The term was embraced enthusiastically by progressive entities with a stake in gender-neutral policies. Previous terminology forced the speaker to identify as male or female, Latino or Latina, while Latinx gives both speaker and listener the ability to opt out of the gender binary. While there’s no one group or individual responsible for coining Latinx, its popularity has snowballed in tandem with conversations around gender. “Then, there was the option of using Latina, which is my preference because it highlights my Latin American origin and not only the fact that I speak Spanish.” “As an immigrant, I found myself being classified as Hispanic upon arrival to the United States, a term I did not know nor had used to call myself before,” says Dina Castro, a Wheelock College of Education and Human Development professor of early childhood education and director of the BU Institute for Early Childhood Well-Being. With Hispanic Heritage Month in full swing, it’s time to ask: what’s in a name? Now comes the rise of the divisive-but gender-neutral-“Latinx,” touted by progressives for its supposed modern hipness, yet somewhat reviled by the people it represents. “Hispanic” was brought into common parlance in the early 1970s, but was later challenged by “Latino” and its feminine partner “Latina.” It seems like there’s a new word for Latin American heritage every couple of decades-and it never seems to fit just right.
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