Entrevistas (II): el lenguaje inclusivo, por Melissa Mallon, Zaira Vidal Cortés, y Valeria Ochoa.

¿Qué es el lenguaje inclusivo? ¿Usa la gente ese lenguaje? ¿Es importante utilizarlo en nuestro día a día?

En este número recogemos diferentes entrevistas a estudiantes y profesores para conocer sus opiniones sobre el lenguaje inclusivo. ¿Cuál es tu postura? Puedes dejarnos en comentarios tus comentarios. 

Entrevistas por Melissa Mallon, Zaira Vidal, y Valeria Ochoa.

Tatiana Frazier -she/ella- (recent graduate, UCR Psychology)

Interviewer: How would you define inclusive language?

Tatiana: I would define inclusive language as just that, language that works to not exclude anyone it addresses, particularly underrepresented groups. Existing language has many roots in patriarchy and by creating new, more inclusive forms of language expression we are working to deconstruct patriarchal norms. Language is power and we want everyone to have access to expression and empowerment. 

I: Do you use inclusive language? Why or why not?

T: I do make an active effort to use inclusive language in my everyday life, but I think I definitely have room to improve. I still catch myself subconsciously reverting to the language norms I was taught. My father is an English professor so growing up he really emphasized proper grammar and that the correct third person singular personal pronoun is he/she/ it. He also thought it was correct to refer to a theoretical person in writing as “he” because using “they” isn’t correct. I would always fight him on this but he said the alternative was to use “it”. I just didn’t understand why we needed to either use masculine language or resort to objectifying a human. Inclusive language is especially important to me as a queer person. I understand what it is like to struggle with gender identity and to feel constructs and stereotypes placed upon me through language that I don’t exactly identify with. I also understand what it feels like to feel excluded in language, as I’m sure many people who are not cisgendered men do. I firmly believe that gender and sexuality are social constructs placed upon us by the patriarchy and that language is merely behind in the times. 

I: Do you think it is important to use inclusive language in our daily lives? 

T: I think it just as important to use inclusive language in our daily lives just as much as it is in our professional lives. I think using inclusive language in our professional lives sets a very strong precedent of change. It sends the message that the conversation of inclusivity belongs in the workplace and that underrepresented groups deserve a seat at the table, this isn’t just a “trend of the modern era”, this is the future. It truly warmed my heart to see professors have students introduce themselves using their pronouns and now to see my colleagues at work list their preferred pronouns in their email signatures, it really makes me so proud of my generation and hopeful for the future. However, using inclusive language in our daily lives can directly impact the populations that it is intended to include. You never truly know the individuals in your audience who may benefit from inclusive language so it is best to always practice mindfulness when speaking. 

Out of the many important things I have learned from UCR, one of my favorite things I learned was during my freshman orientation. Our orientation leader kept using the word “ya’ll” and one of the students asked her if she was from the Midwest. My orientation leader explained that using “ya’ll” is more gender inclusive than saying “you guys” and I really liked that. Since that day five years ago, I always use “ya’ll” when referring to more than one person and now I also get asked if I am from the Midwest. 

I: How can instructors work to be more inclusive in their classrooms? 

T: I think professors can work towards being more mindful of their students’ personal experiences and truths when addressing their class and creating material. I noticed this especially in my Spanish classes, due to the gendered nature of the Spanish language. Not all students feel as if they fit into the gender binary and to force students to pick a gender they don’t align with could potentially be violent to their well-being. 

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Carol Vidal -she/ella- (student at Delaware County Community College)

I:¿Cómo explicarías qué es el lenguaje inclusivo? 

Carol: El lenguaje inclusivo sería usando palabras que incluyen ya diferentes géneros sin necesidad, o necesariamente excluir a ciertos grupos de personas o ciertas personas.

I: ¿Usas el lenguaje inclusivo? ¿Por qué sí o por qué no?

C: No es algo que uso al día a día, pero sí tengo amistades que ah… se sentirían excluidas si usara lenguaje que no fuera inclusivo, entonces a veces adaptándome a ciertas personas y ciertos lugares si lo uso. No lo uso del diario porque siento que no es algo que se haga cotidianamente o que sea algo que ya está como en la rutina. Pero si lo uso con ciertas personas como lo dije ya que tengo amigos o conocidos que a veces se sentirán excluidos al no usarlo.”

 

I: ¿Crees que es importante utilizarlo en nuestro día a día?

C: Siento que ahh… ahorita que ya más gente está como un poco más abierta y los niños desde pequeños se sienten más cómodos identificándose, ya no tanto el él o la ella, siento que sería mejor empezarlo a incluirlo al día a día para que también los niños se sientan más cómodos e incluidos. Siento que es más importante que se use en el día a día para que sea algo como que se vaya haciendo no como costumbre, si no algo que se vaya haciendo práctica y nos vayamos adaptando a eso. Yo estoy neutral en lo relacionado a este tema, no es algo que estoy en contra, ni algo que o sea, que siento que es urgente tampoco, estoy neutral, siento que todos tienen el derecho a identificarse como quieran y ya. Y todos les debemos el respeto de identificarlos y hablar con ellos como ellos se identifiquen. La razón por la que pienso de esta manera es gracias a mi círculo de amistades y el ser parte de ciertos grupos sociales, en los cuales el género sí ha sido un gran dilema, por eso mismo mi apoyo a la gente que quiere sentirse incluida y que están a favor del lenguaje inclusivo.

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Ruby M. -she/they, ella/elle- (student at Arizona State University)

Interviewer: qué pronombres usas? 

Ruby: Mis pronombres, like in Spanish, is elle/ella, in English, she/they.

