yup, struggle session time

edit: no one is right, everyone is wrong :^)

edit 2: this post is actually dedicated to Amy Goodman, please stop trying to sound cool grandma

    • gay [any]
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      4 years ago

      Inclusiveness of everyone. Including nonbinary people. Rejection of Spanish colonialism, we have the right to change the language we speak regardless of what a foreign Royal institution says.

      • SerLava [he/him]
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        4 years ago

        But why x of all letters instead of e? E is like, right there.

        • gay [any]
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          4 years ago

          It allows you to keep the original spelling almost intact. There are rules for e in Spanish.

          Example:

          Los chicos.

          Using the e, you have to change the c to a qu digraph. Like this:

          Les chiques.

          But the x doesn't have this rules, all you need to know is that you read it like an e. Like this:

          Lxs chicxs.

          Furthermore, some masculine words use the letter e. You can accept this and more on, or use the x.

          Los autores.

          Les autores.

          Lxs autorxs.

          Add to this the fact that, aesthetically, the x "crosses out" the gendered part of the word. It drives the message very clearly.

          We're trying our best really. Both options are valid and serve the same purpose.

          • SerLava [he/him]
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            4 years ago

            Oh that makes sense, writing X and pronouncing it E seems a lot better than saying "ekis" all the time. I think the pronunciation matters way more than the symbol.

          • cracksmoke2020 [none/use name]
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            4 years ago

            You are very close to having convinced me, I just have a few questions as I was always convinced that this stuff only happened with the letter X because there was a concurrent trend which involved an increased use of the phrase folx instead of folks within English.

            How do LGBT communities within Latin American countries approach this topic. Ive always just gone with the "e" or refer to everything in the plural masculine.

            • gay [any]
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              4 years ago

              I'm not sure I understand this question. While yes, gender inclusive language is essential to include nonbinary people in our language, that's not the only movement that advocates for it. It's as much of a feminist issue as it is an LGBT (particularly trans) issue.

              But LGBT communities deal with this very similarly than other communities... the concept of more than one gender gets ridiculed by transphobes, LGBT bootlickers pride themselves on being "not one of those crazy ones ruining our language" AND other people are strong advocates for it.

              Like I said, there isn't much difference between the letters. They're meant to be pronounced the same. The aesthetics and the ease of use of the x also include the confusion the letter gives to ignorant people ("how do I read this?") and screen readers. The way the e looks so natural in our language also includes the few masculine forms and the few ortographic tweaks you need to make. I choose the e for the accesibility reasons.

              You should try it out, at least when you're writing and interacting with others online. It wasn't till I got to a space where gender inclusive language was welcomed that I felt comfortable using it. It's not as bad as it sounds and when you get practice it comes naturally. And you don't get married to it, you can use it in certain situations where you're safe and avoid it in others. I'm not asking you to out yourself as a leftist LGBT supporter in front of a reactionary boss.

        • gay [any]
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          4 years ago

          Tell me, is misgendering nonbinary people worth your discomfort in changing one letter? Is including every gender in your discussions ineffective?

          People associate it with wokelibs, who cares. People also associate it with degenerate LGBT people who will "groom children" and feminists who want to kill all straight men. Or crazy people who "believe there are more than two genders".

            • gay [any]
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              4 years ago

              Gender inclusive language proposes to use the x or the e for any term that refers to a group of people of more than one gender or anyone of undefined gender.

              El autor de esta obra es un desconocido.

              Turns into:

              Le autore de esta obra es une desconocide.

              Or

              Lx autorx de esta obra es unx desconocidx.

              Another example.

              Los estudiantes deben estar preparados para el examen

              Turns into:

              Les estudiantes deben estar preparades para el examen.

              Or

              Lxs estudiantes deben estar preparadxs para el examen.

              Gramatical gender of non-human things is irrelevant. It's just another language feature like the number.

        • gay [any]
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          4 years ago

          all it took was them less-than-subtly implying that I’m some sort of reactionary or bigot.

          If you're talking about me, that really wasn't my intention. If that's how it came accross then I'm sorry. I guess I have to phrase things better.

          :/ I can change "your" to "our" if that makes you more comfortable.

    • PermaculturalMarxist [they/them]
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      4 years ago

      Some people keep up the morphology in other words that refer to others, I'm not saying its necessarily a pleasant or easily adopted change, but damn people just love to shoot this down because they associate it with woke-scolds but most don't even speak Spanish and have to get referred to with gender language when they don't want to.

      • thethirdgracchi [he/him, they/them]
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        4 years ago

        Yeah I think that's where a lot of my hesitation comes from—that it's been adopted so quickly in circles I'm deeply suspicious of, but not within the Hispanic community writ large. If and when that changes, I'll all for the term.

        • PermaculturalMarxist [they/them]
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          4 years ago

          There is no "Hispanic community," people in that "community" disagree about a bunch of shit and don't share the same interests at all and a bunch of them are religious, anti-LGBTQ reactionaries and LGBTQ Latinos are always struggling against these people. People should be able to recongnise this struggle and side with the people who most need the help.

          • thethirdgracchi [he/him, they/them]
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            4 years ago

            Are there any essays you've seen by actual Latinx folk arguing for the term? I've read a lot of the opposite side but haven't seen much written support for it, and would totally be down to reading. You're right that there's not one monolithic "community," did not mean to imply that. Just meant that this is something that ideally should be worked out amongst those have a stake in it.

              • cracksmoke2020 [none/use name]
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                4 years ago

                This has been the take I've seen, but I'm still just surprised no one has made a more concerted effort to push for the use of "e" endings or just refer to the gender neutral singular in the plural masculine.

                • gay [any]
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                  4 years ago

                  gender neutral singular

                  Ajá...

                  in the plural masculine.

                  Hmm, por qué será.

                  • cracksmoke2020 [none/use name]
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                    4 years ago

                    The plural masculine thing is because spanish isn't my first language and I mostly just learned it in school so some stuff isn't correct. But I always learned to address groups of men and woman in the plural masculine and it doesn't seem weird to me to continue to do that in the same vain as they/them pronouns in english not usually being used in the singluar.

                    • gay [any]
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                      4 years ago

                      Spanish is a completely different language from English and there's absolutely no reason to follow its grammar. It's insulting to imply Spanish speakers couldn't come up with good ideas of gender neutrality. They/them are gender neutral pronouns, masculine forms in Spanish are not.

                      You're already coming from a mistaken place where you assume that this is only about creting a gender neutral term (which it is) but also a way feminists want to challenge the patriarchal assumption that the average person is a man. Or that women are de facto included when you're clearly addressing men. Language is more than just grammar, it changes. That you were told one thing in your class doesn't change the fact that its users need something else now.

                    • WoofWoof91 [comrade/them]
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                      4 years ago

                      they/them pronouns in english not usually being used in the singluar.

                      They/them is used all the time to refer to someone you don't know the gender of, most people don't even realise they are doing it.

                      "How was work?"
                      "Got a new manager"
                      "What are they like?"

                      "You look angry, what happened?"
                      "Some prick nearly knocked me off my bike"
                      "People like them need to learn how to drive"

          • WoofWoof91 [comrade/them]
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            4 years ago

            the LGBTQ community also does not exist, considering the scumfuck infighting among the letters

            • PermaculturalMarxist [they/them]
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              4 years ago

              I mean, point taken, I was just trying to highlight a tension within what may at first seem like a monolithic community, but the same can be said about LGBTQ.

              • WoofWoof91 [comrade/them]
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                4 years ago

                in my experience, some of the L hates the T, some of the G hates the Q, some of the L and G hate the B, some of the B hate the T, no one acknowledges the A.... the list goes on