I found that the use of folx is not widespread nor is it used outside of LGBT+ communities, but its usage is a way to index support and recognition of non-binary individuals. Finally, the survey concludes with demographic information to determine which group is most likely to use folx than folks along with the social media site they use the most. Then it focuses on the experience’s participants have with both folx and womxn along with why they chose to use that specific spelling and their perception of each word. The survey first gauges the perceived gender of various words such as guy, dude, womxn, women, and so on. To assess the perceived neutrality of both folks and folx, I created a survey that was distributed through social media such as Swampy Memes for TWAMPy Teens, Swampy Memes for LGBTQ Teens, and my personal social media accounts. However, it is not any more or less neutral than the original folks and is not viewed as a better alternative. This paper argues that the use of folx is meant to index the support of non-binary individuals and show inclusivity through language. ![]() One suggestion is to use the word folx, which is a variation of the word folks where the ‘-ks’ is replaced with an ‘-x.’ Using “folx incorporates the x that is being widely used to bring in more identities to conversations, such as womxn, Latinx, and alumx” (Robertson, 2018: 47), thus adding to a tradition of using ‘x’ or ‘-x’ to show inclusivity. Since the rise in awareness of non-binary identities and how greetings such as guys and dudes are inherently masculine, thus marginalizing both women and non-binary individuals, there has been an increased need for a gender-neutral way to address groups of people. To me, it represents the complexity of gender.Building off recent research on gender-neutral language, this paper will examine the use of folks and folx concerning usage and perceived neutrality. Nita Harker, an assistant professor of sociology at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham, Washington USA and co-organizer of a “Womxn’s March” said, “I actually think the challenge - particularly that it is hard to pronounce in your mind as you read it, that it forces one to stop and think, that it is not just easy and nice and recognizable - is part of the point and the draw. Writing in Latina Magazine, journalist Raquel Reichard said, “Latinx, pronounced ‘La-teen-ex,’ includes the numerous people of Latin American descent whose gender identities fluctuate along with different points of the spectrum, from agender or nonbinary to gender non-conforming genderqueer and genderfluid.” You may have noticed X’s appearing in quite a few words, including Latinx and Womxn. As it stands, some people and organisations are using the term, in the same way, they are using “womxn” however when they do it is usually followed by a big backlash on social media. There’s no major call by any community for people to start using the x term over the normal spelling of folks. Marianne Juana, Urban Dictionary Should I use folx instead of folks? However its use is often derided, as demonstrated on Urban Dictionary, who writes,Ī strange, unnecessary misspelling of “folks” popularized by people who think using a gender-neutral term for an already gender-neutral word is woke. ![]() The word folks is already considered a gender-free expression however some in the community feel that it has gender connotations.įolx is a relatively new term, with only a few instances of use on the internet, however, with the rise in popularity of other X terms, we may start to see more and more use of Folx. Folx is a gender-neutral way of writing or saying “folks”.
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