I:¿Cómo explicarías qué es el lenguaje inclusivo? 

R: Like inclusive language would indicate that, it's not necessarily restricted to the gender binary. Language is not just feminine and masculine or male and female like, there's ambiguity in between there's both there's neither. Inclusive language doesn't necessarily have to be like adding x's at the end of words, it can be simply… like you utilizing the language and the things the language already has naturally and emphasizing those more like Spanish adding an e at the end, of a word that would normally indicate masculine or feminine- it makes it more gender neutral. And then, in English, you know, using they in terms of pronouns instead. Or… Like with an actress or actor, just saying actor, or whichever the singular person may prefer, but um like keeping those things in mind when you're speaking that's what makes language inclusive. It's not just how you change the words, it's how you utilize the language.

I: Okay, so, do you use it? ¿Por qué sí o por qué no?

R: Yes, I. Sí. I use it. Particularly because, like, the communities that I surround myself with there are many other non-binary people like birds of a feather flock together and also there are, like many queer people in my communities that also speak Spanish and like whether those are online spaces are on campus. And, of course, in English, I tend to use they pronouns for people who I don't know their preferred pronouns are or their personal pronouns are. And so that's one way I use inclusive language, in English and in Spanish. Instead of like saying like to a person saying they're Latino and if I don't know how they identify like Latine, I personally use- say I am Latine. And if they identify certain way, then I adjust to that with a singular person, with a broad group, I say like the Latino community, mainly because that's how the language works with saying, like a masculine if there are men included, but if I know within a smaller group it's mainly non-binary individuals, Latine. All people who identify as women then Latinas. However, it is more like a case-to-case basis and how you know the situation and the people that you're around. So that's how I usually go about inclusive language in my day to day.

I: Great and you mentioned that you have queer communities that you're a part of that also happened to be in this case bilingual, maybe? Have you had conversations with them about inclusive language or uses of like you've mentioned like Latine or or, non-binary you know, parts of words or just inclusive language in general, h- have you had conversations about that?

R: I know with, the communities that I’m a part of we often just use it in our language and we catch on to it and on the online spheres whenever there's a politician that uses like Latinx, like Joe Biden did, that conversation tends to spark up again but that's mainly on online spheres, in real life we just sort of use it. And, of course, the people that I’m talking to older usually younger like I’m not having these conversations with like my older relatives who don't understand, what we're talking about, however, they would understand it more than they understand Latinx, because there's more uses of the language itself, they would be confused still but, when I’m talking to like my peers mainly just talk how we talk, but then, when the conversation comes up online you see a lot of like conservatives, um, take that when people are trying to be inclusive and that's when the conversation starts up again because others are saying, like that they're trying too hard that they're trying to like mess, with the language that's not theirs. Even though there are many like people within the Latino community that use Latinx, that they may not be, but many times they're also not even part of the queer community so it's more of like, including people that don't use that label. And like I know more people that are queer and also part of the Latino community that use Latine, than people who say Latinx or use the Latin and the @ symbol, because those things are hard to say, but like Latin equis, like not necessarily as intuitive like let the name is much more intuitive so what that's usually what we would that's usually has far as the conversation goes when we do talk about is it's like oh it's just easier to say and it just makes more sense. I guess it's more just, it's very brief conversation when we do have it because we seem to be on the same page within the queer bilingual community. Well, the external communities, whether it's the Latino community or conservatives that from an outside perspective looking into the Latino community and thinking like “oh those are just SJWs trying to be more inclusive” like, they're very different perspectives going on here when really the conversation can be very brief, if you just talk to people within the queer community that are also bilingual speakers of Spanish.

I: Awesome. Thank you would just say that the people that use- that you were saying are in your community that aren't online, are the people based in Phoenix? Or where are these people that you're saying you have these like you know short conversations with.

R: Oh yeah, it's mainly in Phoenix because, you know I live in Kansas so it's not- slim pickins but, online is usually where those conversations pop up because you know the turmoil that comes with you know people typing on a keyboard but yeah in in Phoenix like, at college we're you know meeting other queer people and people that are like us.

I: Okay yeah that makes sense. Okay, I just want to make sure that I’m not you know, making assumptions about where these people are or, who you normally speak to. I had a question about when you mentioned like your older family members or older generations that they would understand “it” more than Latinx but I wasn't sure what you meant by “it”.

R: Oh, like saying, more gender inclusive language that has to do with the language itself rather than like, Latinx compared to Latine because there are already words in Spanish that end with an e that are- that can be masculine or feminine but, words in- spoken by English speakers meant to represent the Latino community. That can be harder to understand for my older relatives who's- like are Spanish speakers. Because it's more anglicized, than it is within the realm of Spanish.

I: Okay. Okay so that's more when- you've been describing then is more like the differences between the use of e versus x right? For inclusive language.

R: Mhm (nodding).

I: Okay, so yeah that makes sense. Okay, my last question is, if you think it's important to use inclusive language, whatever that may be for you, in this case you were mentioning, using -e a little bit more. If it's important to use it and and- it says en nuestro día a día? or just like in everyday language use.

R: Sí, yeah, I mean… The way we use our language comes with many assumptions and the more people embrace, um, you know identities that are outside of the binary that we have of man or woman. And the way we use our language as a form of gender expression, the less we assume based off what we see… um, the better, because it can be more affirming to people to know that, uh, we have more open-minded people around and being inclusive of that language shows that even though, it's... it like- inclusive may seem more general I feel more seen when people use that. Use inclusive language, because I know they're not assuming that I’m just a woman based off how I look or how I how I seem. I don't know why I said because, that was the end of that sentence.