All nouns in Spanish are either masculine or feminine, and according to the language's rules the masculine form trumps the feminine when describing a group of people containing members of both genders. For example, a group of female workers would be described as “trabajadoras” with the feminine plural ending of “-as”, but a group of 99 female workers and one male worker would be described as “trabajadores” with the masculine plural ending — just because of the presence of one man. More and more Spanish speakers are moving away from this rule and toward what they consider to be more inclusive language. But the highest authority of the Spanish language, The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), isn't a fan.

The RAE report criticizes the new guidelines on non-sexist language developed in Spain by universities, unions and regional governments that propose, for example, the use of words like “la ciudadanía” (“the citizenry”, which happens to be feminine) instead of “los ciudadanos” (masculine plural form of “the citizens”) or “el profesorado” (singular noun meaning “faculty”) instead of “los profesores” (masculine plural form of “the professors”) when speaking of groups made up of both men and women.

After criticizing and highlighting the complete impracticality of the generic “dividing” — like the aforementioned “todos y todas” — to avoid sexism, as well as the misuse of the @ symbol superimposed over the use of the “a” at the end of feminine words and over the “o” at the end of masculine words, the linguist dismissed the viability of these guidelines.

The RAE's years-old disapproval doesn't appear to have stopped Spanish speakers from changing their language. It is becoming more popular the use of both sexes in plural, especially in Latin America.

Read more here.