Among the many new expressions in an era of constantly growing political correctness, its difficult to tell where the term latinx stands in todays common usage.

Alondra Longoria, president of Sigma Lambda Gamma, MSUs multicultural sorority, first heard the term, latinx, two years ago when she came to college after attending a predominantly white high school. Longoria is a junior pursuing a degree in psychology and a minor in diversity studies.

Its all about inclusivity, Longoria said. I personally refer to myself as Latina because I use the pronouns she, her and hers. But, using Latino or Latina might be considered a microaggression against someone if they dont identify as male or female. If someone uses they and/or them pronouns, they would go by Latinx.

Sigma Lambda Gamma has officially adopted the term Latinx and uses it in their general conversation, according to Longoria. They also use the term womxn pronounced women-ex, which is inclusive of transgender women.

I think the Latinx term enables the inclusion of Hispanics in todays movement for diversity and inclusion, said Alejandro Castilleja, project manager for a manufacturing firm in Cincinnati, Ohio. Castilleja is a Mexican national who has lived in the United States for work and education for over nine years.

I also see it as a marketing tool in todays social climate used by some corporations to attract the market, but also as a great diversity and inclusion push in the workplace, Castilleja said. Although a lot of people do identify with and champion it, at the end of the day, it is up to an individuals belief on what language to use.

According to aPew Research Center study conducted in December 2019, 76% of adults who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino have never heard of the term Latinx. 20% of responding adults said that they have heard of the term but do not use it, whereas 3% of the total responding population use the term. This approximates to 13% of those who have heard of the term actually using it. The data from the survey consists of responses from 3,030 adults who self-identified as Hispanic.

This study uses the terms Latino and Hispanic interchangeably and defines Latinx as a term used to describe people who are of or relate to Latin American origin or descent. It is a gender-neutral or nonbinary alternative to Latino or Latina.

The study revealed that different demographics have different relationships with the term. 42% of Hispanics aged 18-29 had heard of the term, while 7% of Hispanics aged 65 or over had heard of the term. Hispanics born in the United States are also twice as likely to have heard of the term as those born outside the country.

Social demographics also play a role in the preference of terms. Respondents with college experience are twice as likely to have heard of the term Latinx and twice as likely to prefer using it. Politically, respondents who lean toward the democratic party are more likely to have heard of Latinx (29%) than respondents who lean republican (16%).

The term Latinx will be used more in the future, Longoria said. For adults that do speak Spanish, it has been harder to adapt just because its brand new. A lot of people have a problem with it because they have an attitude of if you change one word then were going to have to change all of the words because Spanish is very gendered. I think it will be used more, but I dont necessarily think it will be adapted to either Spanish or English.

Link:

How far does a word go: where Latinx fits in today - Standard Online