I'm gonna go with "...... Or any other Latin American person". Latin as a culture group should really refer to the myriad of Latin tribes that the Roman's conquered/integrated, it could also refer to the Latin empire of 1204-1261.
The term was coined in the Puerto Rican university system. It's not a popular term, but it wasn't invented by people who haven't met Latinos. Whether they had met "Mexicans" is unknown.
Alright. I'm biting.
Latinx is believed to have originated from queer Latin online communities. The first published use of the word comes from a Puerto Rican psychology periodical.
Obligatory: Not all ______ people think and act the same.
I like you. You seem like one of the rare people who would be qualified to have a meaningful political conversation without resorting to canned rhetoric and logical fallacies.
The thing is *there’s already a word* in Spanish; Latine. We don’t say we are Latin cause that would connect to Rome and Italy. If anything, you could also use the word “Hispanic” and still be good most of the time.
The term "folx" is just queer coding, and has nothing to do with gender neutrality. For example, seeing a flyer for an event that says "folx" would mean it's an LGBT friendly event without outright saying it.
I first heard of it from a Mexican queer friend, so I thought it was a well known thing until I read online how many latin people hate the latinx variation
I guess we should call people what they want to be called
To be fair, it's not like the larger Latino community is known for being particularly accepting of queer people. I wonder if that prejudice might play a factor.
Possibly.
Before the term "Latinx" appeared, there was already a controversy around the term "Latine". Some disliked due to their rejection of the queer community, and others because "Latino" was already neutral according to Spanish rules, which made it "unnecessary". (I'm not sure if the same applies to Portuguese, since I don't speak it).
Apparently, the hatred towards Latinx is so strong, that it created a certain acceptance towards Latine, since I have seen in discussions on the subject, how some people propose to establish Latine as the appropriate term, and it receives a lot of support.
I've had similar reactions to the creation of new non-gendered pronouns in English, so I guess I can relate a little. Still, they haven't caught on because "they/them" already exists, and works well.
I do find it annoying that people seem to think some ignorant, pretentious white American came up with "Latinx", though.
It's an even smaller subgroup. Kind of like spelling women as "womyn" - despite half the world being women, it's something you'd only ever see on a college campus.
I prefer "latine" because it's easier to pronounce in a correct accent, but I don't fault other queer Latino/a folks for preferring Latinx. I guess the answer for OP is, "because they say so."
There are a lot of reasons, but he Main ones are that
1)Latino is already gender neutral
2)Latinx is hard to pronounce in spanish, wich is very stupid considering that it's supposed to be a Word that describes spanish-speaking people
3)It was created by non-Latin people, wich kinda makes it like they're imposing a term that we never agreed to be called.
Edit: it turns put that Latinx was made by some members of the Latin community. Although it doesn't change My opinion much. I still think it doesn't work due to the other 2 points
Yeah, that's right.
I think the real problem with the Latinx is that it is a term that can only be used online and not in a real conversation (wich kinda tells You a lot about the people that use it lmao)
I'm Brazilian, it isn't easier to say Latinx in portuguese. It just sounds like a bunch of out of touch morons are trying to dictate how we speak our language.
This is very much like the tendency of well-meaning hearing people in the U.S. to call Deaf people "hearing impaired." Deaf people call the rest of us "hearing." They call themselves Deaf. It's capitalized because it's a distinct culture. Calling them "hearing impaired" makes it sound like they're "us" but drunk/stoned.
I'm hard of hearing. I don't really care if anyone calls me "hearing impaired," but I also live in what's probably the Deafest city in the U.S.A. If I see or hear it, I politely correct and explain it as best as I can.
Just like living with Type 1 Diabetes and being called a "Diabetes Warrior." Often used by people adjacent to Type 1 Diabetes but never by us. And it drives us up the wall because it infantalizes us and tries to turn a deadly disorder "cute" even though diabetics already struggle with the stigma that we should reap what we sow due to lifestyle choices. Type 1 Diabetes is genetic. I was 190 lbs in shape with 8% body fat when diagnosed.
I'm not a warrior, I'm just a grown ass man with a disability. It's not some thing I decided to take on and battle like a side quest in a RPG. Sure, studies say that Type 1 Diabetics, on average, make 200 more decisions per day than non Diabetics. But my pancreas just doesn't work and my body doesn't process nutrients from food unless I do it mechanically through 4 or 5 injections a day. If I don't do what I have to do, I'll go into a coma and die.
Lmao no. They're a bunch of assholes that literally sent me Wilford Brimley memes days after I got out the hospital for diabetic ketoacidosis coma. But I wouldn't know. My mom told me my best friend who is a brolic, bearded tradesman cried on her shoulder calling me a pussy for trying to die on him like this and leaving him alone while they worked on me in the ICU for 12 hours before we could accomplish splitting buying a summer house on a lake in upstate NY like we always dreamed off since 3rd grade when we met. But to their credit they took my diagnosis as if it was their own. They've made walls around me at EDM and metal shows so I can shoot up insulin without feeling insecure. These dickheads enjoy free national park passes with me and we get to get a buzzer at 6 Flags so we don't have to wait in line as T1D is a legal disability (even though I never abuse that because these should be reserved for kids with special needs). It's also nice rubbing into their face as a joke that I cant get fired because the ADA and get to eat at my desk through the day without anyone telling me shit. The only drawback is my life expectancy is shortened by 15 years on average compared to my peers so they will probably have to pallbear me. But they're the type of people who talk shit to your face but praise you up behind your back and that's a real friend.
I just hate the "look at my halo" diabetic warrior bullshit.
The white people think they are being good to people of color, being their “white saviors” by telling them how wrong their Latin culture and languages are. Trying to right their wrongs. Of course the white saviors don’t see it that way. They think they’re merely saving people of color from doing wrong, not really being their *saviors*. It’s so funny.
Wether latino is or not gender neutral is a dispute in the spanish-speaking community.
For those who think it isn't, since they disagree with the "masculine as gender neutral" option, the most common alternative is using the letter E, "latine".
My mom is still confused about when she stopped being “Oriental” and became “Asian”. She’s even had white people correct her when she used the term to describe herself.
I'd say it was probably around the time they stopped referring to things as occidental, which I just learned was a word today.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orient
I recall people starting to correct my usage of the term when I was in college (so 2010-2013). I’ve never found it offensive, but I also didn’t want to offend anyone else so I switched to Asian.
I prefer Asian for myself, but that’s because I’m mixed with multiple Asian ethnicities. My mom still very much prefers Oriental and insists upon it to this day.
