# Latinx (Your thoughts on the term) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 5, 2022, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358 "2022-04-05T23:03:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/162 "2023-02-05T19:59:22Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > And for speakers of gendered languages (about half the human race), gender is also just a rule of grammar. In my language (not spanish), a car is feminine, but an automobile is masculine. A table saw is masculine, and an electric drill is feminine. You add vowels at the end of words, (similar to the o and a in Latina/o), and nobody pays attention. It is just a rule of grammar, like the “s” in my example of “sits”. > > That’s why Latinos don’t care about the whole issue., which so worries some English speakers. That’s definitely true about ordinary nouns ( and the adjectives used to modify them ) After all, “masculine” and “feminine” are just labels when you are referring to “automobile” or “electric drill”. But I’m not sure that’s true when you are referring to people using words that require marking gender in some way. Because that does bother (some) English speakers when it happens in English - there is a reason “flight attendant” has replaced “stewardess”. I can’t imagine that there are _no_ speakers of gendered languages who become annoyed because 99 female doctors are referred to as “_le dottoresse_ " but as soon as _one_ man joins the group they become _"i dottori_” or that a person of unknown gender is assumed to be male and therefore referred to as “Latino” \* - and that’s where a certain amount of the caring about “Latinx” is coming from. Certainly not all Spanish speakers or all people who can be described as Latin@ ( another version I’ve seen) care but some do - and some of the ones who care will _still_ be opposed to Latinx. There’s no reason why whichever term is used must be a Spanish word or conform to Spanish gender endings and it couldn’t just become “Latin” in English. \* There is a column I read that used to have a convention that if gender is not specified , female would be used by both the the author and any commenters. It was not uncommon for people to say - “Why is the boss being referred to as 'she” , the column never says the boss is a woman." Obviously, those people cared about which grammatical gender was used for a person of unknown gender. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/163 "2023-02-05T20:09:48Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > I think that’s why Latinos don’t care about this whole issue., which so terrifies English speakers. Most don’t. I do know some activist/LGBTQ+ Latinos that do. (Though I’ve also seen some minor usage of Latine to work better in both Spanish and English.) I’m just here for the ride – I don’t care what is settled on, but it’s not just Anglo academia doing so. I really don’t think this was spun out of whole cloth by a bunch of Anglos, and I don’t think it has to do with how English speakers perceive the notion of gender in language. It’s hard to tell, as there doesn’t seem to be a really good history about the genesis of the word. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/164 "2023-02-05T20:33:40Z")
I guess in some cases you have to pick a gender (el ministro / la ministra) for the unknown person; that’s the rub. If there is only a single correct gender (e.g. “personas latinas”) there isn’t a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358/165 "2023-02-05T23:38:55Z")
I think some people use the term because they wish to appear progressive. But neutral language works better in English than Spanish. I think this might be misunderstood in many Spanish speaking countries. I do not presume to speak for them nor any other individual. But the term does not really work in Spanish, and to force a bunch of grammatical changes might possibly be deemed more disrespectful to the language than the original terms. In many Latin countries, for better or worse, machismo is treated as a birthright and women take pride in their femininity. Most Latin people also follow events in America with some interest. I suspect many non-binary people who wish to do so make it known which pronouns they prefer, as they do elsewhere, and “pick a side” with respect to grammar. Perhaps there are better ways to show respect and inclusivity than forcing an awkward change. I think the term might not always be well received. I do not mean to deny paternalism exists or minimize significant gender issues that exist in some countries. However, I could also be wrong, and am open to being educated if this is so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latinx-your-thoughts-on-the-term/962358.md?page=8)