1. PITCH STATEMENT

Do gender-biased linguistic structures constrain human progress? The Fommes Research Collective is a research collaborative that supports graduate students and scholars in producing publications on the impact of gender-biased language across human domains. We provide infrastructure, mentorship networks, and collaborative frameworks that enable rigorous academic work with novelty and pertinence.

2. CORE THESIS

For 12,000 years, human languages have embedded gender categories as fundamental organizing principles, despite no empirical evidence these distinctions reflect meaningful essences. This is not merely a "feminist issue" or linguistic curiosity. If language shapes thought (Wittgenstein), and gender categories pervade language while lacking foundation, then gender-biased language introduces structural constraint into every domain of human activity—from innovation to violence, economics to governance, health to technological development.

3. THE COLLECTIVE

The Fommes Research Collective operates through a collaborative supervision model that enables genuine interdisciplinary work while maintaining academic rigor. Faculty fellows serve as primary institutional supervisors for students at their home universities, while subject-matter experts globally function as research collaborators—all receive co-authorship credit. This distributed mentorship structure allows a student in Berlin supervised by a linguist to collaborate with an economist in Boston and a historian in Budapest on a single project. The network comprises core research fellows, affiliated scholars who contribute based on research alignment, and rotating student researchers. The Collective supports publications with academic rigor, creative insight, and novelty—research that advances understanding and merits publication in respected venues.

4. WHAT FOMMES PROVIDES:

Professional Infrastructure:

- Enterprise-grade collaboration platform (project management, communication, version control)

- High-end powerful publishing platform

- Co-authorship framework ensuring formal academic credit for all contributors

Academic Support:

- Community and reference point for publications on gender-biased language and its impact

- Support for cross-domain synthesis and novel insights

- Mentorship network connecting students with relevant expertise globally

Innovation Ecosystem:

- Interactive multimedia ecosystem, innovation hub

- Bridge between academic research and applied products

- Optional pathways for research-based commercialization and spinoffs

5. RESEARCH DOMAINS

The Collective investigates gender-biased language impact across multiple domains of human progress, including:

- Innovation & Economics: Correlation between linguistic gender-neutrality and innovation indices, economic development patterns

- Violence & Security: Gender-marking intensity and violence rates, conflict dynamics

- Science & Medicine: Gender bias in terminology affecting research design, diagnosis, and treatment

- Law & Governance: Legal language bias and access to justice, policy effectiveness

- Technology: Programming languages (gender-neutral) versus natural language constraints

- Historical Analysis: Linguistic factors in civilizational divergences and cultural adaptability

These domains are illustrative, not exhaustive. The Collective's structure enables scholars to pursue questions wherever the research leads, facilitating emergent cross-domain discoveries.

6. THE STAKES

Women's equality represents the most profound social transformation in recorded history, yet linguistic infrastructure lags 12,000 years behind. Understanding and addressing gender-biased language represents an opportunity for civilization-scale advancement in human capability—not merely for women, but for humanity's collective progress across all domains.

7. THE GOAL

We aim to map the scope of gender-biased language impact across human domains, establish causal mechanisms, and provide an evidence base for both academic understanding and potential social reform. The work exposes pathways through which gender-biased language impacts development, growth, security, and life quality across the diverse domains that compose human existence.

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EXTENDED SECTIONS

8. HISTORICAL PRECEDENT

We have proof-of-concept that linguistic structure constrains progress. Latin's grammatical rigidity required the scientific revolution to move into vernacular languages capable of neologism and conceptual flexibility. Medical advances required naming: without a term for "cancer," no cure was possible; "domestic violence" only became addressable after being named in 1958. Similarly, concepts like "submarine" and "spaceship" existed as words before technological reality, enabling imagination and eventual innovation. Language doesn't merely reflect reality—it shapes what we can conceive, discuss, and address. If linguistic limitations have demonstrably constrained scientific and social progress historically, the question becomes: what constraints does gender-biased language impose today?

9. ACADEMIC BACKGROUND & RATIONALE

While feminist linguistics has examined gender bias in language, and various disciplines have studied gender inequality's effects, no systematic effort has mapped the structural impact of gender-biased language across multiple domains simultaneously. Existing research remains siloed: linguists study language patterns, economists study labor markets, violence researchers examine gender-based violence—but these streams rarely intersect to examine language as a potential common factor.

The Fommes Research Collective addresses this gap by creating infrastructure for sustained cross-disciplinary investigation. We build on Wittgenstein's insight that "the limits of my language mean the limits of my world," extending it to ask: if gender categories pervade language yet lack empirical foundation, what are the accumulated costs across human activity? Recent scholarship on linguistic relativity, cognitive categorization, and innovation studies provides theoretical foundation, while advances in computational linguistics enable empirical testing at unprecedented scale.

10. METHODOLOGY & APPROACH

Research within the Collective employs diverse methodologies appropriate to each domain:

Quantitative Analysis:

- Cross-national studies correlating language gender-marking intensity with outcome variables (innovation indices, violence rates, economic indicators)

- Computational linguistics and NLP analysis of large corpora

- Experimental studies on cognitive effects of gendered versus neutral language

Historical & Comparative Analysis:

- Longitudinal studies of language evolution and societal outcomes

- Case studies of language reform movements and measurable impacts

- Comparative analysis across linguistic families and cultural contexts

Qualitative Research:

- Interview studies with speakers of diverse language systems

- Ethnographic observation in multilingual contexts

- Policy analysis examining language and institutional outcomes

Synthesis:

The Collective's unique contribution lies in cross-domain synthesis—bringing together findings from disparate fields to identify patterns. Regular collaborative seminars, shared working papers, and co-authored synthesis papers facilitate this integration.

11. PARTICIPATION CRITERIA

For Faculty Fellows:

- Active research program in relevant domain

- Willingness to supervise student researchers (1-3 per year)

- Commitment to interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration

- Interest in rigorous scholarship with innovative dissemination

For Students:

- Enrolled in graduate program at accredited institution

- Faculty supervisor at home institution (who joins as fellow or affiliated scholar)

- Research proposal aligned with Collective's questions

- Commitment to produce publishable work

For Affiliated Scholars:

- Expertise relevant to gender-biased language research

- Interest in occasional collaboration or consultation

- No formal time commitment required

12. NEXT STEPS & TIMELINE

Phase 1 (Months 1-3): Foundation

- Recruit 5-7 founding fellows across key domains

- Establish platform infrastructure and communication channels

- Develop first cohort of student research projects

Phase 2 (Months 4-9): Expansion

- Grow to 12-15 fellows

- Launch collaborative working groups by domain

- Publish initial working papers

- Host inaugural virtual symposium

Phase 3 (Months 10-18): Consolidation

- Produce cross-domain synthesis papers

- Submit to peer-reviewed journals

- Engage with policy organizations (where research supports)

- Pursue external funding based on demonstrated outputs

For inquiries about joining as fellow or affiliated scholar or a student:

info@fommes.org