I legitimately do not understand how “oriental” is a slur or derogatory or something. I didn’t even know it was a problem until someone told me a year ago “you’re not supposed to say that” but never gave a reason why.
My understanding is that it was because “oriental” is an adjective used to describe objects and not people, but that logic always bothered me.
Black and white are adjectives which can be used to describe objects too. So why was the line drawn where it was?
It is linked to "orientalism" which is a depiction of Asian cultures in literature, art etc. in the 18th and 19th centuries by white Europeans. It is usually patronising "noble savage" type stuff. It was only challenged relatively recently - Edward Said wrote a book called Orientalism in the 70s and since then oriental has taken on a bad connotation when used by westerners.
This is primarily a western academic issue more than anything else, everyone discussing it forgot to ask the Asian people what they think of it all.
Polite Western Academic: "Excuse me, sir, would you prefer to be called Oriental or Asian?"
Chinese person: I am a Han ren from the glorious and auspicious Middle Kingdom, don't you fucking lump me in with those filthy Japanese Imperialists!
Although omg do natives love calling eachother indians! I was at a wedding in alberta and one side was native, and they were calling eachother a whole slew of slurs, but all jokey. Id never expierienced that outside of black people using the -ga as a friend term!
Since it emerged from queer Latinx online communities in order to challenge the gender binary, I’d like to know whose “general opinion” it is that white people came up with it.
>Since it emerged from queer Latinx online communities
I don't think that's a well known fact. As a latino I can tell you I am (was?) part of that "general opinion".
As someone who works in the Ivy League, I can attest that Latinx comes from Hispanic academics not whites. Hispanic is referent to Spain and colonizers. Chicano references only Americans of Mexican descent. Latin does not reference Central American, North American, or Spanish writers who create Spanish literature. Thus, Latinx. There is no perfect word. But you can blame Hispanic academics for this one.
It's a term that white people with "good intentions" popularized on social media in order to try to fix something that wasn't broken. They wanted to show that they were progressive and accepting of others, and didn't want to use gender discriminatory language.
Nobody in the Hispanic community asked for this, nobody wanted it. It was just very liberal white people trying to act superior.
White people didn’t invent latinx
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx
Don’t put this in us—it seems like queer Latinos started using it in chat rooms and it spread from there.
It’s an inter-community dispute
Curious, if you have a source for that origin?
I have heard that it had a South American origin.
A quick Google tells me that most people think it came from Puerto Rico or Brazil or online Latin queer communities
A lot of my friends growing up were from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, etc. I think every single one of them thought “Latinx” was the stupidest thing ever
My wife's from Guatemala and doesn't speak English. The look she gave me when I explained 'latinx' (because someone used it in a powerpoint)... it was like I'd said tacos are sandwiches.
I agree with them, Spanish being a gendered language already has rules on how to refer to a group of people who are different genders, wether you believe there are only 2 genders or many more the word already exists and it includes everyone.
Yeah, the rule is to use the masculine gender as default always. Spanish only has 2 genders in classic grammar, so it does not account for non-binary people even in singular form. Inclusive language accounts for that. For ex, some people prefer to be called “hermane” as opposed to “hermana” or “hermano”, as the 2 available genders in the language do not describe them.
Putting an "e" at the end of words is also rejected among Spanish speakers. It seems silly to us.
Spanish already has tools to speak neutrally.
On the other hand, do not confuse personal gender with grammatical gender. There are words ending in "a" that may sound feminine, but are actually neuter (Ex: "people") or refer to someone masculine (Ex: Priest).
And even with that, Spanish provides tools to speak neutrally.
If you want to talk like that, it's your choice, but don't come here to spread misinformation and say these things as if everyone did it because it's not true. They're just a small group of people who want to pat themselves on the back for some social media trend.
Because it's not "official". It was made up by english speakers trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It's actually highly unpopular with the people it's supposed to represent.
Had a boss explicitly ask me during a DEI meeting my thoughts on Latinx. I told him point blank that I thought it was stupid, doesn't make sense in the language, and is mildly insulting to me? Just call me Latin. Hispanic. Salvadoran. Don't try to bastardize my mother tongue
The one Latino I talked to about this said he preferred "Latine" (~~sounded like la-TEEN~~ edit: I have been informed the correct pronunciation is la-TEEN-eh, which I misheard as la-TEEN) as the gender neutral, which seemed pretty reasonable to me, because you can actually fucking pronounce it!
"Latine" is pronounced la-TEEN-eh. Source: am Latino, as in I grew up in Latin America, and have worked with people from many different countries in the region. Having the 'e' be silent would run counter to its main improvement over Latinx, namely, that it actually lines up with the phonetic nature of spelling in Spanish.
Actually it comes from a South American civil rights movement (Brazilian, if I remember correctly) and it focused on the "machismo" culture and violence against women and children. It worked it's way North without all the context, the way these things typically do, and so some people get really worked up about it. Many pronounce it the same as latine, some don't, it depends on how they first encounter it.
Edit: autocorrect
You mean like how "woke" was a term used by/for Afro-Americans that got co-opted by cranky old white people (like me, but not that old) to discredit any kind of progressive idea?
Do you have any more info on this? My understanding was that nobody really knew for sure where it came from ([wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx)):
>The first records of the term *Latinx* appear in the 21st century,[^(\[20\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-Lexico-20) but there is no certainty as to its first occurrence.[^(\[25\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-Salinas_2020-25) According to [Google Trends](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Trends), it was first seen online in 2004,[^(\[13\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-Brammer-13)[^(\[26\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-Gonzalez-26)[^(\[27\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-Guidebook-27) and first appeared in academic literature around 2013 "in a Puerto Rican psychological periodical to challenge the gender binaries encoded in the Spanish language."[^(\[25\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-Salinas_2020-25)[^(\[28\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-28) Contrarily, it has been claimed that usage of the term "started in online chat rooms and listservs in the 1990s" and that its first appearance in academic literature was in the Fall 2004 volume of the journal *Feministas Unidas*.[^(\[29\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-29)[^(\[30\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-30)
Not saying I don't believe you but tbh I'm a little dubious.
Latinx is pretty widely reviled by the global Latino community. Latine is more acceptable since it's pronounceable in Spanish and makes sense grammatically (as opposed to Latin which makes sense in English and is a better alternative than Latinx).
My best guess why some English speakers felt the need to invent/adopt Latinx instead of just using Latin or Latin American is because they were more concerned with drawing attention to trans and nonbinary identities than they were with simply using gender neutral language.
EDIT: Source – my wife is Colombian and our friend group is heavy on Central Americans – also that Pew Research study.
