On the Filipino vs filipinix post you reblogged, I was wondering-doesnt the word come from Philippines which comes from Philip ii of spain so doesn't the word following western gender norms make sense? Like honestly I'd only heard of Filipino or Filipina and I'm genuinely confused. Especially because from what I remember of Spanish class it was less "o" is masculine than "a" is feminine and femininity specifically gets a notation, since neutral words are also given "masculine" markup.
That’s because it is gendered. Because “Filipina” is an actual Filipino term that is specific towards females from the Philippines.
However, I reblogged it because it pointed out that “Filipino” is already gender-neutral. Which is true in a social context. Its actual definition is, “a person of Philippine descent.” Or “the national language of the Philippines” if people don’t understand what Tagalog is.
You don’t really see “Filipina” being used unless you’re refering to only Filipino women. From personal experience, most people just use “Filipino” as a general term to refer to a person from the Philippines. Of course, every Filipino has different experiences and maybe it’s where I grew up and where I live, but it’s just??? not a thing?? The most I’ve seen the word used is the “Dalagang Pilipina” meme. Or when women want to emphasize their female identity along with their Philippine one (which is cool; I get it, being lumped with boys is annoying).
The best I can explain it, is when people use it like “bro” or “dude”. It’s literal definition is geared towards males but it’s so normalized that people usually use it for any gender. (Slang and national identity aren’t the same thing, obviously, but the way they’re used when referring to people of different genders is common).
Additionally, Tagalog is already a gender-neutral language; meaning it’s kind of a default for most people to think that “Filipino” also follows that same stream. And I know this is how many Filipinos outside of North America think as well. (Mostly because this is kind of born from American rhetoric where genderqueer POC like Latinx want to create an identity for themselves, which, hey, is fucking valid.)
But, I do understand why “Filipinx” is a term Filipino people have started using recently. It’s an obvious gender-neutral term that shares roots with words such as Latinx. And for Filipinx who identify as genderqueer, it’s probably empowering to have a term to use where the literal definition isn’t “Philippine male.” Also, I did do some research while writing this and “Filipinx” was created as a part of Filipinx diasporia in mainly America for genderqueer Filipinx and other Filipinxs who actually feel the effects of that diaspora.
Considering the normality of using the word “Filipino” as a gender-neutral term, I do think “Filipinx” can be a bit redundant in some cases. Especially since I am neither from America nor genderqueer nor feel dysporia over my identity. And, that’s fine for me. The post I reblogged resonated with me because I am privileged enough to not feel dysphoric about my identity as a Filipino. However, I’m not so blind that I’m going to purposefully mix up those terms for people who don’t have that privilege. I don’t fully understand it (and possibly never will), but identity is something people have to decide for themselves. I’m Filipino and will continue to refer to myself as such despite being a girl.
That being said, I do want to be inclusive as possible. If people do want to be referred to as “Filipinx”, I will use that term (bc I’m not an asshole), and I will be using it in tags to make sure everyone is accomodated for.
Feel free to contradict me btw. I’m not an expert and this is solely my opinion based on my personal experiences.
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