Jump to content

Latinx

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Mahalatabanila (talk | contribs) at 07:56, 1 October 2019 (→Criticisms: Spelling/grammar/punctuation correction). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"Latino/a" redirects here. For other uses, see Latina (disambiguation) and Latino (disambiguation).
Look up Latinx, or Latina in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Latinx is a gender-neutral neologism, sometimes used instead of Latino or Latina to refer to people of Latin American cultural or racial identity in the United States. The ⟨-x⟩ suffix replaces the standard ⟨-o/-a⟩ ending of nouns and adjectives, typical of grammatical gender in Spanish. Its plural is Latinxs.

The term was first seen around 2004, predominantly online, among intersectional advocacy groups combining the identity politics of race and gender. It slowly gained in usage, and came into popular use around 2014, especially in American universities, where its use has since become widespread.

Reactions to this neologism have been mixed, with the most criticism coming from native Spanish speakers.[1][2][3] There tends to be a generational and regional divide among supporters and critics of the term, with more support among young people in the United States, and more criticism among older generations, and from those outside the U.S. Similar words used for this purpose include Latin@ and Latine.

Pronunciation

Pronunciations included in dictionaries are /ləˈtiːnɛks, læ-, -nəks/ lə-TEE-neks, la-, -⁠nəks.[4][5][6][7] Other variants respelled ad hoc as "latins", "latinks", and "Latin-X" have also been reported to be in use.[8][9] Editors at Merriam-Webster surmised that "there was little consideration for how it was supposed to be pronounced when it was created".[10]

Group identity

Latinx is a group identity used exclusively in the United States. People in Latin America do not self-identify as Latinxs, unless they move there. The social category has had different names in the past, including Hispanic, Latina/o, and Latin@. In the 2000s, the social category of Latinxs was analyzed in one of three ways, as ethnoracial, as a cultural ethnic group, or as familial-historical.[11]

The ethnoracial approach is contextual, highlighting the analyses that Latinxs come from a variety of different races, and from different parts of Latin America, which span all the standard US racial categories. This is the approach taken by Linda Martín Alcoff. What Latinx means in a particular ethnoracial context depends on the region one is in and the provenance of the population - from one or another Latin American country or group of countries - Cubans, Mexicans, and so on. Because of this variability and complexity, Alcoff refers to Latinxs as an ethnorace as, depending on context, Latinxs function sometimes as an ethnic group, and sometimes as a racial group.[11]

History

Origins and early usage

The term Latinx emerged from American Spanish in the early 21st century,[12] and was reportedly first used online in 2004.[13] The term has gained popularity in social media, and is mostly used by community activists and in higher education settings by students, faculty, staff, and some administrators who seek to advocate for individuals living on the borderlines of gender identity.[14]

The term emerged in response to "to circumstances in which existent language structures fail to articulate value in appropriate ways."[15][16]

Intersectionality

LGBT

Salinas and Lozano (2017) stated that the term is influenced by Mexican indigenous communities that have a third gender role, such as Juchitán de Zaragoza, Oaxaca (see also: Gender system § Juchitán, Oaxaca, Mexico).[14]

Generational

The term often refers specifically to LGBT people or to young people. Brian Latimer, a producer at MSNBC who identifies as nonbinary, says that the application of the term "shows a generational divide in the Hispanic community".[17]: 60  One college article said that the term was "has been sweeping across college campuses."[18]

Public awareness

The term Latinx grew in usage since its origins, and came into popular use in late 2014.[3]

Many people became more aware of the term in the month following the Orlando nightclub shooting of June 2016; Google Trends shows that searches for this term rose greatly in this period.[17]: 60 

A 2016 NBC News report noted that it was "difficult to pinpoint" the origins of the term, but found that usage was "without question on the rise at U.S. colleges".[19] A similar use of 'x' in the term Mx. may have been an influence or model for the development of Latinx.[20]

At Princeton University, a student group called the Princeton University Latinx Perspective Organization was founded in 2016 to "unify Princeton's diverse Latinx community".[21] As of 2017, several student-run organizations at other institutions have utilized the word in their title.[22]

In 2016, the term appeared in the titles of academic books in the context of LGBT studies,[23] rhetoric and composition studies,[24] and comics studies.[25]