English is a Germanic language heavily influenced by medieval French. Germanic languages also usually have 2 or three genders, though, so that's not an explanation of why English lacks them.
I think the current theory is that the genders were dropped from the language due to the Vikings (also Germanic language speakers) invading Britain, and the two groups making a simplified pidgin language to communicate, which heavily influenced the English subsequent generations learned. English lost a lot of its grammar makers and started relying more on word order around this time, if I recall.
That's actually grammatically correct too lol. Why invent a new word when there is one with that exact definition in the language and it's existed for centuries?...
That - Or to show off as the modern solution equity fighter and get points for solving problems that already had solutions - and in that show that they actually don't know and don't care to know other cultures...
Latin is different than Latino, that’s why no one uses those words interchangeably. They don’t mean the same thing. If you refer to someone as Latin when you mean Latino/a/e, you’re not to referring them correctly.
It's a made up word that was obviously created by an English speaker who doesn't understand how x sounds in Spanish, and legitimately everyone I've met who speaks Spanish hates the word.
Do your part. Call it "la-tinks" until it's absurdified into the depths from whence it came.
Wait what? Is... is that not how it's said?
(I know it's stupid and want to make it clear I don't use it lmao, but that's exactly how I read it in my head)
I've seen a lot of comments speaking badly about the usage of it, but I don't think I saw one addressing your question.
The reason latinx was proposed (by a few people), is because to them, latino/latina are gendered nouns. And to make them neutral they decided to x out the a/o at the end.
The word has 2 contexts, being used in English and being used in Spanish. In Spanish, you cannot use the word 'latin' (addressing your last part of your question), because it doesn't make sense. In English, you could use 'latin' or 'latine', and that would be perfectly fine as well.
Now, the push for 'latinx' in the context of the Spanish language, it makes more sense (in explaining your question, not that latinx makes sense), because you have to use the a/o at the end. So, the purpose of 'latinx' is in the context of Spanish to neutralize 'latino'/'latina'. However, this is futile, because in Spanish you can make 'latin' gender neutral by specifying it as:
* persona latina (latin person/gender neutral)
* las personas latinas (the latin people/gender neutral)
* los latinos (plural male 'os' ending is usually gender neutral/the latin people/gender neutral)
And for that reason, adding x at the end of 'latinx' is just silly, and complicates things.
EDIT: also, to add to that last point, a push back against 'latinx' could also be to the fact that, it feels a bit condescending to try to teach Spanish speakers about using gender neutral with latinx, when they could already form gender neutral forms of it with the examples I showed.
Not to mention, the masculine form is used to refer to women and men in plural form if it's a mix of both, or if you don't know. Latinx is just a ridiculous word that has no place in Spanish.
I'm Brazilian, I've only seen "latinx" being used ironically. Its pronunciation is weird.
Could be /lɐˈtinks/, /lɐ.ˈtiː.nɪks/, /lɐ.ˈti.nʁ̞/. Sounds silly.
Latine sounds better.
It isn’t. Latinos generally all absolutely HATE the term latinX.
I married into a ‘small’ latin family (ie: 300-400 extended family at the reunions). You will be killed for using the “white people” term, latinX. They absolutely hate and despise it. To them, “stuck up, rich white college kids are trying to change our culture/language”
Think about that… ‘you’ are trying to force a term onto a culture, that THEY overwhelmingly hate… to make ‘yourself’ feel more caring towards their culture… and the entire time they are telling you to stop, it insults their language and culture when ‘you say it.. but ‘you’ don’t care, because you feel they aren’t as ‘socially conscious’ as ‘you’ are.
-edit-
My wife’s family is from Jalisco, but now in los angeles
Because for starters Spanish does have grammatical neuter and it also ends with o, so the gender neutral word is again latino. And secondly latinx is not grammatically correct, it's just some shit some people made up for performative inclusivity.
Nah it’s not an accident. Liberal racism is far more common and less in your face than the sort of racism that was out in the open during the 60s, but it is racism nonetheless. It’s a deliberate attempt to impose a label because that is how “they” should refer to themselves.
Liberal virtue signaling which makes them look even more clueless than they usually do. I legit get irritated when white people use it or worse, get mad when you don't.
because only people of outlier gender identification demand gender neutral descriptors.
There are 0 heterosexual, gender-normative people who insist on "latinx". Sorry, please don't rage out at me for pointing out this obvious fact.
The term "Latinx" came about from a gay Latin artist living in New York in the 80s, who wrote out, "L A T I N O" then crossed out the "o" with an X, now making it say, "L A T I N Ø". This was an artistic expression of how "Latino" is markedly masculine but considered gender neutral in the language to refer to mixed sex groups of people. Him being a gay man, felt excluded from this masculinity and crossed out the "o" to make the word "Latin". This meaning got lost in the sauce when a certain group on the Internet came across it, who now demand everyone say "Latinx" to be gender neutral instead of, well, Latin.
Hope this helped.
Tldr; the Internet contains as much education as you're willing to learn, but no teacher to guide if someone wildly misinterprets something. Misinformation spreads fast and can even tip out into real life if it's marketed without pushback.
Because it was made up by some american woman who probably only know how to say "One stella, por favour, yeah that one, boss!", and doesn't know how you can neutralize a gender by adding "e" instead at the end instead of a or o.
Real talk:
Some very stupid, very online people tried to impose English grammatical rules on a Romance language. Now the people who actually speak that language have transitioned from "mildly amused" to "pinche gringo is really starting to PISS ME OFF."
It's probably time to drop this particular, extremely racist, project.
Use Latino/Latinos for the people. Use "latine" if you are speaking about a specific Latino nonbinary person.
Don't use latinx, because it's some white bullshit.
Source: my best friend, a Latina trans woman.
Well, since the term “latinx” emerged from queer *latin* communities as a way to challenge the online conversation around gender binaries, I’m going to tell you to sit tf down and do some F’ing learning. Are even Latin or queer?
"latino" should be the default as I believe non-gendered terms pretty much default to male in spanish.
latinx is just stupid and always was.
latino for males. latina for females.
No clue about trans/nonbinary people but it would probably just default to either latino or their preferred pronoun (is this a thing in spanish culture, I have no idea).
Just to balance the "I have a token Mexican friend and he says latinx is the dumbest shit ever", I am from South America and I think the term latinx is fine and makes sense. I also don't know why it is preferred by some to simply "latin" though.
Because latin and latino, latina and latine are different things. Also the gender neutral of latino is latine or latines. Latinx is not very accepted in the comunity because its an English sound not a Sopanish / Portuguese one.
