'Françaises, Français': Why the French language need not be so sexist

[Hortensis]

32. American "equalization" is simpler and in most uses is simplifying

on the masculine form for both sexes, as in "Congressman Ocasio-Cortez." While in France the current push is apparently the other direction.

Gender differences are real and wonderful, and I've always thought them mostly charmingly associated with nouns and adjectives. I've forgotten most of my high school French, though , and it's all too easy to imagine not all translate to the modern era inoffensively. Hopefully only those will change.

On the subject, English really needs a gender-neutral singular form of "they" and "them." The dehumanizing "it" just doesn't work, so "they" and "them" make do as "singular" third person pronouns when referring to a person. Wincingly, and yuck! How on earth was this deficiency not made up centuries ago?