eye..... “doesnt represent philippine culture” the name philippine/filipino is from our colonizers like are we really gonna keep splitting hairs here https://twitter.com/charlie_sartre/status/1274538383474216968

maybe “filipino” is technically gender neutral, fine. but the reality is that many ppl experience our language as being gendered. i view that filipino is gender neutral in a similar way people say “he” as an assumed pronoun of an unknown subject. it’s the “default”

filipino loses its assumed gender neutrality when u start to consider words like “filipina” and “pinoy vs pinay” come up. “o” is gendered masculine, “a” is gendered feminine.

like i genuinely do not understand what is the issue with using “filipinx” to remove any potential assumptions of gender.

i don’t think it’s cultural appropriation either bc while it may have been popularized by the term “latinx,” it’s because latin america were colonized by same/similar colonizers as us who also imposed the similarly gendered language onto them.

plus, “x” as an indicator of gender neutrality, nonbinary, intersex*, has BEEN a thing

*note that i’m not claiming intersex to be part of lgbt. i’ve seen intersex people ask not to be included as inherently lgbt and since that seems to be the dominant viewpoint i’m sticking with that.

ah now i know what this reminds me of. when someone insists on using words like “bro/sis/dude” with a trans person because they “use it as gender neutral”

like filipino is intended to be a gender neutral term, but it...doesnt change the fact that it just isn’t sometimes. if trans ppl feel uncomfortable with the “filipino” label bc of the gendered association, then why shouldn’t i use “filipinx” as a more considerate term?

i’m just really baffled how you can accuse people who identify with the term “filipinx” of disrespecting our cultural heritage when .... if we’re really gonna dissect it ... the filipino identity was imposed onto us by our colonizers.

yes, today we have a filipino identity, we’ve grown and ached and claimed it. but let’s not forget our ancestors were all countless differerent ethnic groups with related but ultimately unique languages and cultures—

—and let’s not forget how the filipino identity overlooks that as well as many indigenous groups today.

like at this point...why shouldn’t we make of our language what we want?? so much of it has been suppressed or erased or pushed to the side. if people want to develop our language to adapt to our identities then what’s so harmful about that?