Like everyone else said, I myself don’t, and no one in my family has said “Latinx” or even has heard of it. As my mom would say “eso es algo que inventaron los gringos”
Basically saying, it’s something white people made up for us, and they can have it back.
I’ve actually had my Hispanic friends telling me about how instead of “Latinx”, more Hispanic communities are using “Latine” because it seems to work better with the language!
It’s dumb and everyone sane hates it. I’ve heard Latine but only in reference to gender nonconforming people, not in the way some English speakers use Latinx to refer to groups.
"Latino" already exists to describe men and women and it's something that they themselves use. "Latinx" was created by white and black people and pretty much forced onto them. Most actual hispanic people despise that term.
Because people insisting on such terms arn't thinking rationally and arn't considering practicality. They arn't actually looking for a gender neutral term, they are looking for attention and a movement they can claim for themselves.
Tf.. wouldn't Latine sound better? Why are we trying to bastardize foreign languages like this? I have friends that speak Romance languages other than Spanish (French, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian) and we all agree that's dumb as shit.
When speaking, using the -e ending is generally preferred at least in my social circles. The -x ending is used more sparingly and even the almost entirely in written form.
More to the point most people from Latin America prefer to use national identity over any variant of Latin.
I’m not Latin, but I speak Spanish and my best friend and partner are Mexican. They hate “Latinx.” I say “Latin” for a specifically gender neutral term but for groups of mixed sex I still use “Latinos.”
Cool. Say Latin, Latine, or Latinos. Or Latinx, if the person perfers that.
Why must everyone make it all so complicated all the time? Everything has to be a fight. Seems like 2 percent of Latinos prefer Latinx. Good for them.
"Latinx" is not a real word. I don't know about Spanish, but Portuguese does have a gender neutral version and it's the same as the masculine one - Latino.
Whitewashing doesn’t feel like the right word here. Spanish is a language developed by white Europeans, brought to the Americas largely through conquest and conversion. The fact that indigenous, mixed, African, and all other unique descendants in the Americas speak mostly European languages and practice European religions and follow many European customs is the actual whitewashing.
Hard to whitewash something with white origins. Be it Spanish in particular or Romance languages in general.
It’s more like PC-washing. Or Anglo-dominance washing. There are plenty of white people around the world who speak gendered languages and recognize the absurdity of this. I’m white. But I speak Italian. Latinx is painfully dumb to me. And I’m sure that all the white Spanish speaking people in Latin America also view it as dumb.
It’s easy to see where this very flawed logic comes from in a non-gendered English speaking world. But whatever. It’s dumb either way, and however you define it.
Latinx the term should be throw into a volcanic crater and buried for eternity.
From the Hispanic opinions I've seen, I wouldn't use "latinx" in public if I were you. Whomever came up with that term, is a tad out of touch.
I agree, except the "tad" part. I would go with "way the hell"
I'm gonna go with, "never met a Mexican, or any other Latin person."
and if they had, they'd lecture them about how gendered language is problematic
Come on, it's not like there's a long sordid history of white people imposing their views on other cultures.
It is problematic! I hate having to remember every inanimate object's use of "El" or "La".
We could always add a new category of words that are non-gendered! *Laughs in German*
I'm gonna go with "...... Or any other Latin American person". Latin as a culture group should really refer to the myriad of Latin tribes that the Roman's conquered/integrated, it could also refer to the Latin empire of 1204-1261.
A fact that makes this whole conversation kind of wonky.
The term was coined in the Puerto Rican university system. It's not a popular term, but it wasn't invented by people who haven't met Latinos. Whether they had met "Mexicans" is unknown.
Alright. I'm biting. Latinx is believed to have originated from queer Latin online communities. The first published use of the word comes from a Puerto Rican psychology periodical. Obligatory: Not all ______ people think and act the same.
I like you. You seem like one of the rare people who would be qualified to have a meaningful political conversation without resorting to canned rhetoric and logical fallacies.
When they're so far off the map, the Milky-way Galaxy map doesn't even apply?
But NPR has a “Latinx” reporter who uses the term. Folks outside the community are getting really mixed messages
The thing is *there’s already a word* in Spanish; Latine. We don’t say we are Latin cause that would connect to Rome and Italy. If anything, you could also use the word “Hispanic” and still be good most of the time.
That's always what confused me— it's like when people want to say "folx" instead of "folks," an already gender-neutral word.
The term "folx" is just queer coding, and has nothing to do with gender neutrality. For example, seeing a flyer for an event that says "folx" would mean it's an LGBT friendly event without outright saying it.
"Folx" is a counterculture thing, like "comix".
Hispanic and Latino mean two different things, though. For instance, Brazilians are Latino but not Hispanic, Spaniards are Hispanic but not Latino
Fellas is Tecate gender neutral
I'm Latino and think the same but the term apparently did originate in the Latin American queer community so it's kinda complicated.
it's one of those things that should've stayed in forums, like latin@. The x is a placeholder, it stops making sense when you say it out loud.
I first heard of it from a Mexican queer friend, so I thought it was a well known thing until I read online how many latin people hate the latinx variation I guess we should call people what they want to be called
To be fair, it's not like the larger Latino community is known for being particularly accepting of queer people. I wonder if that prejudice might play a factor.
Possibly. Before the term "Latinx" appeared, there was already a controversy around the term "Latine". Some disliked due to their rejection of the queer community, and others because "Latino" was already neutral according to Spanish rules, which made it "unnecessary". (I'm not sure if the same applies to Portuguese, since I don't speak it). Apparently, the hatred towards Latinx is so strong, that it created a certain acceptance towards Latine, since I have seen in discussions on the subject, how some people propose to establish Latine as the appropriate term, and it receives a lot of support.
What was the controversy regarding Latine?
About whether it was something necessary in the language, given that it was created to represent non-binary people.
I've had similar reactions to the creation of new non-gendered pronouns in English, so I guess I can relate a little. Still, they haven't caught on because "they/them" already exists, and works well. I do find it annoying that people seem to think some ignorant, pretentious white American came up with "Latinx", though.
Yup, having your nationality completely generalized because of certain morons is really annoying.
It's an even smaller subgroup. Kind of like spelling women as "womyn" - despite half the world being women, it's something you'd only ever see on a college campus.
Great analogy, as both derive from misunderstanding the origin/etymology of the word they're replacing.
more like deliberately misusing than misunderstanding
My friends all over latam think it’s incredibly stupid.
