We have known for some time that language is a very powerful vehicle with which values, thoughts, and messages are transmitted. We also know that language often carries stereotypes and prejudices which inevitably influence our behavior in daily life and our professional and personal interactions in the workplace.

Communication, therefore, plays a central role in everyday life, as it activates our thoughts and cognitive processes. Language exerts a regulatory and stimulating function on the mental mechanisms that govern the birth of thought and its development which, out of necessity and convenience, often have to be fast and immediate.

This is where the power and transversality of inclusion comes into play, which is also able to positively influence our language, making it able to embrace diversity and break down the unconscious prejudices that often guide our vision of the world, reasoning, and what we express.

Inclusive language adheres to new visions regarding disabilities, vulnerabilities, conditions of difficulty, and diversity as a whole, helping us to overcome obsolete methods and unfortunately conveying stigmatizing and distorted images, capable of bordering on offense at times.

Using inclusive language is therefore not only a more faithful way of representing reality, but also allows you to influence it positively and to cultivate the perception of inclusion experienced by people.

If it is true that the words we choose to use have an impact on our ability to relate to others, collaboration, dialogue, and empathy are all characteristics that inclusive language stimulates and makes its own.

The debate on inclusive language and, consequently, on inclusive writing, is now increasingly present: perhaps the topic is reserved for some “niche” environments, but it is expanding more and more.

The need to use inclusive linguistic forms is emerging from many quarters.

The first example concerns non-binary people, i.e. those who do not identify exclusively with either the male or female gender.

Another example, much more debated, refers to the case of roles and professions, for which the masculine is used even when it is known that this person is of the female gender.

The trend seems to show that, in the languages where the debate is alive, a new inclusive linguistic form is emerging or will emerge. However, this depends not only on socio-cultural circumstances, but also on purely linguistic factors: in some languages (Spanish, Swedish, Esperanto) there are solutions that work quite well phonetically and morphologically, while in others (French, Italian) the search is still in its infancy. The use will decide.

Some areas of activity are still far from finding a balance between intention and language: and unfortunately, it is enough to cast an eye on the communication and advertising sector.

Ad hoc work on leadership in terms of inclusive language is equally important since, the more inclusive leadership is at 360 degrees, the more it encourages and fosters trust and collaboration in teams.

Inclusive language is also an engine for creating a greater sense of belonging towards the organization and within the teams themselves, among people. Inclusive language and cultural intelligence are in fact closely linked: a leader is not inclusive if he does not adapt his communication to the diversity he is faced with and to which he is addressing.

Society changes, and with it language and writing; It is inevitable. The language, then, changes above all for the habits in its use.

Let’s at least make it change for the better.

In a world where individuals are starting to be considered as such, and personalities assert themselves and are determined by their uniqueness, it will be increasingly difficult to find a language so inclusive as to include each of us.

The important thing will undoubtedly be to start from an inclusive attitude, in everyday life, in thoughts and actions. From there, little by little, we will find a way to sensibly integrate it into our language.

Are you using inclusive language?