Italy Reclaims Tradition with Ban on Gender-Neutral Symbols

Italy’s Ministry of Education banned gender-neutral symbols like the asterisk and schwa in schools on March 21, 2025. The ministry calls them ungrammatical and unclear, reversing a brief trend pushed by progressive activists.

Under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who took office in 2022, Italy shifts back to traditional norms after years of pressure from vocal inclusivity campaigns.

Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy, sets the tone—she opts for the masculine “il” before her title, “presidente del consiglio,” rejecting feminist tweaks. Italian grammar defaults to masculine forms for mixed groups, a rule some challenged with neutral endings like “carə” for “dear.”

Yet, ministry data shows these symbols appear in less than 1% of school documents, signaling a minor but overhyped experiment now ending. This move echoes a wider return to stability.

In recent years, Italy faced growing calls from activists and academics to adopt gender-neutral language, mirroring trends in liberal pockets of the West. Protests hit Rome on March 23, drawing 5,000—mostly students and teachers—but that’s a small fraction of Italy’s 60 million people.

Most Italians, like much of the world, never embraced the shift. Beyond Europe’s progressive cities, languages like Chinese, Arabic, or Russian show no sign of bending to such changes.

Other nations ditched similar experiments. Argentina’s Buenos Aires banned “amigues” in schools in 2022, prioritizing clear Spanish. France rejected “écriture inclusive” in official texts, and Germany’s Saxony dropped gender stars in 2021.

Italy’s Rollback on Gender-Neutral Language

These steps reflect a broader pattern: traditional grammar holds firm where progressive ideas briefly flared. Sweden’s “hen” pronoun, adopted in 2014, stands out as an exception, not the rule.

The push for neutral language came from a narrow group—activists, educators, and urban elites—claiming it aided inclusion. A 2023 CEPR study in Israel linked neutral terms to better women’s test scores, but such arguments gained little traction outside academic circles.

In Italy, the ministry prioritizes clarity, aligning with the Accademia della Crusca, the nation’s language authority, which long opposed these novelties.

Businesses see the shift’s limits. Western companies may tweak diversity policies, but global markets—from Asia to Africa—stick to conventional norms, unbothered by the debate.

Italy’s ban signals a return to normalcy after a fleeting wave of “woke” influence, driven by a minority. Most Italians, and the world, welcome the rollback, viewing it as a practical reset, not a cultural war. The numbers tell the story: a tiny 1% fad fades, and tradition resumes its place.

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