What's more: there hasn't been a word for a collective group of 10 gender nonconforming friends in Spanish. Amigxs, it was explained to me, was a way to include everyone who's in your group of friends.
-
Show this thread
-
Once I understood that, I started hearing and seeing "amigxs" that describe people or groups of people ending in -x more often. It was everywhere. In Spanish. In Latin America. More than 10 years ago.
1 reply 64 retweets 521 likesShow this thread -
When I started seeing and hearing the word Latinx in the U.S., it felt familiar. I was curious at the way the -x had crossed a linguistic border and traveled its way north.
2 replies 39 retweets 469 likesShow this thread -
I work in media, and not all publications accept Latinx. I strive to use it when I can/am allowed to do so. Outside of publications, I sometimes fail to use it in my personal life. When I do, I revert to Latino.
1 reply 36 retweets 470 likesShow this thread -
I've internalized Latino, even though I consciously know it erases me. Language is really deep in that way.
5 replies 65 retweets 649 likesShow this thread -
In the last year or so, a lot of Latino men have very visibly revolted against the term Latinx. These men, who are all from the U.S., explain that *they* don't feel the term represents them. Oh the irony.
8 replies 138 retweets 881 likesShow this thread -
These same Latino men, who never once raised concern over the fact that Latina women like me are made invisible by the word Latino, suddenly feel invisible. Tuh.
1 reply 80 retweets 714 likesShow this thread -
Notice, by the way, that I still refer to myself as Latina. That's because I individually identify as Latina. When I'm in a group, I identify that group as Latinx. Individually, I'm an amiga. My friends? We're amigxs.
4 replies 81 retweets 707 likesShow this thread -
I never perceived Latinx as a threat, the way I think many Latino men do. I get it, in some ways. Latino men are hated in society in so many ways. So you gotta hang on to what you got.
1 reply 47 retweets 442 likesShow this thread -
Nor did I ever presume Latinx to be some kind of imperialistic neologism that we're imposing on older, poorer, and less educated people.
1 reply 41 retweets 451 likesShow this thread
Again: the person who explained amigxs to me what seems like forever ago was my elder. Poor in a way most of you will never understand poverty, and less educated as in never finished grade school. They got it. They taught me.
-
-
Plus, this is a Guarani elder we're talking about. They reminded me that Spanish is an imperialist language; that we should challenge our allegiance to its purity.
7 replies 148 retweets 1,201 likesShow this thread -
More than anything else, I'd like those of you who don't speak Spanish and are not Latinx to know that many of us do use the word. We're still working some of this out among ourselves, but in the meantime, we welcome you using the word.
57 replies 121 retweets 1,246 likesShow this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.