Language is inherently related to identity in a number of ways: the communities we belong to, the cultures that shape our thinking and expression, the vocabularies we draw from, and even the way we spell words. So it’s no wonder there is so much discussion (like in this episode of The Table podcast) of questions like whether and when to capitalize the b in “Black” or how to achieve gender neutrality and fluidity in languages with masculine and feminine word forms.
Aldo Arillo and Mario García Torres, Mexican type designer and artist, take up the task of removing gender bias in text with a whole new vowel: the secte. They designed this new character with traits of the letters o, a, and e, vowels used to signal gender in Spanish. Read more about it in this article from The Brand Inquirer.
The secte intends to replace the use of @ and x, which are currently used to achieve gender neutrality but are often attributed to influences outside the Spanish speaking or Latin American communities.
Does the secte achieve all it aspires to? Is this an effective solution for eliminating gender bias? More importantly, what does it mean to address this kind of big cultural question through design?
