Editing Académie Française (section)

===Alleged conservatism===

The Académie, despite working on the modernization of the [[French orthography]], has sometimes been criticized by many linguists for allegedly behaving in an overly conservative manner. For instance, in 1997, [[Lionel Jospin]]'s government began using the feminine noun "''la ministre''" to refer to a female minister, following the official practice of [[Canada]], [[Belgium]] and [[Switzerland]] and a frequent, though until then unofficial, practice in France. The Académie insisted, in accordance with French grammar rules on the traditional use of the masculine noun, on the use of "''le ministre''" for a minister of either gender. In 2017, 77 linguists retaliated with an opinion column to denounce the "incompetence and anachronism of the Académie".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.revue-ballast.fr/lacademie-tienne-langue|title = BALLAST • Que l'Académie tienne sa langue, pas la nôtre|date = 28 November 2017}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=August 2024|reason=A non-primary source would be helpful to show that this opinion column is notable.}} Use of either form remains highly controversial.