Social Justice Usage
Source: Torres, Lourdes. “Latinx?” Latino Studies 16, 2018, 283–285.
Currently most people who use “Latinx” indicate that they do so in the spirit of gender inclusivity, to represent the variety of possible genders as well as those who may identify as non-gender binary or transgender. For example, as Rigoberto Márquez explains, “‘Latinx’ can be defined as a political identity that centers the lived experiences of queer, non-binary, gender non-conforming/creative and/or trans individuals.”
Increasingly, however, others suggest that the “x” performs multiple functions. For example, some of the authors in the recent (2017) issue of the journal Cultural Dynamics, edited by Claudia Milian, infuse the “x” with a vast range of meanings that are likely unfamiliar to many readers. For example, for De Guzman (2017), it signifies “gender non-conformity, coalitions across borders, boundaries, and status, and unity not only across differences but also across legislated and/or policed divisions.” She goes on to state, “The x is everything and anything, all the excluded.” For Guidotti-Hernández (2017), “Millennials use Latinx to transcend gender, racial, class, and regional constraints they see emanating from boomer generation ethno-nationalist formations.” Another contributor to this issue, Galvan (2017), provocatively offers, “Latinx can be anything, and thus, it means nothing.” Clearly, in light of its expanding workload, authors need to explain the meanings they are attributing to “x” in their scholarship, since these meanings will not always be clear to readers.
New Discourses Commentary
“Latinx” (pronounced: la-tin-ecks) is a gender-neutral, hyper-inclusive variant on the standard terms Latino and Latina, which derive from Spanish, which is a gendered language. This inclusivity is meant to expand to all people from Latin America, especially those who are Latino and wish for a gender-neutral way of expressing it, queer-identifying, or indigenous (or, apparently, just Millennials). The term seems to have arisen first in activist circles in or around Columbia University in roughly 2015, though its origins are not entirely clear.
The need for a gender-neutral term for people of Latin origin is considered axiomatic in certain branches of feminism, but especially in gender studies and queer Theory, which are far more concerned with the issues of gendering, gender-based exclusion (see also, non-binary and gender non-conforming), and “violence of categorization” than anyone else. Their concern is that if gendered language is used—even within an explicitly gendered language like Spanish—then a male or masculinist bias will proceed from the structure of the language (see also, patriarchy, phallogocentrism, structuralism, and poststructuralism). The specific appendage of the algebraic variable letter “x” in “Latinx” (say, instead of something properly neuter like “Latine”) signals attentiveness not only to the demands of gender-neutrality under these Theories but also of queer inclusion in particular (see also, queer Theory). Further, the x in “Latinx” is meant to represent indigenous peoples of Latin America, who often use the letter (see also, chicanx), though it isn’t clear that the majority of them accept this formulation or activism. This double-meaning of the x in “Latinx” is meant to signal absolute inclusiveness.
Before explaining the Theory underlying a term like “Latinx” in greater detail, two important points should be raised. First, languages like Spanish are gendered, which means that they assign genders to nouns and pronouns (more here). This is confusing outside of that context because, while genders apply to personal nouns like “man” and “woman,” they also apply to other nouns, like library and bicycle. That is, while the expected gendering applies to nouns relevant to sexed people (like, “Latinas”), the gender of words is a property of the words themselves—and every noun has one. This is a linguistic property that needn’t (and doesn’t) necessarily imply anything. The general rule of thumb in gendered languages tends to be that for mixed or unknown company, the male variant is the default. This heuristic is considered incredibly problematic and even violent against women and gender minorities within Theory.
Second, very few people who identify as Latinos recognize or even know the term “Latinx,” which has has extremely poor penetration and adoption rates among its intended audience (fewer than 3% of the relevant population identify by the term, and fewer than 25% have ever heard of it, at the time of this writing). This failure of adoption is, most likely, the result of deep linguistic reasons that cause people not to readily adopt artificial language or, frankly, to support radical and fringe queer identity politics. Among these, “Latinx” is not a Latino way of writing anything; it is, in fact, an English-speaking imposition upon Latin-based languages (apparently) developed by queer Latino activists. Despite contrived arguments in the academic literature to the contrary, it is not particularly easily pronounced in Spanish nor recognized by Latinos. This incredible failure rate is rationalized within Theory as a kind of internalized sexism and/or internalized transphobia within Latino culture.
