Inclusive Language - Is it an actual dilemma?

12/10/2022

What is "inclusive language" and why are Latino politicians so opposed to it?

For those who don't know, the Spanish language is one that contains multiple difficulties to learn. Either this be accents, the position of nouns before verbs, or most infamously the use of gendered words for basically everything. The table is somehow female and the microwave is male. Everything has a gender and this was not challenged until the last few decades.

In the 2000's latino people began to realise how gender was just a construct and how some people would prefer for there to be a form of gender neutral Spanish. They began to use "e" at the end of nouns, with non-binary people reclaiming the gendered they/them (ellos/as) and turning it into "elle/elles". From this the term "inclusive language" was created, not by a single person, but by a society which aimed to create a more diverse and accessible form of communication.

This break from traditional spanish is why inclusive language has recently been banned from local schools and professions in Argentina. Even if the "Gender Identity Act" is still in place, a language evolving has proven too much for local governments to bear.

The idea of replacing the end of certain nouns seems ludicrous to local politicians. They claim it is killing their language and erasing culture. In the creation of an unnecessary panic, politicians have made the evolution of the Spanish language illegal and a mockery.

But there is only hypocrisy when the word "amigue" causes distress and old slangs like Argentina's lunfardo (with words like "afanar" which massively distances itself from Spanish) are still accepted. So children never learn of "elles" pronouns for it is "corrupting" Spanish, but after school they still learn crude insults from the 70s. Luckily, people have begun to notice this hypocrisy with some teachers and doctors still allowing the use of inclusive language.

Inclusive language has proven to be the positive change needed in Latino America, because it represents acceptance and diversity. So this ban did not prohibit its inclusion, but it has delayed it. Language will always change because society always evolves, no matter the laws or opposition.


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