dynamic underscore

The dynamic underscore (for instance „St_udentin“, german for student) is an extension of the so called gender_gap („Student_in“). Apart from additionally naming the female form of (in german) generally male gendered terms, the gender_gap is supposed to give space to people who don’t want to classify themselves in a system of BINARY GENDERING (means as „man“ or „woman“). The dynamic underscore intends to counter the effect, that the female ending seems to be a rather unnecessary addition. By migrating arbitrarily through the word, the dynamic underscore is also supposed to create a certain confusion and irritation regarding the construction of identity and meaning through language in general. Since it is not any longer the female and the male form of a word that is recognizable, as an either .. or choice, binary gendering is requested more radically. (Based on AK Feministische Sprachpraxis (ed.): feminismus schreiben lernen, 2011)

Although most of the english terms that describe persons are not gendered at all I decided to underscore them dynamically as well. Firstly because non gendered terms are often anyway imagined as male and secondly because they nevertheless give the impression of stable identities (as for instance of what it means to be a student).