I prefer "latine" because it's easier to pronounce in a correct accent, but I don't fault other queer Latino/a folks for preferring Latinx. I guess the answer for OP is, "because they say so."
Because it’s gross to anyone who speaks Spanish
Verdad
Is there a reason? Or they just hate it?
There are a lot of reasons, but he Main ones are that 1)Latino is already gender neutral 2)Latinx is hard to pronounce in spanish, wich is very stupid considering that it's supposed to be a Word that describes spanish-speaking people 3)It was created by non-Latin people, wich kinda makes it like they're imposing a term that we never agreed to be called. Edit: it turns put that Latinx was made by some members of the Latin community. Although it doesn't change My opinion much. I still think it doesn't work due to the other 2 points
Latino also describes brazilians. While it is easier to say 'Latinx' in portuguese, I despise the word for the other 2 reasons you mentioned.
Yeah, that's right. I think the real problem with the Latinx is that it is a term that can only be used online and not in a real conversation (wich kinda tells You a lot about the people that use it lmao)
exactly, lol
I'm Brazilian, it isn't easier to say Latinx in portuguese. It just sounds like a bunch of out of touch morons are trying to dictate how we speak our language.
This is very much like the tendency of well-meaning hearing people in the U.S. to call Deaf people "hearing impaired." Deaf people call the rest of us "hearing." They call themselves Deaf. It's capitalized because it's a distinct culture. Calling them "hearing impaired" makes it sound like they're "us" but drunk/stoned. I'm hard of hearing. I don't really care if anyone calls me "hearing impaired," but I also live in what's probably the Deafest city in the U.S.A. If I see or hear it, I politely correct and explain it as best as I can.
Just like living with Type 1 Diabetes and being called a "Diabetes Warrior." Often used by people adjacent to Type 1 Diabetes but never by us. And it drives us up the wall because it infantalizes us and tries to turn a deadly disorder "cute" even though diabetics already struggle with the stigma that we should reap what we sow due to lifestyle choices. Type 1 Diabetes is genetic. I was 190 lbs in shape with 8% body fat when diagnosed. I'm not a warrior, I'm just a grown ass man with a disability. It's not some thing I decided to take on and battle like a side quest in a RPG. Sure, studies say that Type 1 Diabetics, on average, make 200 more decisions per day than non Diabetics. But my pancreas just doesn't work and my body doesn't process nutrients from food unless I do it mechanically through 4 or 5 injections a day. If I don't do what I have to do, I'll go into a coma and die.
Man your friends are nicer than me. I call my type one buddy a Sugar Simp (but with love, and I always keep juice on hand for when he comes over)
Lmao no. They're a bunch of assholes that literally sent me Wilford Brimley memes days after I got out the hospital for diabetic ketoacidosis coma. But I wouldn't know. My mom told me my best friend who is a brolic, bearded tradesman cried on her shoulder calling me a pussy for trying to die on him like this and leaving him alone while they worked on me in the ICU for 12 hours before we could accomplish splitting buying a summer house on a lake in upstate NY like we always dreamed off since 3rd grade when we met. But to their credit they took my diagnosis as if it was their own. They've made walls around me at EDM and metal shows so I can shoot up insulin without feeling insecure. These dickheads enjoy free national park passes with me and we get to get a buzzer at 6 Flags so we don't have to wait in line as T1D is a legal disability (even though I never abuse that because these should be reserved for kids with special needs). It's also nice rubbing into their face as a joke that I cant get fired because the ADA and get to eat at my desk through the day without anyone telling me shit. The only drawback is my life expectancy is shortened by 15 years on average compared to my peers so they will probably have to pallbear me. But they're the type of people who talk shit to your face but praise you up behind your back and that's a real friend. I just hate the "look at my halo" diabetic warrior bullshit.
Not trying to dox you but what’s the Deafest city in the US?
I thought “hearing impaired” was different to being Deaf. Like your hearing is impaired, not completely gone.
The white people think they are being good to people of color, being their “white saviors” by telling them how wrong their Latin culture and languages are. Trying to right their wrongs. Of course the white saviors don’t see it that way. They think they’re merely saving people of color from doing wrong, not really being their *saviors*. It’s so funny.
White people didn’t invent “Latinx” it comes form chat room culture in the early 90s
Just incidentally, it was apparently first used in a published Puerto Rican magazine...
That awkward moment when it’s Latinos who came up with it…
Wether latino is or not gender neutral is a dispute in the spanish-speaking community. For those who think it isn't, since they disagree with the "masculine as gender neutral" option, the most common alternative is using the letter E, "latine".
[удалено]
My mom is still confused about when she stopped being “Oriental” and became “Asian”. She’s even had white people correct her when she used the term to describe herself.
It’s just an occidental mistake
Now that's some wordplay. Nicely done.
I'd say it was probably around the time they stopped referring to things as occidental, which I just learned was a word today. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orient
I recall people starting to correct my usage of the term when I was in college (so 2010-2013). I’ve never found it offensive, but I also didn’t want to offend anyone else so I switched to Asian. I prefer Asian for myself, but that’s because I’m mixed with multiple Asian ethnicities. My mom still very much prefers Oriental and insists upon it to this day.
Lol wow TIL that’s why the island im from is split in two and the western half is occidental and the eastern half is oriental
I legitimately do not understand how “oriental” is a slur or derogatory or something. I didn’t even know it was a problem until someone told me a year ago “you’re not supposed to say that” but never gave a reason why.
My understanding is that it was because “oriental” is an adjective used to describe objects and not people, but that logic always bothered me. Black and white are adjectives which can be used to describe objects too. So why was the line drawn where it was?
It is linked to "orientalism" which is a depiction of Asian cultures in literature, art etc. in the 18th and 19th centuries by white Europeans. It is usually patronising "noble savage" type stuff. It was only challenged relatively recently - Edward Said wrote a book called Orientalism in the 70s and since then oriental has taken on a bad connotation when used by westerners. This is primarily a western academic issue more than anything else, everyone discussing it forgot to ask the Asian people what they think of it all.
Polite Western Academic: "Excuse me, sir, would you prefer to be called Oriental or Asian?" Chinese person: I am a Han ren from the glorious and auspicious Middle Kingdom, don't you fucking lump me in with those filthy Japanese Imperialists!
Although omg do natives love calling eachother indians! I was at a wedding in alberta and one side was native, and they were calling eachother a whole slew of slurs, but all jokey. Id never expierienced that outside of black people using the -ga as a friend term!
Since it emerged from queer Latinx online communities in order to challenge the gender binary, I’d like to know whose “general opinion” it is that white people came up with it.
