11-16-2023, 09:43 PM
https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/word-history-latinx
https://elcentro.colostate.edu/about/why-latinx/#:~:text=Latinx%20is%20the%20gender%2Dneutral,to%20challenge%20the%20gender%20binary.
https://www.bu.edu/articles/2022/why-is-latinx-still-used-if-hispanics-hate-the-term/
Quote:'Latinx' And Gender Inclusivity
How do you pronounce this more inclusive word?
Latinx was originally formed in the early aughts as a word for those of Latin American descent who do not identify as being of the male or female gender or who simply don't want to be identified by gender. More than likely, there was little consideration for how it was supposed to be pronounced when it was created. Nevertheless, people have attempted to assign some pronunciations to it. The most common way to pronounce Latinx is the same way you would Spanish-derived Latina or Latino but pronouncing the "x" as the name of the English letter X. So you get something like \luh-TEE-neks\.
'Latinx' is a gender-neutral word for people of Latin American descent.
Latinx is used generally as a gender-neutral term for Latin Americans, but it has been especially embraced by members of Latin LGBTQ communities as a word to identify themselves as people of Latin descent possessing a gender identity outside the male/female binary.
Quote:Anita: mid-20s to early 30s, sexy, vivacious, and full of life, must be an amazing dancer, strong belt to C#, strong actor, Latinx preferred, principal.
— Back Stage East, 19 Apr. 2007
Of the total 70 LGBTQ characters counted, 48 were white (69%), nine were black (13%), four were Asian or Pacific Islander (6%) and one was Latinx, the de-gendered term for those of Latin descent (1%).
— Tre'vell Anderson, The Los Angeles Times, 27 May 2017
An increasingly popular term utilized by the general public, "Latinx" seeks to move beyond gender binaries and provide better inclusion for the LGBTQ community.
— Samantha Díaz Roberts, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 10 Dec. 2016
As things get under way, a young Latinx couple—Tania (Paloma Nozicka) and Pablo (Gabriel Ruiz)—have moved into an old and stately Washington neighborhood alongside Frank (Patrick Clear) and Virginia (Janet Ulrich Brooks), an older white couple.
— Mike Fischer, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 18 June 2017
Visibility for Latinx, the gender-neutral term for U.S.-born individuals with Latin American heritage, and Latin American artists has been on the upswing in the past few years, especially within critically acclaimed indie circles.
— Alejandra Salazar, The San Francisco Chronicle, 20 Mar. 2017
The male/female binary is inherent in the Spanish language, which lacks a neuter noun form. Thus, nouns are either masculine, generally indicated by an "-o" ending (Latino), or feminine, indicated by "-a" (Latina). The same applies to Portuguese and other Western Iberian languages.
Latinx purposefully breaks with Spanish's gendered grammatical tradition. X signifies something unknown and is used in Latinx to connote unspecified gender. A similar use of "x" is in Mx., a gender-neutral title of courtesy that is used in place of gendered titles, such as Mr. and Ms. It has been suggested that the use of "x" in Mx. influenced Latinx.
Other efforts challenging the gender binary in Spanish include the use of the slash (Latino/a) and at sign (Latin@)—the symbol suggesting inclusivity by having an "o" encircling an "a." These alternatives denote both male and female in their formation but do not include those outside the gender binary. Latinx, on the other hand, is a word free from gender in its makeup, which is why those who identify as trans, *****, or nonbinary use it to express their identity.
Though Latinx is becoming common in social media and in academic writing, it is unclear whether it will catch on in mainstream use. Nevertheless, it is gaining noticeable traction among the general public as a gender-inclusive term for Latin Americans of diverse identities and orientations.
![[Image: latina-latino-latinx-4028-80dc1e485064bf...fb8@1x.jpg]](https://merriam-webster.com/assets/mw/images/article/art-wap-article-main/latina-latino-latinx-4028-80dc1e485064bf336823d1e068478fb8@1x.jpg)
https://elcentro.colostate.edu/about/why-latinx/#:~:text=Latinx%20is%20the%20gender%2Dneutral,to%20challenge%20the%20gender%20binary.
