By Mary T Duerksen
En las idiomas Romanticas, sustanivos y adjectivos son dé género.
In Romance languages, nouns and adjectives are gendered.
Mi tarea es a ‘un-género’ estas linguas.
My task is to ‘un-gender’ these languages.
Usaré el Español como ejemplo
I will use Spanish as an example.
In mi trabajo, yo estudio e investigo sistemas que oprimen a la gente,e.g. género binario; El lenguaje y su capacidad de forzar el género binario en las personas.
In my work, I study and research systems which oppress people, e.g. binary gender; language and its’ ability to force binary gender on people.
Las lenguas son unos de essas sistemas.
Languages are one such system.
Aquí hay ejemplos de lo que he estado experimentando.
Here are examples with which I have been experimenting.
Entre algunos escritores, la letra final (o, a, e) se sustituye por “x”
Among some writers, the final letter (o, a, e) is substituted with X
Examples:
Abierto el puerto asi yo puedo veo las flores.
Abierto elx puertx asi yo puedo veo lax flores.
Open the window so that I can see the flowers.
Cada persona each person Cadx personx
zapatos shoe zapatxs
gato cat gatz
Un gatx tiene zapatxs The cat has shoes
The shoes of the cat are not boy shoes nor girl shoes, they are cat shoes.
Code switching
In Portuguese, this sign has been modified from saying “The bride” to “Do not” and “Go beyond” Old code showing a traditional outcome for women has been transformed into a message of resistance and independence.
Those damned English pronouns:
He, his, his & She, her, hers
My pronouns are zhe, hir, hirs Others use
They, their, theirs
Ey, em, eirs
Ae, aer, aer(s),
Ve, ver, vis
Xe, xym, xyr(s)
And this is not new, as evidenced by this quote:
“So hadde I spoken with hem everychon, That I was of hir felaweshipe anon,”
——–The Canterbury Tales, Prologue Geoffrey Chaucer
We are not digital We are not silicon chips We are people We are analog
Obra/Artifact 