On June 26, 2019, during the first 2020 Democratic Party presidential debate, the word was used by the presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren,[26] which USA Today called "one of the highest profile uses of the term since its conception".[27]

In literature and academia

Scharrón-del Río and Aja (2015) have traced the use of Latinx in authors Beatriz Llenín Figueroa, Jaime Géliga Quiñones, Yuderkys Espinosa Miñoso and Adriana Gallegos Dextre.[28] The term has also been discussed in publications by Pastrana, Battle & Harris (2016),[23] Valdes (2017),[29][30] and many others.[31]

Reception

Sign at the Women's March on Washington. The sign reads, "women's, LGBTQIA, immigrant's, black, Latinx, Muslim, & disability rights are human rights".

While Latinx has been called "a recognition of the exclusionary nature of our institutions, of the deficiencies in existent linguistic structures, and of language as an agent of social change,"[32] the term has also been the subject of controversy. Supporters say it engenders greater acceptance among non-binary gender Latinos. Linguistic imperialism has been used both as a basis of criticism, and of support. The term has been criticized by some lexicographers and rejected from some dictionaries on grammatical grounds, and accepted by others. Some have argued that the term supports patriarchal bias, is antifeminist, based on political correctness, or criticized it because it is difficult to pronounce.

Criticisms

The term Latinx has been criticized for being used almost exclusively in the United States and for being virtually non-existent in Spanish-speaking countries.[3] A 2016 HuffPost article stated, "Many opponents of the term have suggested that using an un-gendered noun like Latinx is disrespectful to the Spanish language and some have even called the term 'a blatant form of linguistic imperialism.'"[1][3] In a 2017 article for the Los Angeles Times, Daniel Hernandez wrote "The term is used mostly by an educated minority, largely in the U.S."[2]

Some refuse to use the term, as Latinx "doesn't roll off the tongue" in the Spanish language.[1] In an op-ed for The Daily Northwestern that was largely positive about the term Latinx, A. Pallas Gutierrez admitted this drawback as well: "An important point made by several writers is that Latinx, while easy for American and other English speaking Latinx people to use, may not be a viable alternative for Latinx people who only speak Spanish. The “x” sound does not exist in the same form in Spanish as it does in English.

Another argument against Latinx is that "it erases feminist movements in the 1970s" that fought for use of the word Latina to represent women.[27]

Hector Luis Alamo described the term as a "bulldozing of Spanish".[17] In a 2015 article for Latino Rebels, Alamo wrote: "If we dump Latino for Latinx because it offends some people, then we should go on dumping words forever since there will always be some people who find some words offensive.[33]

Nicole Trujillo-Pagán has argued that patriarchal bias is reproduced in ostensibly "gender neutral" language[34][35][36] and asserted, "Less clear in the debate (as it has developed since then) is how the replacement silences and erases long-standing struggles to recognize the significance of gender difference and sexual violence."[37]

The term Latinx was rejected in 2018 by the Royal Spanish Academy, an authority on the Spanish language.[27][38]

Some disability rights activists have raised accessibility concerns with Latinx and its alternative Latin@ because they cannot be pronounced by screen readers used by the blind and visually impaired.[39]

Support

The term Latinx allows those who don't identify within the gender binary to be seen and accepted by getting rid of the gendered ending of Latina/o, said Yara Simón in Remezcla.[40] In Spanish and in English, the suffix "x has grown into the linguistic vacuum created by a culture that values inclusivity over the ideologies embedded in a and o."[41] Some commentators, such as Ed Morales, a lecturer at Columbia University and author of the 2018 book Latinx: The New Force in American Politics and Culture, associate the term with the ideas of Gloria Anzaldúa, a Chicana feminist. Morales writes that "refusal to conform to male/female gender binaries" parallels "the refusal to conform to a racial binary".[17]: 61  Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera argues that "The gesture toward linguistic intersectionality stems from a suffix endowed with a literal intersection — x."[42]

Defending usage of the term against critics arguing linguistic imperialism, Brooklyn College professors María R. Scharrón-del Río and Alan A. Aja argued that the Spanish language itself is a form of linguistic imperialism for Latin Americans.[28][1]

The term Latinx was added to the Merriam-Webster English dictionary[43] in 2018, as it continued to grow in popularity.[27]