Quote:[color=var( --e-global-color-490e73c )]Why Latinx/e?[/color]
The term Latinx emerged in the early 21st century, reportedly first used online in 2004. Latinx is the gender-neutral alternative to Latina or Latino. It is a term used to describe a diverse group of people who have roots in Latin America. While it is unclear exactly when and where the term emerged, it is clear it emerged from ***** Latinx online communities in order to challenge the gender binary.
Latine is also a gender-neutral form of the word Latino, created by gender non-binary and feminist communities in Spanish-speaking countries. The objective of the term is also to remove gender from Spanish, by replacing it with the gender-neutral Spanish letter E, which can already be found in words like estudiante.
We understand that discourse related to these terms is complicated. Language is complicated. Identities are also not a monolith and are intersectional and complex.
You will observe El Centro using Latinx/e in order to be in alignment with our values, the Principles of Community and to create a more welcoming environment for folks who identify outside the gender binary. We commit to re-evaluating our approach as language continues to evolve.
For us, Latinx/e is important to use because it encompasses those who within Latin American cultures have been marginalized and put down by rigorous gender binaries, machismo, and colonization. Latinx/e pushes beyond gender binaries and acknowledges the intersecting identities of our incredibly diverse community. Latinx/e includes men, women, gender non-conforming, non-binary, trans, *****, agender and gender-fluid folks in our communities. For us, these are not exclusionary terms; they open the door for all the ways folks would like to be identified.
We understand that not everyone is comfortable with using these terms and we strive to create a dialog and reach a mutual respect and understanding. The conversation discourse about Latinx/e has many sides and perspectives, it is messy and complicado. In El Centro, we embrace the opportunity to engage in this complexity, knowing that we won’t always get it right that we will mess up along the way. Juntos hope to learn and grow from mistakes, discourse and dialogue as we work towards greater inclusion.
It is important to remember that all individuals have the right to identify with language that capture who they are and makes them feel welcome. Ultimately, what we want you to know is that regardless of how you choose to identify yourself (Chicano, Chicana, Xicanx, Latina, Latino, Hispanic, Mexicano, Puertoriqueño, Colombiano, Afro-Latinx, etc.) you are welcome here and we hope you come see us soon.
Below are more articles and videos about the term Latinx and Latine:
https://www.bu.edu/articles/2022/why-is-latinx-still-used-if-hispanics-hate-the-term/
Quote:It seems like there’s a new word for Latin American heritage every couple of decades—and it never seems to fit just right. “Hispanic” was brought into common parlance in the early 1970s, but was later challenged by “Latino” and its feminine partner “Latina.”
Now comes the rise of the divisive—but gender-neutral—“Latinx,” touted by progressives for its supposed modern hipness, yet somewhat reviled by the people it represents.
With Hispanic Heritage Month in full swing, it’s time to ask: what’s in a name?
“As an immigrant, I found myself being classified as Hispanic upon arrival to the United States, a term I did not know nor had used to call myself before,” says Dina Castro, a Wheelock College of Education and Human Development professor of early childhood education and director of the BU Institute for Early Childhood Well-Being. “Then, there was the option of using Latina, which is my preference because it highlights my Latin American origin and not only the fact that I speak Spanish.”
While there’s no one group or individual responsible for coining Latinx, its popularity has snowballed in tandem with conversations around gender. Previous terminology forced the speaker to identify as male or female, Latino or Latina, while Latinx gives both speaker and listener the ability to opt out of the gender binary. The term was embraced enthusiastically by progressive entities with a stake in gender-neutral policies. It was added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary in 2018.
According to the Pew Research Center, a thimble-sized portion of people with Latin American ancestry use the term Latinx. In August 2020, the center reported that 3 percent of respondents viewed it favorably; a year later, a Gallup poll increased that to 4 percent. If you were to base your impression on this research—or on various recent think pieces—you’d assume that the term was foisted on an unwilling community who found themselves saddled with it.
Maia Gil’Adí, a College of Arts & Sciences assistant professor of English, says this isn’t the case. “You have to ask yourself, who’s taking the surveys?” she says.
Gil’Adí, who specializes in Latinx literature and culture, points to a journal article by Nicole M. Guidotti-Hernández, an Emory University professor, who places the term’s coinage “around 2004 in ***** contexts.” It was an organic youth movement, she contends, born of the internet, and rejected by the older generation.
