Filipinos just can’t seem to agree on ‘Filipinx’
What’s your side?
ICYMI, PH twitter was abuzz when the words ‘Filipinx‘ and ‘Pinxy‘ were added as an official entry by Dictionary.com. Similar to ‘Latinx‘, the initiative aims to make ‘Filipino‘ gender-neutral by replacing the -o and -a inflections.
Per the website, Filipinx means ‘of or relating to natives or inhabitants of the Philippines (used in place of the masculine form Filipino or the feminine form Filipina)’
Meanwhile, Pinxy, pronounced as pinksee, is the informal version ‘used in place of the masculine form Pinoy or the feminine form Pinay.’
Despite being all for using inclusive terms, people were quick to call out that ‘Filipino‘ is already a gender-neutral term, as our vocabulary is inherently neutral give we don’t have ‘she/he’ pronouns.
Others claim that the new term will only Westernize our language, as the letter X isn’t part of our original Baybayin alphabet.
what the fuck is a filipinx? a legendary pokemon?
— kurboi
(@kurb0i) September 4, 2020
NO TO "Filipinx"
"x" is not even in the Philippine Alphabet. It's just another western idea that Filipinos are dying to support.
We have our own identity, "Filipino" is gender-neutral. Stop supporting western ideas, 'di nga nila alam na walang "x" sa'tin. I am a FILIPINO.
— britanucci (@hellohanina) September 4, 2020
Using the word "filipinx" only legitimizes the word "Filipino" as a gendered Spanish word and further deligitimizes the word "Filipino" as a gender-neutral Filipino word.
— Patavius (@Capt_Patavius) September 4, 2020
Reminder to everyone: please, please DO NOT USE FILIPINX!! Filipino is already a gender neutral term, heck we didnt even ask to be named as Filipino, it's just because of Spanish colonization. But please, our language is already so gender neutral, we dont need filipinx!
— そうさい (@KocchanSezu) September 4, 2020
On the other hand, Filipinos living outside the country were quick to defend that ‘Filipinx‘ could be a legitimate way to distinguish Fil-Ams, non-binary Filipinos, and people that just want to straight-up use it.
They also pointed out that living in the US calls for the need to use gender-neutral terms, and it’s an effective means to understand each other online.
My thoughts on the “Filipinx” debate:
– Filipinx should be reserved for people whose gender is non-binary and for the diaspora
– Filipinos in the Philippines should be aware that they appropriated the term “Pinoy” from the Filipino-Americans who coined it.
— ILOKANOAK
(@tagainep) September 5, 2020
hi! recent immigrant from ph to us here and i DO NOT consider myself fil-am lol but i use filipinx. filipino/filipina & pinoy/pinay are recognized as gender conforming terms (even tho they aren’t) bc thats simply the society in the us. as a cis-female, i personally do not want +
— raine⁷ (@bh0szxraine) June 22, 2020
Genuinely curious: why do people have a problem with the term “Filipinx”?
It offends no one, is inclusive, and it has an X in it, which is always pretty cool. So I just don’t understand the uproar.
— Inka Magnaye (@inkamagnaye) September 6, 2020
Coming home won’t solve the country’s problems. It might even worsen them (gentrification?) plus there is grassroots participation abroad, in orgs like Gabriela USA and Anakbayan.
Filipinx came from the diaspora, don’t use it if you don’t want it
— Debbie Thotberry (@spagetiti) September 6, 2020
This apparently wouldn’t be the first time that Fil-Ams coined a term to distinguish themselves in another country, as ‘Pin@y‘ (o and a make the @) was also once a substitute.
As language ebbs and flows with the times, so do our discussions around it. Though the Internet may not agree on the term for now, it’s ultimately a longstanding debate on what it means to be a Filipino, or Filipinx.
Can we agree that Mamsir is the superior term though
filipinx wishes it has the same energy as mamsir
— ᜆᜇ (tara) (@talaaraw) September 5, 2020
Banner credit: Vecteezy
The post <b>Filipinos just can’t seem to agree on ‘Filipinx’ </b> appeared first on WE THE PVBLIC.
Source: we the pvblic
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