Post #4202022

2026-07-29 06:32 UTC

@nazgul@infosec.exchange A native speaker would tell you to avoid using "x" to go gender neutral, as you can't pronounce that in Spanish. Even if you are only going to write it, screen readers users exists. Instead, "e" is a better alternative. Example: no binarios -> no binaries. (Tip: words already ended in "e" are mostly gender neutral and you can change the gender you refer to by changing the article. Example: Los/Las/Les intersexuales) Another thing to consider is that some words are already gender neutral by definition. "Personas" is one of them. No need to write it differently. Indeed, it is a very common technique, if you want to go gender neutral without changing grammar, to use "persona". For example: "Eres hermoso" -> "Eres una persona hermosa" And finally, some words are gendered no matter what you do. In your text it doesn't make sense to write "mujerxs" or "hombrxs" as those two words only refer to women and men. Which is ok as you later also mention non-binary people, but take that in mind.

Replies (1)

@nazgul@infosec.exchange 2026-07-29 14:45

@rober@masto.es Thanks. I was very careful to run this by queer and feminist native speakers here in Mexico. And not surprisingly, Latin America is less prescriptive about what they do with the language than Spain. Before I came to Guanajuato, I had read about the E versus X debate. However, it quickly became clear that, here at least, X is the clear winner. And it's pronounced E, so pronunciation isn't an issue. From what I can tell, it has the advantage of clearly not being a typo, being loud and proud, and avoiding confusion with the times where E is gendered. It's in all the feminist and queer graffiti here. I see it all over Facebook and Instagram posts about Pride events, drag shows, and other queer events and news. And in the recent Guanajuato International Film Festival, it was even being used on the official volunteer T-shirts (Voluntarixs). I used it for mujeres and hombres because gender is fluid even at the "ends" of the spectrum, and not everyone who is trans or intersex uses those terms for themselves. The goal was inclusivity, even if the categories overlap. Which is the same reason I included agender as well as nonbinary. And while "hombrxs" is not common online, "mujerxs" is. (It's used in English as well, with "womxn", and similarly is meant to expand the traditional category.) "Persona" is one I need to discuss with someone here in more detail. From my perspective, the X is as much a political statement as a grammar change. So politically, replacing the A in a word that applies to all genders may still be "correct" even if it's not gramatically necessary. But I need to run it by a few people. Amusingly, the "AI" grammar checker I'm using even called out that this paragraph might not be appropriate for some audiences; apparently "outside the patriarchy" can be divisive :neocat_laugh_sweat:. Language is political.

Open ##4202020