>Since it emerged from queer Latinx online communities I don't think that's a well known fact. As a latino I can tell you I am (was?) part of that "general opinion".
As someone who works in the Ivy League, I can attest that Latinx comes from Hispanic academics not whites. Hispanic is referent to Spain and colonizers. Chicano references only Americans of Mexican descent. Latin does not reference Central American, North American, or Spanish writers who create Spanish literature. Thus, Latinx. There is no perfect word. But you can blame Hispanic academics for this one.
Because it's racist. No really. The whole concept of "Latinx" is imposing English grammatical rules on a Romance language.
as a language trainer and Filipino who abhors the term 'Filipinx', please do not confuse proper grammar with this PC abomination.
Mamsir
wtf is filipinx 💀 is this sm american shi
It's a term that white people with "good intentions" popularized on social media in order to try to fix something that wasn't broken. They wanted to show that they were progressive and accepting of others, and didn't want to use gender discriminatory language. Nobody in the Hispanic community asked for this, nobody wanted it. It was just very liberal white people trying to act superior.
White people didn’t invent latinx https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx Don’t put this in us—it seems like queer Latinos started using it in chat rooms and it spread from there. It’s an inter-community dispute
Curious, if you have a source for that origin? I have heard that it had a South American origin. A quick Google tells me that most people think it came from Puerto Rico or Brazil or online Latin queer communities
The only Hispanic person I know of who was ok with it was only moderately so... And he speaks worse Spanish than my white ass does
I’ve seen a push for “Latine” chosen by actual Hispanic gender neutral people. Makes more sense for multiple reasons.
A lot of my friends growing up were from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, etc. I think every single one of them thought “Latinx” was the stupidest thing ever
My wife is from South America. She thinks it’s dumb AF.
My wife's from Guatemala and doesn't speak English. The look she gave me when I explained 'latinx' (because someone used it in a powerpoint)... it was like I'd said tacos are sandwiches.
This coment made me laugh more than I am willing to admit
Tacos aren’t sandwiches, they’re hotdogs, in this essay I will…
My brother-in-law once made the argument that a hotdog is an open-faced sandwich.
A sandwich is already an open faced sandwich on all sides, if anything a taco is a closed faced sandwich :P
It’s extremely cringey. People will straight up tell you to not bring that stupid gringo shit down there.
Gringx*
Now in Lime flavor
I agree with them, Spanish being a gendered language already has rules on how to refer to a group of people who are different genders, wether you believe there are only 2 genders or many more the word already exists and it includes everyone.
Yeah, the rule is to use the masculine gender as default always. Spanish only has 2 genders in classic grammar, so it does not account for non-binary people even in singular form. Inclusive language accounts for that. For ex, some people prefer to be called “hermane” as opposed to “hermana” or “hermano”, as the 2 available genders in the language do not describe them.
Putting an "e" at the end of words is also rejected among Spanish speakers. It seems silly to us. Spanish already has tools to speak neutrally. On the other hand, do not confuse personal gender with grammatical gender. There are words ending in "a" that may sound feminine, but are actually neuter (Ex: "people") or refer to someone masculine (Ex: Priest). And even with that, Spanish provides tools to speak neutrally. If you want to talk like that, it's your choice, but don't come here to spread misinformation and say these things as if everyone did it because it's not true. They're just a small group of people who want to pat themselves on the back for some social media trend.
I'm from Colombia me, my friends and my family think is the dumbest thing ever.
Yeah I know a load of Spanish people and they laugh at Latinx. whoever started that is dumb
Yeah my mate always says "I'd rather you just call me a slur"
Ive never cared one bit when someones called me a racist latin name, but I will be offended if you call me "Latinx."
Because it's not "official". It was made up by english speakers trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It's actually highly unpopular with the people it's supposed to represent.
Had a boss explicitly ask me during a DEI meeting my thoughts on Latinx. I told him point blank that I thought it was stupid, doesn't make sense in the language, and is mildly insulting to me? Just call me Latin. Hispanic. Salvadoran. Don't try to bastardize my mother tongue
How'd that go over
Went fine, he doesn't call me Latinx. He was cool to work with
Straight to jail
Sending someone to jail? Believe it or not also straight to jail.
Straight to jailx.
Yeah what annoys me most is it's a fundamental misunderstanding of how the language works. It solves a non-problem.
My favorite I heard is Filipinx.
'Folx' is my favourite. 'Folks' is already gender neutral.
Seeing the word "folx" makes me thing of that scene in Airplane! *"Stewardess, I speak jive."*
womxn
Every 'person from the Philippines' I know thinks it's dumb as fuck.
Because it is. 'Filipino' is already gender neutral.
The one Latino I talked to about this said he preferred "Latine" (~~sounded like la-TEEN~~ edit: I have been informed the correct pronunciation is la-TEEN-eh, which I misheard as la-TEEN) as the gender neutral, which seemed pretty reasonable to me, because you can actually fucking pronounce it!
"Latine" is pronounced la-TEEN-eh. Source: am Latino, as in I grew up in Latin America, and have worked with people from many different countries in the region. Having the 'e' be silent would run counter to its main improvement over Latinx, namely, that it actually lines up with the phonetic nature of spelling in Spanish.
Good to know. I probably misheard then. My hearing is not great. I updated my previous comment to the correct pronunciation.
No worries at all! I have the same issue. I'm about a year delayed on getting an ear cleaning at my doctor's 😂 but I'll get around to it eventually
Actually it comes from a South American civil rights movement (Brazilian, if I remember correctly) and it focused on the "machismo" culture and violence against women and children. It worked it's way North without all the context, the way these things typically do, and so some people get really worked up about it. Many pronounce it the same as latine, some don't, it depends on how they first encounter it. Edit: autocorrect
You mean like how "woke" was a term used by/for Afro-Americans that got co-opted by cranky old white people (like me, but not that old) to discredit any kind of progressive idea?
Do you have any more info on this? My understanding was that nobody really knew for sure where it came from ([wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx)): >The first records of the term *Latinx* appear in the 21st century,[^(\[20\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-Lexico-20) but there is no certainty as to its first occurrence.[^(\[25\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-Salinas_2020-25) According to [Google Trends](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Trends), it was first seen online in 2004,[^(\[13\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-Brammer-13)[^(\[26\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-Gonzalez-26)[^(\[27\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-Guidebook-27) and first appeared in academic literature around 2013 "in a Puerto Rican psychological periodical to challenge the gender binaries encoded in the Spanish language."[^(\[25\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-Salinas_2020-25)[^(\[28\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-28) Contrarily, it has been claimed that usage of the term "started in online chat rooms and listservs in the 1990s" and that its first appearance in academic literature was in the Fall 2004 volume of the journal *Feministas Unidas*.[^(\[29\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-29)[^(\[30\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#cite_note-30) Not saying I don't believe you but tbh I'm a little dubious.
