When I say it's impossible to talk about someone in French without gendering them, this is not strictly true. There is an entire system of "inclusive writing", complete with neopronouns (there are no gender-neutral pronouns in what I'm going to call "classical French") to remedy the language's huge flaws.

But the use of gender-neutral language in France isn't simply a question of using the words to make them more commonplace. It's a political battle.

@garfiald

My understanding is French (langue d'oïl) was deliberately gendered under a committee instigated by Cardinal Richlieu. Prior to which nouns were about 60% gendered, 40% neuter.

While that may be too early to be considered 'classical French', it does show it to be an artificial set of rules imposed on the natural language.

@garfiald <nods>

Although I was under the impression (I am a French language learner, beginner) that 'on', as a pronoun, was rather neutral when refering to first or third person.