The feminist and gender studies-based call for gender-neutral language, even within a gendered language, is not particularly difficult to understand. They believe first that language structures reality and thus causes oppression (see also, structuralism), and that this should be deconstructed, disrupted, dismantled, subverted, and opposed (see also, poststructuralism and aufheben). Whether right or wrong, most people will find this desire comprehensible from their perspective. The term “Latinx” takes this a step further, however, by seeking something beyond gender neutrality in a positively affirming signal of queer identity politics. The “x” is intended not just to be gender neutral but also specifically a signal that gender identity is socially constructed, fluid, and changeable (see also, genderfluid, non-binary, transgender, and gender non-conforming). That is, “Latinx” signals not only interest in more “inclusive” gender-neutral language but also positive affirmation of queer identities and queer identity politics (that intersect with Latino identities—see also, solidarity).
Under gender studies and queer Theory, the fact that “Latino” and “Latina” represent a binary decision about gender in and of itself reinforces gender-based oppression, which is also problematic. In these Theories, especially queer Theory, anything normative is considered a problem, if not violent, which could, in principle, even include regular gender-neutral alternatives (see also, folx and womxn). Thus, a queer-affirming alternative is considered necessary to achieve inclusion and belonging. Latinx provides both this and a way to engage in a subtle undermining (aufheben) of the gendered language as well as the ideas of sex and gender in general.
See also, chicanx, whitexican, and folx.
Related Terms
Aufheben; Belonging; Bias; Binary; Chicanx; Deconstruction; Dismantle; Disrupt; Exclusion; Feminism; Folx; Gender; Gender (v.); Gender identity; Gender non-conforming; Genderfluid; Identity; Identity politics; Inclusion; Indigenous; Internalized sexism; Internalized transphobia; Intersectionality; Man; Non-binary; Normativity; Oppression; Patriarchy; Phallogocentrism Poststructuralism; Problematic; Queer; Queer Theory; Radical; Reality; Social constructivism; Social Justice; Solidarity; Structuralism; Subversion; Theory; Transgender; Violence; Violence of categorization; Whitexican; Woman; Womxn
Revision date: 3/24/21
8 comments
“latinx” is unpronounceable for latins. Most latins find insulting that crazy US people from their high horse pretend to impose such unpronounceable word into latins, from people who aren’t latins, and simultaneously pretend to “represent” latinos, as a “minority”. It’s a fraud. The woke were never elected as representants.
—“ This incredible failure rate is rationalized within Theory as a kind of internalized sexism and/or internalized transphobia within Latino culture.”—
That’s it. You all finally lost your g-ddamn minds.
This is THE ultimate level of gringo audacity I had ever seen. Changes in languages happen from the bottom to the top, not the other way around. They happen when the common masses adopt a new term and it becomes mainstream, not when the elite fringes FORCE its use onto the masses.
you can you bigot, just think of latinx as a unisex word, who am I kidding this whole thing is extremely retarded, I’m most definitely culturally appropriating “estupidex”
Yep, far be it from WOKE evangelists to understand that all their virtue-signalling moralizing is neither virtuous nor moral.
For people who are hyper aware of colonialism, this comes across as actual colonialism.
Did you know of the term Latin@. It is really funny becuase it is the genderneutral Latina, while Latinx is the genderneutral Latino. So the whole proble begins anew.
I’m latina & I do not like this imposition on my language. There is a reason for our gendered language & it has nothing to do with oppression or non inclusiveness. It is rooted in stories, mythology & cosmology of our cultures. To have our language be morphed into something that most of us don’t understand b/c it fits into some kind of gender ideology is really disturbing. To impose such assumptions on a language, & therefore it’s accompanied culture, that isn’t rooted in anything other than a social construct, should alarm people who also have gendered language, like Italian. Although I understand from the perspective of queer theory to justify such an act, it seems counterintuitive to do so when this imposition comes from outside the culture & imposes itself on it in the name of some kind of moral stance. Isn’t that a form of oppression? Our ancestors have experienced this before. This term will not be adopted by the majority of Spanish speakers who are aware of the underpinnings of a kind of cultural assasination that has been imposed upon us for generations. This kind of oppression has just morphed itself into a different form.
I am latino….the term latinx “es estupidex”…. can’t even say it in spanish…”is stuoidez”