expressed by the Royal Academy of Language in the prologue to the 21st edition of its Dictionary, the author has analyzed some sexist traits which appear in the 21st edition of the Dictionary. Some examples: the definition of the term "woman," the pejorative and derogatory phrases and adjectives used to refer to women, the archaic and antiquated nature of the female wardrobe, accessories, cosmetics and adornments, the socio-cultural characteristics of women, effeminateness, the way sex is dealt with, coquetry, flirtation and pick-ups, the clichéd expressions on the nature of women, the concepts of female virtue, as expressed by the Spanish terms "honor" and "honra," etc. The author would argue that there is an imperious necessity to rectify and update many of the definitions of this Dictionary, not only as regards the format, but also as regards the technique used and the content. The author has noted a few ideas to effect such a transformation. At the same time, the author hopes for the same cooperation that she has received on other occasions from Catalan linguists, philologists, lexicographers and semanticists. Their support will be a valuable aid in carrying out this daunting task, a task made all the more difficult by the inertia and reluctance she foresees arising in many key sectors.
