Guardians of Grammar, Gatekeepers of Gender: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Académie Française’s Report on the Feminization of Professional Titles

Abstract This article examines how the Académie française constructs its institutional position on the feminization of professional and official titles in French. Using Fairclough’s three-dimensional model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and integrating Feminist CDA (Lazar, 2005), the study analyzes the Académie’s 2019 report as a case of symbolic discourse management. It investigates how feminization is framed linguistically, discursively, and ideologically. At the textual level, the report employs hedging, modality, and passive constructions to convey caution and deflect institutional responsibility. At the discursive level, the Académie constructs an image of neutrality and methodological restraint while subtly delegitimizing feminist discourse through rhetorical distancing. At the sociocultural level, feminization is normalized in lower -prestige professions but resisted in elite or masculine -coded domains, maintaining symbolic gender hierarchies. Legal and international considerations are mobilized to justify procedural caution. The analysis reveals three cross--level patterns: cautious distancing, symbolic boundary maintenance, and discursive deferral. These findings demonstrate that the Académie’s discourse not only reflects but actively manages institutional authority, gender norms, and the boundaries of acceptable linguistic change. The study contributes to debates on language policy and gender equality by framing feminization as a site of ideological governance rather than grammatical evolution.