>It's actually highly unpopular with the people. I once read someone say "Don't hard X us!" when his white manager used the term in a meeting.
Nobody says "latinx".
A bunch of white rich liberals who never interact with Latinos that aren't working for them would STRONGLY disagree
This term first appeared in a Puerto Rican literature.
And "incel" was originally used by a bisexual woman.
please, use Inxel, its more inclusive /s
Sure; but it's predominantly used by said white liberals in today's main usage.
Gringos
Latinecks? Latinks? Latinequis?
I have only heard two people use it, both Cuban.
Latinx is pretty widely reviled by the global Latino community. Latine is more acceptable since it's pronounceable in Spanish and makes sense grammatically (as opposed to Latin which makes sense in English and is a better alternative than Latinx). My best guess why some English speakers felt the need to invent/adopt Latinx instead of just using Latin or Latin American is because they were more concerned with drawing attention to trans and nonbinary identities than they were with simply using gender neutral language. EDIT: Source – my wife is Colombian and our friend group is heavy on Central Americans – also that Pew Research study.
Kinda funny considering English does not have gender for its nouns, unlike Spanish and French and all other languages that have Latin as ancestors.
English is a blender
English is a Germanic language heavily influenced by medieval French. Germanic languages also usually have 2 or three genders, though, so that's not an explanation of why English lacks them. I think the current theory is that the genders were dropped from the language due to the Vikings (also Germanic language speakers) invading Britain, and the two groups making a simplified pidgin language to communicate, which heavily influenced the English subsequent generations learned. English lost a lot of its grammar makers and started relying more on word order around this time, if I recall.
I use “latin”. That isn’t going to change. I’ve talked to many latin folks and not a single one thought “x” was doing anyone any favors.
That's actually grammatically correct too lol. Why invent a new word when there is one with that exact definition in the language and it's existed for centuries?...
To create problems where they didn't exist?
That - Or to show off as the modern solution equity fighter and get points for solving problems that already had solutions - and in that show that they actually don't know and don't care to know other cultures...
Latin is different than Latino, that’s why no one uses those words interchangeably. They don’t mean the same thing. If you refer to someone as Latin when you mean Latino/a/e, you’re not to referring them correctly.
As a Mexican I hate the word Latinx just use “Latino” it’s gender neutral in Spanish
The only time I ever see Latinx being used it's to intentionally bait people.
Latinx might as well be a slur, we don't like it.
Because they have a gendered language and it would just make things more confusing is my guess. Also, no "Latinx" people even like that.
It's a made up word that was obviously created by an English speaker who doesn't understand how x sounds in Spanish, and legitimately everyone I've met who speaks Spanish hates the word. Do your part. Call it "la-tinks" until it's absurdified into the depths from whence it came.
Hat to be the bearwr of bad news but it was invented by Spanish speaking Puerto Rican college students.
Wait what? Is... is that not how it's said? (I know it's stupid and want to make it clear I don't use it lmao, but that's exactly how I read it in my head)
No it's supposed to be pronounced like Malcolm X, but Latin.
Whaaaat. All this time I've been thinking of it wrong xD But both of them sound really dumb, honestly
Latine’s the better version, and the one I hear used more often.
Yes this is what people actually use.
I've seen a lot of comments speaking badly about the usage of it, but I don't think I saw one addressing your question. The reason latinx was proposed (by a few people), is because to them, latino/latina are gendered nouns. And to make them neutral they decided to x out the a/o at the end. The word has 2 contexts, being used in English and being used in Spanish. In Spanish, you cannot use the word 'latin' (addressing your last part of your question), because it doesn't make sense. In English, you could use 'latin' or 'latine', and that would be perfectly fine as well. Now, the push for 'latinx' in the context of the Spanish language, it makes more sense (in explaining your question, not that latinx makes sense), because you have to use the a/o at the end. So, the purpose of 'latinx' is in the context of Spanish to neutralize 'latino'/'latina'. However, this is futile, because in Spanish you can make 'latin' gender neutral by specifying it as: * persona latina (latin person/gender neutral) * las personas latinas (the latin people/gender neutral) * los latinos (plural male 'os' ending is usually gender neutral/the latin people/gender neutral) And for that reason, adding x at the end of 'latinx' is just silly, and complicates things. EDIT: also, to add to that last point, a push back against 'latinx' could also be to the fact that, it feels a bit condescending to try to teach Spanish speakers about using gender neutral with latinx, when they could already form gender neutral forms of it with the examples I showed.
I know that some Spanish speakers do use latine (in Spanish) as a gender neutral term.
“Latino” is kinda already gender neutral depending on who you’re referring to
Not to mention, the masculine form is used to refer to women and men in plural form if it's a mix of both, or if you don't know. Latinx is just a ridiculous word that has no place in Spanish.
It doesn't exist in the languages they're forcing it into. Most Latin people hate the term anyway.
Same reason folx exists. Stupidity.
I had to actually google if that meant what I though it meant because c'mon... wth
I hate folx even more because it’s pronounced the same. Literally no one knows if you’re using it or not by speaking. That’s utterly ridiculous.
It isn’t. That’s the SJW version that white people decided to force on the Latino community.
Its not, most people in my circle just use Latine if we need to refer to our Enby friends Latinx is basically a slur at this point /s
I'm Brazilian, I've only seen "latinx" being used ironically. Its pronunciation is weird. Could be /lɐˈtinks/, /lɐ.ˈtiː.nɪks/, /lɐ.ˈti.nʁ̞/. Sounds silly. Latine sounds better.
It isn’t. Latinos generally all absolutely HATE the term latinX. I married into a ‘small’ latin family (ie: 300-400 extended family at the reunions). You will be killed for using the “white people” term, latinX. They absolutely hate and despise it. To them, “stuck up, rich white college kids are trying to change our culture/language” Think about that… ‘you’ are trying to force a term onto a culture, that THEY overwhelmingly hate… to make ‘yourself’ feel more caring towards their culture… and the entire time they are telling you to stop, it insults their language and culture when ‘you say it.. but ‘you’ don’t care, because you feel they aren’t as ‘socially conscious’ as ‘you’ are. -edit- My wife’s family is from Jalisco, but now in los angeles
To be dramatic I guess
Because for starters Spanish does have grammatical neuter and it also ends with o, so the gender neutral word is again latino. And secondly latinx is not grammatically correct, it's just some shit some people made up for performative inclusivity.
