Mexican type designer Aldo Arillo, in collaboration with the artist Mario García Torres, created a new vowel as a solution to the gender bias in the Spanish language.
The new vowel called ‘secte’ —described as a genderless letter— was created from the ligature of three letters: a, e and o.
“Se llama ‘secte’ y la idea es que se convierta en la sexta vocal de nuestras vocales”.
Mario García Torres
The artist and typographer propose that ‘secte’ be used instead of the characters e, @, and x.
Spanish speakers have used these characters unofficially to create an inclusive language.
The vowel is part of the exhibition “La poética del regreso” and is currently only available in the NeuLeon typeface, created by Arillo for the Museum of Contemporary Art of Monterrey, MARCO.
Over time we have seen how design has had the power to shape and influence the behavior of societies, the clearest example, but not the most positive one, being World War II propaganda.
I believe that the work of Aldo and Mario, by presenting inclusive language in a more tangible and visual way, can help educate society and contribute to the normalization of gender-neutral language that non-binary groups have been asking for.
TBI
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