Alternatives

Similar gender-neutral forms have also arisen. One such term is Latin@ (pronounced as if spelled ⟨Latínao⟩), which combines the written form of the ⟨-a⟩ and ⟨-o⟩ endings and has been in use since the 1990s.[44] It has received criticism for being unpronounceable[45] and for adhering to a binary view of gender.[28]

Another alternative is Latine (plural: Latines), which arose out of a recent trend among parts of Spanish speakers to use the ending -e for gender-neutral forms likes amigue ('friend'), todes ('all') and elle (a gender-neutral pronoun comparable to singular they in English).[46][47][48][45] Instead of replacing a/o endings with xs (lxs niñxs), a pronounceable alternative is to replace those endings with es (les niñes). While not as popular as Latinx, Latine does address both the concerns of non-binary Latines and their advocates and people trying to preserve Spanish without imposing English standards onto the language."[46]

See also

References

Works cited

  • Vargas, Manuel (17 December 2018). "Latinx Philosophy". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2018 ed.). Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. ISSN 1095-5054. OCLC 643092515.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d Ramirez, Tanisha Love; Blay, Zeba (July 5, 2016). "Why People Are Using The Term 'Latinx'". HuffPost. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
  2. ^ a b Hernandez, Daniel (December 17, 2017). "The case against 'Latinx'". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ a b c d Guerra, Gilbert; Orbea, Gilbert (November 19, 2015). "The argument against the use of the term 'Latinx'". The Phoenix. Retrieved 2019-07-01. This is a blatant form of linguistic imperialism – the forcing of U.S. ideals upon a language in a way that does not grammatically or orally correspond with it.
  4. ^ "Latinx". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.
  5. ^ "Latinx". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. n.d. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
  6. ^ "Latinx". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
  7. ^ "Latinx". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
  8. ^ Stavans, Ilan. "El significado del 'latinx'". New York Times. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  9. ^ Leary, Declan (2019-07-11). "'Latinx' Is a Stupid Word". National Review. Retrieved 2019-09-15.
  10. ^ "'Latinx' And Gender Inclusivity: How do you pronounce this more inclusive word?". Merriam-Webster. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, Inc. September 2018. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
  11. ^ a b SEP 2018, 1.1 Group Identity.
  12. ^ "Latinx". Oxford Dictionaries UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. n.d. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  13. ^ Gamio Cuervo, Arlene B. (August 2016). "Latinx: A Brief Guidebook". Academia.edu. Princeton LGBT Center.
  14. ^ a b Salinas, Cristobal; Lozano, Adele (November 16, 2017). "Mapping and recontextualizing the evolution of the term Latinx: An environmental scanning in higher education". Journal of Latinos and Education. 18 (4): 302–315. doi:10.1080/15348431.2017.1390464.
  15. ^ Herlihy-Mera, Jeffrey. "The Cross-Lingual Interse(x)tionality of 'Latinx | Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  16. ^ "The Cross-Lingual Interse(x)tionality of 'Latinx".
  17. ^ a b c d Brammer, John Paul (May 2019). "Generation X: Digging Into the Messy History of 'Latinx' Helped Me Embrace My Complex Identity". Mother Jones. Vol. 44, no. 3. pp. 59–61.
  18. ^ Magtoto, Mica (9 March 2016). "Latinx: A case for inclusion or segregation?". Iowa State Daily. Ames, Iowa. Retrieved 6 August 2019. The term Latinx has been sweeping across college campuses in the nation with the intent of creating inclusion while inadvertently pitting members of the Latino community into a cultural war.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ^ Reyes, Raul A. (September 29, 2016). "Are you Latinx? As Usage Grows, Word Draws Approval, Criticism". NBC News. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  20. ^ "'Latinx' And Gender Inclusivity How do you pronounce this more inclusive word?". Merriam Webster. 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2019-08-02. 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.
  21. ^ "Home". Princeton University Latinx Perspectives Organization. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
