Introduction

This open educational resource (OER) is created for language learners who want to make independent decisions on the politics over their bodies and identities and determine how they would like to be called while learning Spanish. The material can also serve teachers and professors as a resource to help navigate this challenging topic of our current time.

This guide allows the learner to gain, in an independent way, a basic understanding of Spanish grammar and its relationship to gender as a resource to decide how each person would like to be named. It is a key to understanding the complexity of the discussion over gender and language in Spanish-speaking societies.

Learning about this topic is being informed about a part of contemporary reality: gender-fair language used by many people around the globe. This phenomenon has developed over decades in different cultures and languages, but today it has become a central topic of everyday culture. And because change is an essential characteristic of language, learning about how a change is taking place is also part of gaining linguistic skills.

The content of this resource will allow learners to

• Have a basic understanding of the relationship between the Spanish grammar system and the sex-gender system
• Have a basic understanding of the complex current socio-political debate on gender and language
• Have basic information on some of the language strategies for gender and feminist justice (similar to the pronouns) adopted by Spanish-speaking communities
• Define the way they prefer to be called in Spanish
• Understand the relationship of the term Latinx to the Spanish strategies
• Problematize the political relationship of the term Latinx to English
• Reflect on the use of Spanish gender-fair language strategies in the US context
• Understand why it is important to be informed on this topic as a language learner

The creation of this resource is a response to the lack of materials on this subject for language learners, particularly open educational resources. I create this material as a feminist linguist who believes in the freedom of individuals to decide about their identities and as a member of the digital learning community of Indisciplininadxs: Feminist Linguistics. I acknowledge this material is more than an individual contribution. Many conversations that inform this book have taken place in the collective pedagogical process that the Indisciplinadxs’ have been co-creating since June 2020.

This OER is hosted on a digital platform that allows me to update the material over time. Thus, I will add the information on the last update at the end of each section to help the readers be aware of modifications. I will thrilled to hear from you and get your feedback, examples, or anything you want to share about this material!

Finally, as a note for all learners: it is important to mention that, in this document, when I talk about “we” or “society”, I am not referring to a uniform body, but to multiple cultures and places where Spanish is spoken and where it intercepts with other cultures and languages. This includes the United States, in general, and, in particular, New York City, where I am writing this book.

I hope you will enjoy learning with me!

Silvia

Last updated on March 02, 2024