“With the younger generations—with the kids that I teach—I would think that they’re much more comfortable using the term Latinx,” Gil’Adí says.
The conversation around Latinx often includes reference to its usage in higher education, not by just students, but the institution as well. (BU, for instance, uses the term “Latinx” in its official style guide.) This can be attributed to the fact that college students are leading the national discussion on gender—or that the national population of Latinx college students is on the rise. In 2020, the Postsecondary
National Policy Institute reported that at 21.8 percent, Latinx students were the second-largest ethnic group of college enrollees.
At BU, the Latinx community has increased across the board in the past five years: undergraduates by 7 percent, graduates by 23 percent, faculty by 17 percent, and staff by 38 percent.
Not everyone at BU represented by these numbers prefers the term Latinx. Gil’Adí understands, she says, but thinks it’s important that people realize that to her and other scholars, the X does not refer solely to gender neutrality. It can represent an unknown value, as in mathematics, and signifies what she refers to as a “categorical impossibility.”
“How do you define a population made up of descendants from all the countries in Latin America, people that are white, Black, Asian, and indigenous?” she asks. “Anglo-American culture always wants to define the minoritized other as this one thing, and I think the X pushes back and says, no, we are all these things.”
The conscientiousness of Latinx contrasts with its predecessor term, “Hispanic.” Popularized under the Nixon administration when it first appeared on the 1970 US Census—also the first time the Latinx population was seen as a separate entity by the government—the term was the result of a decision by an ad-hoc committee convened by the Census Bureau to group people from Latin America together under one mother tongue. It’s an arbitrary designation, Gil’Adí says, one that erases indigenous languages and puts a “linguistic belonging and a sort of limitation” on something that’s not so easily confined.
And of course, many are opposed to grouping Latinx people together under the language of their colonizers.
“For me, the term Hispanic highlights only the colonial part of my ancestry, and I have indigenous and Afro-Peruvian ancestors as well,” Castro says.
In 1992, author Sandra Cisneros told the New York Times: “To say Hispanic means you’re so colonized you don’t even know for yourself, or someone who named you never bothered to ask what you call yourself. It’s a repulsive slave name.”
In spite of the pushback, the 2021 Gallup poll reported that “Hispanic” was the favorite out of the terms on offer, at 23 percent. It’s possible that those who participated have also filled out their fair share of censuses.
There are plenty of other options for self-identification beside Latino, Latinx, and Hispanic. There’s Latin@, popular in the 1990s as a gender-expansive precursor to Latinx. There’s Latine, a gender-neutral term championed by detractors of Latinx, primarily for its better adherence to Spanish grammar.
“With regard to the more recent terms proposed to address gender equity, I prefer Latine over Latinx,” Castro says.
There’s also the option of abandoning racial classification altogether and instead focusing on geography.
Johanna Calderon-Dakin (COM’06), a publicist and bilingual culture consultant born and raised in Mexico City, says she prefers to identify herself as Mexican. “What is most important in my opinion is that whether you use Latino, Latinx, or Hispanic, we all are part of this one great community, yet we are not homogeneous,” she says. “The diaspora of the Latino community is immense, so it is difficult to put us all under one blanket.”
Gil’Adí wonders if the ideal self-identifying term might not be invented yet. “Think about the different permutations that have led to ‘Black’: Negro, African American, Afro-American,” she says. “Within the past 5 years, this explosion of Latinx has been huge, so what’s going to happen 5, 10 years from now?”
Ultimately, while she remains partial to Latinx, Gil’Adí doesn’t think that these terms primarily benefit the people they refer to. “When you’re in [Latin America] you’re Colombian, Brazilian, whatever. Once you come here, you become this other thing that then becomes racialized,” she says. “People have a really hard time with things that aren’t concrete, that are slippery. It’s about learning to sit with that uncomfortableness.”
To prove her point, look at the 2021 Gallup poll. When asked their preference between Hispanic, Latino, and Latinx, the overwhelming majority—57 percent—put down, “Does not matter.”
![[Image: giphy.gif]](https://media0.giphy.com/media/1kwsTjL8BNqlszNtnCE/giphy.gif)
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
![[Image: thumbs-thumbs-up-kid.gif]](https://media.tenor.com/A-ozELwp694AAAAC/thumbs-thumbs-up-kid.gif)
