Popular education and feminist studies

contributions to the inclusive language

Abstract

This text main objective is to discuss Paulo Freire’s contributions to the use of inclusive language. In 1964,
Freire wrote his main work: Pedagogia do oprimido. The publication of Freire’s work changed the education
motto and opened debates about a popular and political education. However, in this work, an important subject went unnoticed by the author: the use of inclusive language. The book received several critics due to
women absence, mainly from American feminist groups. Two decades later, Freire wrote Pedagogia da Esperança: Um reencontro com a pedagogia do oprimido, published in 1992. In this work, Freire could have ignored and forgotten the feminist criticisms, but he didn’t. Instead, he referred to the inclusive language place importance, asserting the need of language rework. On this basis, Freire began to write using the inclusive language. With Freire’s movement to rethink language, he contributed to feminist studies which have long been affirming the importance of including women in both written and oral language.