Latino and Hispanic have long been the most prominent terms used to describe people in the United States with roots in Latin America and Spain. But in recent years, Latinx has become a gender-neutral alternative to Latinos and Hispanics, according to a new study by race and ethnicity researchers.
Despite increased awareness of the term among Latinos (47% have heard of it), only 4% or 1.9 million people use Latinx to describe themselves, an increase of 1% from 2019, according to the study from the Pew Research Center.
Today, Latinx is better known among American Latinos, but few have yet adopted it, said Mark Lopez, director of race and ethnicity research at Pew.
Of Latinos who have heard the term, 36% see its use as something bad rather than something good, according to the study.
And with conflicting opinions about Latinx, a new term has emerged: latine. That term has gained popularity among people in Latin American and Spanish-speaking countries who have pushed for the term to be used instead of Latinx, because in Spanish the e can be used to better note gender neutrality, explained Josh Guzmán, an associate professor of gender studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.
In the United States, Latinx is more popular than Latin. Only 18% of Hispanics have heard of the latter, according to the Pew study. However, 75% of American Latinos surveyed think the terms should not be used to describe the population, and 81% strongly prefer Hispanic and Latino.
Guzmán said it is still important to respect those who use either term.
There is already so much difference within Latino communities that scholars began to debate whether there will ever be a term that is adequate enough to encompass all the different components of this identity, Guzmán said.
Jasmine Odalys, host of the Hella Latin@ podcast, said the term Latinx feels more corporate, more politically correct and very American.
“I think it came from a community that wanted to feel recognized and seen,” Odalys said. I think corporations maybe adopted it and made it a general term for our community. I think we’re almost perpetuating the problem when we have a kind of inclusive term in quotes but then it doesn’t include everyone’s experiences.
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