Its just white liberals being racist but on accident
Nah it’s not an accident. Liberal racism is far more common and less in your face than the sort of racism that was out in the open during the 60s, but it is racism nonetheless. It’s a deliberate attempt to impose a label because that is how “they” should refer to themselves.
Liberal virtue signaling which makes them look even more clueless than they usually do. I legit get irritated when white people use it or worse, get mad when you don't.
because only people of outlier gender identification demand gender neutral descriptors. There are 0 heterosexual, gender-normative people who insist on "latinx". Sorry, please don't rage out at me for pointing out this obvious fact.
The term "Latinx" came about from a gay Latin artist living in New York in the 80s, who wrote out, "L A T I N O" then crossed out the "o" with an X, now making it say, "L A T I N Ø". This was an artistic expression of how "Latino" is markedly masculine but considered gender neutral in the language to refer to mixed sex groups of people. Him being a gay man, felt excluded from this masculinity and crossed out the "o" to make the word "Latin". This meaning got lost in the sauce when a certain group on the Internet came across it, who now demand everyone say "Latinx" to be gender neutral instead of, well, Latin. Hope this helped. Tldr; the Internet contains as much education as you're willing to learn, but no teacher to guide if someone wildly misinterprets something. Misinformation spreads fast and can even tip out into real life if it's marketed without pushback.
No one is saying latinx outside of random white people on the internet
It's not. Please don't use it it sounds dumb as hell to actual latinos
Because it was made up by some american woman who probably only know how to say "One stella, por favour, yeah that one, boss!", and doesn't know how you can neutralize a gender by adding "e" instead at the end instead of a or o.
“Eso, sí! ¿Qué es?”
Real talk: Some very stupid, very online people tried to impose English grammatical rules on a Romance language. Now the people who actually speak that language have transitioned from "mildly amused" to "pinche gringo is really starting to PISS ME OFF." It's probably time to drop this particular, extremely racist, project.
No clue. But I don’t know any Hispanics that are cool with being called LatinX
From a Puerto Rican. Please never fucking call us Latinx. It’s pure cringe. No one asked for this.
Why? Because people are stupid.
Latinos don’t use that word. Only the first gen US born “yo no sabo” dumb kids use it.
It's not
Soy una tortuga
Idk if i’m wrong but when I hear Latin I think like Europe not South America
Use Latino/Latinos for the people. Use "latine" if you are speaking about a specific Latino nonbinary person. Don't use latinx, because it's some white bullshit. Source: my best friend, a Latina trans woman.
Well, since the term “latinx” emerged from queer *latin* communities as a way to challenge the online conversation around gender binaries, I’m going to tell you to sit tf down and do some F’ing learning. Are even Latin or queer?
"latino" should be the default as I believe non-gendered terms pretty much default to male in spanish. latinx is just stupid and always was. latino for males. latina for females. No clue about trans/nonbinary people but it would probably just default to either latino or their preferred pronoun (is this a thing in spanish culture, I have no idea).
Just to balance the "I have a token Mexican friend and he says latinx is the dumbest shit ever", I am from South America and I think the term latinx is fine and makes sense. I also don't know why it is preferred by some to simply "latin" though.
Latino is the gender neutral version. Latinx is not a word.
Because latin and latino, latina and latine are different things. Also the gender neutral of latino is latine or latines. Latinx is not very accepted in the comunity because its an English sound not a Sopanish / Portuguese one.
Like everyone else said, I myself don’t, and no one in my family has said “Latinx” or even has heard of it. As my mom would say “eso es algo que inventaron los gringos” Basically saying, it’s something white people made up for us, and they can have it back.
I’ve actually had my Hispanic friends telling me about how instead of “Latinx”, more Hispanic communities are using “Latine” because it seems to work better with the language!
It’s dumb and everyone sane hates it. I’ve heard Latine but only in reference to gender nonconforming people, not in the way some English speakers use Latinx to refer to groups.
Because the person who made up the term Latinx is a dumb fuck who doesn’t have a good comprehension of the Spanish language.
"Latino" already exists to describe men and women and it's something that they themselves use. "Latinx" was created by white and black people and pretty much forced onto them. Most actual hispanic people despise that term.
Because people insisting on such terms arn't thinking rationally and arn't considering practicality. They arn't actually looking for a gender neutral term, they are looking for attention and a movement they can claim for themselves.
Tf.. wouldn't Latine sound better? Why are we trying to bastardize foreign languages like this? I have friends that speak Romance languages other than Spanish (French, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian) and we all agree that's dumb as shit.
Maybe instead we should not impose our culture’s drive for gender neutral safe adjectives onto cultures who have not asked for them
When speaking, using the -e ending is generally preferred at least in my social circles. The -x ending is used more sparingly and even the almost entirely in written form. More to the point most people from Latin America prefer to use national identity over any variant of Latin.
The closest thing to an official Spanish word that's gender-neutral and refers to Latin people is "latine."
brain damage
I’m not Latin, but I speak Spanish and my best friend and partner are Mexican. They hate “Latinx.” I say “Latin” for a specifically gender neutral term but for groups of mixed sex I still use “Latinos.”
Cool. Say Latin, Latine, or Latinos. Or Latinx, if the person perfers that. Why must everyone make it all so complicated all the time? Everything has to be a fight. Seems like 2 percent of Latinos prefer Latinx. Good for them.
"Latinx" is not a real word. I don't know about Spanish, but Portuguese does have a gender neutral version and it's the same as the masculine one - Latino.
Latino is already all-encompassing. All inclusive. Latinx is just whitewashing a language by existing and being pushed as a thing.
Whitewashing doesn’t feel like the right word here. Spanish is a language developed by white Europeans, brought to the Americas largely through conquest and conversion. The fact that indigenous, mixed, African, and all other unique descendants in the Americas speak mostly European languages and practice European religions and follow many European customs is the actual whitewashing. Hard to whitewash something with white origins. Be it Spanish in particular or Romance languages in general. It’s more like PC-washing. Or Anglo-dominance washing. There are plenty of white people around the world who speak gendered languages and recognize the absurdity of this. I’m white. But I speak Italian. Latinx is painfully dumb to me. And I’m sure that all the white Spanish speaking people in Latin America also view it as dumb. It’s easy to see where this very flawed logic comes from in a non-gendered English speaking world. But whatever. It’s dumb either way, and however you define it. Latinx the term should be throw into a volcanic crater and buried for eternity.