Lenguaje inclusivo - Inclusive language

Ganímedes

It was the same evening that I was chatting to the pianist, a guy and bandoneon player, a woman, both from Rosario.

The bandoneonist, mentioned some word, I forget which, lets say it was estamos comprometidos. 

- ¿No querés decir 'comprometides?' I said, joking, and was surprised when they were impressed.

 Se me olvidó, ese lenguaje, ¿cómo es?, 

 I had forgotten the term for this kind of language.

- "Lenguaje inclusivo".

- Eso.

I have a long-standing conversation exchange partner who lives just within the AMBA (Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires) on its southern side. Most weeks we discuss language and related topics of culture. He had told me about lenguaje inclusivo, and that he, who is retired, uses it.

- Es un acto político, I said, remembering his wife's poem.

- Sí.

Understanding lenguaje inclusivo requires first an understanding of why Spanish is - controversially - not considered inclusive.  Spanish has a binary gender system, where nouns and adjectives are either masculine or feminine, like French, Portuguese, Italian. This gender system is reflected in aspects of the language such as pronouns, adjectives, and verb forms.  One of the conventions of Spanish grammar is that the masculine form is used as the "default" gender when referring to a group that includes at least one male, even if the group is predominantly female. 

If you have a group of female friends, you would say "mis amigas" (my female friends).

If you have a group of male friends, you would say "mis amigos" (my male friends).

However, if you have a group of friends that includes at least one male, even if there are many more females, you would still use the masculine form: "mis amigos".

This has led to calls for more inclusive language, as the use of the masculine form as the "default" can be seen as reinforcing a male-centric view of the world. As this article (in Spanish) explains at first and only in some quarters, the offending 'o' was replaced by '@' as in tod@s or 'x', so amigxs, but, being unpronounceable, 'e' was later used instead, giving "amiges", "todes".  

- How long has lenguaje inclusivo been in use? I asked the Argentinian musicians.  They conferred.

- About four years.

This was confusing.  My Buenos Aires friend (since he is not from the city itself, he rejects "porteño") said it had been in use for 20 years.

Yo comencé a escucharlo y leerlo hace unos 20 años, aprox,  por parte de ciertas personas vinculadas a las luchas feministas y a grupos Lgtb, aquí en el país. Tuvo un gran impulso desde que lo implementaron en ciertos discursos gubernamentales, en especial cuando los Kirchner estaban en la Presidencia. al principio, a mí también me parecía absurdo, pero después me di cuenta del valor que tiene, como te conté el otro día.

He started using it in solidarity with people linked with feminism and the gay rights movement.  Discussions around inclusive language increased when the Kirchners were in power.  The concept seemed weird to him at first but later he realised its value.

- And do you use it?, I asked the Rosarinos.

- Yes.

- Do you think Argentina is an inclusive, progressive country, socially?

- Very much so.

I had hear this before. Back in 2016, The lesbian couple in the queer tango club La Marshall had said, that it was very easy to be queer in Buenos Aires, surprising me greatly after my experiences of the traditional milongas. My friend in Buenos Aires had also said it was not uncommon to see, for example, young teenage same-sex couples demonstrating their affection in public and no-one batting an eyelid. Talking about piropos (compliments between the sexes) and chamuyo [deceptive or insincere flattery to some end], a guy on the Word Reference Forums had said this year:

No es que sean propios de las milongas en sí. Es propio de una cultura tradicional, en particular latina (en el sentido más amplio de este adjetivo) y que obviamente los nuevos tiempos están llevando a modificar. En el medio en que me muevo en Bs. As. eso está absolutamente demodé, por decir poco. La cultura es dinámica y abierta.Y hay todo tipo de milongas, si vas a La Marshall, milonga gay, obviamente no te vas a cruzar con las clásicas y estereotipadas conductas de varones a mujeres.

["It's not that they are specific to the milongas themselves. It's characteristic of a traditional culture, particularly Latin (in the broadest sense of this adjective), and that obviously new times are leading to change. In the environment in which I move in Buenos Aires, this is absolutely outdated, to say the least. Culture is dynamic and open. And there are all kinds of milongas, if you go to La Marshall, a gay milonga, obviously you are not going to encounter the classic and stereotypical behaviours of men towards women."]

At salsa, I asked some Colombians whether they knew of lenguaje inclusivo.  They said it has only existed since Petro's rise to power and they - one young, one middle-aged - don't use it. [Conversation in Spanish here.]

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Thanks to JC, for permission to quote.