  22. ^ "Student Organizations | UNC Latina/o Studies Program". lsp.unc.edu. Retrieved 2017-04-23. "Iowa State University – Student Organizations". www.stuorg.iastate.edu. Retrieved 2017-04-23. "Latinx Student Organizations | Multicultural Resource Center". new.oberlin.edu. Oberlin College. October 24, 2016. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
  23. ^ a b Pastrana, Jr., Antonio (Jay); Battle, Juan; Harris, Angelique (December 22, 2016). An Examination of Latinx LGBT Populations Across the United States: Intersections of Race and Sexuality. Palgrave Pivot. Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-56074-2. ISBN 9781137560742. OCLC 974040623.
  24. ^ Ruiz, Iris D.; Sánchez, Raúl, eds. (October 15, 2016). Decolonizing Rhetoric and Composition Studies: New Latinx Keywords for Theory and Pedagogy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-52724-0. ISBN 9781137527233. OCLC 934502504.
  25. ^ Aldama, Frederick Luis (2016). Latinx Comic Book Storytelling: An Odyssey by Interview. San Diego, CA: ¡Hyperbole Books!, a San Diego State University Press imprint. ISBN 978-1938537929. OCLC 973339575.
  26. ^ Weinberg, Abigail (June 26, 2019). "The First Question of the Democratic Debate was a Challenge to Elizabeth Warren. She Didn't Back Down". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
  27. ^ a b c d Rodriguez, Adrianna (June 29, 2019). "'Latinx' explained: A history of the controversial word and how to pronounce it". USA Today. Retrieved 2019-07-01.
  28. ^ a b c Scharrón-del Río, María R.; Aja, Alan A. (December 5, 2015). "The Case for 'Latinx': Why Intersectionality Is Not a Choice". Latino Rebels. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  29. ^ Valdés, Vanessa K. (March 15, 2017). Diasporic Blackness: The Life and Times of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. ISBN 9781438465159. OCLC 961828672.
  30. ^ Johnson, Jessica Marie (December 12, 2015). "Thinking About the 'X'". Black Perspectives. AAIHS. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
  31. ^ "Results for 'latinx' – 'Book'". WorldCat. Retrieved 2019-07-01.
  32. ^ "The Cross-Lingual Interse(x)tionality of 'Latinx".
  33. ^ Luis Alamo, Hector (December 12, 2015). "The X-ing of Language: The Case Against 'Latinx'". Latino Rebels.
  34. ^ Gastil, John (December 1990). "Generic pronouns and sexist language: The oxymoronic character of masculine generics". Sex Roles. 23 (11–12): 629–643. doi:10.1007/BF00289252.
  35. ^ Sniezek, Janet A.; Jazwinski, Christine H. (October 1986). "Gender bias in English: In search of fair language". Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 16 (7): 642–662. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1986.tb01165.x.
  36. ^ Prewitt-Freilino, Jennifer L.; Caswell, T. Andrew; Laakso, Emmi K. (February 2012). "The gendering of language: A comparison of gender equality in countries with gendered, natural gender, and genderless languages". Sex Roles. 66 (3–4): 268–281. doi:10.1007/s11199-011-0083-5.
  37. ^ Trujillo-Pagán, Nicole (February 27, 2018). "No Shock or Awe About 'Acting' Latinx". Latino Rebels. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  38. ^ Cataño, Adriana (November 28, 2018). "The RAE Has Made Its Decision About Latinx and Latine in Its First Style Manual". Remezcla. Retrieved 2019-07-01.
  39. ^ Berastaín, Pierre; Barillas, Karina; DeLeon, Pierre (August 31, 2017). "Should organizations use Latin@ or Latinx?". National Latin@ Network Blog. Retrieved 2019-06-09.
  40. ^ Simón, Yara (September 14, 2018). "Hispanic vs. Latino vs. Latinx: A Brief History of How These Words Originated". Remezcla. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  41. ^ "The Cross-Lingual Interse(x)tionality of 'Latinx".
  42. ^ "The Cross-Lingual Interse(x)tionality of 'Latinx".
  43. ^ "Latinx". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.
  44. ^ "What is Latinx and AfroLatinx?". #HeyMiGente. Medium. 2016-08-18. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
  45. ^ a b "Todxs, tod@s y todes: la revolución de la lengua".
  46. ^ a b "Gutierrez: The argument for 'Latinx'".
  47. ^ "Innovaciones al género morfológico en el español de hablantes genderqueer (Morphological Gender Innovations in Spanish of Genderqueer Speakers)" (PDF).
  48. ^ "Hablando sobre personas que se identifican con un género otro que el de mujer u hombre".
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Latinx&oldid=918991510"