Posts Tagged: gender
Oops! Wrong Species, Wrong Gender
So here's this male monarch nectaring on a pink zinnia in a Vacaville pollinator garden. The...
A painted lady, Vanessa cardui, touches down next to a male monarch, Danaus plexippus, on a pink zinnia in a Vacaville pollinator garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The male monarch lets the painted lady know that his advances are unwelcome. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Okay, I'm leaving" The painted lady takes off as the monarch also prepares to leave. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"I'm leaving, too!" The male monarch takes flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gender recognition training available
The Gender Recognition and Lived Name Policy (GRLN) ensures that all individuals are identified by their accurate gender identity and lived or preferred name on university-issued documents and in UC's information systems. In order to support these new policies and procedures, UC ANR will be providing regular updates along with training materials to allow employees to gain a greater awareness and understanding of the importance of gender recognition.
Learn More about Gender Recognition
A training course has been added into the Learning Management System (LMS): UC Gender Recognition and Lived Name: An Introduction to Gender Awareness (35 minutes)
UC is making systemic changes to ensure greater inclusion of gender. This includes changes in data systems, policies, and awareness within the UC community. To help build that awareness, this course will introduce users to terms and concepts related to gender and nonbinary identities, as well as best practices for name, pronoun, and title usage.
Direct Link: UC Gender Recognition and Lived Name
LMS Code: UCGRLN-03-ECO
For More Information
Please feel free to email the Gender Recognition and Lived Name workgroup at GRLN@ucanr.edu if you have any questions or want additional information on items related to the Gender Recognition and Lived Name policy at UC ANR.
Gender Recognition and Lived Name Policy
Across the University of California system, significant steps are being taken to support a more equitable and inclusive work environment. In 2020, President Michael V. Drake, M.D., announced the Gender Recognition and Lived Name Policy (GRLN) to ensure that all individuals are identified by their accurate gender identity and lived or preferred name on university-issued documents and in UC's information systems.
Using correct names and pronouns shows respect and acceptance and honors individual agency. There are many of us who are benefiting from GRLN, including trans and nonbinary people, people whose gender identity is different than indicated on official documents, survivors of abuse or trafficking, people whose lived or preferred name is a variation of their legal name (e.g., international students, faculty and staff who have adopted anglicized names), or married people who had a legal name change, but prefer to use the name under which they have published academic works.
UC ANR, UCPath and UC Systemwide have partnered to offer the following process and system improvements, effective June 20, 2023:
- UCPath online has built new options to support the Gender Recognition and Lived Name policy. These changes allow for UC ANR employees to populate changes to the Name field, which flow into our UC ANR Directory and Portal.
- The Name field is defined as a self-chosen or personal and/or preferred professional name used instead of a legal name.
- Starting on June 20, employees can change their name in UCPath using the employee self-service (no longer directly in the UC ANR portal). Watch this video for what to expect in UCPath: What to Expect for Managers and Employees
- Changes made in UCPath will be reflected in the UC ANR Directory and Portal. The legal name change process remains unaffected, for instructions go to: Update My Legal Name.
What Do You Need to Do?
- Keep your name: No change required. What is populated as your UCPath preferred name will become your Name. If there is no preferred name in UCPath, the legal name will populate the Name field.
- Update your name and/or identity: Go to UCPath employee self-service to make updates when:
- You prefer a shortened or alternate version of your legal name (ex. Elizabeth = Lizzie; Robert = Rob/Bob; Sung Kwon = Sung).
- You want to change name and gender as given/birth name/gender does not reflect your gender identity.
- Your married legal name does not match preferred name under which you are published or known professionally.
Employee comments invited for Gender Recognition and Lived Name policy
The University of California invites comments on a proposed Presidential Policy: Gender Recognition and Lived Name. It is proposed that the policy be fully implemented by UC campuses and locations by July 1, 2021, and it includes the following key issues:
- The University must provide three equally recognized gender options on university-issued documents and information systems — female, male and nonbinary.
- The University must provide an efficient process for students and employees to retroactively amend their gender designations and lived names on university-issued documents and in information systems.
The legal name of university students, employees, alumni and affiliates, if different than the individual's lived name, must be kept confidential and must not be published on documents or displayed in information systems that do not require a person's legal name.
The proposed policy is posted here: https://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/Administration/Business_Operations/Controller/Administrative_Policies_-_Business_Contracts/Policy_and_administrative_handbooks/ANR_Administrative_Handbook/Recent_Updates/
If you have any questions or if you wish to comment, please contact Robin Sanchez at rgsanchez@ucanr.edu, no later than May 15, 2020. Please indicate “Gender Recognition and Lived Name” in the subject line.
The argument against the use of the term “Latinx”
As we continually search for ways to improve gender inclusivity in Spanish, we have come up with a myriad of broad language such as Latino/a and Latin@. The most recent of these solutions is the term “Latinx.” In our opinion, the use of the identifier “Latinx” as the new standard should be discouraged because it is a buzzword that fails to address any of the problems within Spanish on a meaningful scale. This position is controversial to some members of the Latino community here at Swarthmore and beyond, but the other positions within the community also deserve to be heard. We are Latinos, proud of our heritage, that were raised speaking Spanish. We are not arguing against gender-inclusive language. We have no prejudice towards non-binary people. We see, however, a misguided desire to forcibly change the language we and millions of people around the world speak, to the detriment of all. Under the “degenderization” of Spanish advocated by proponents of words such as “Latinx” words such as latinos, hermanos, and niños would be converted into latinxs, hermanxs, and niñxs respectively. This is a blatant form of linguistic imperialism — the forcing of U.S. ideals upon a language in a way that does not grammatically or orally correspond with it.
The term “Latinx” is used almost exclusively within the United States. According to Google trend data, “Latinx” came into popular use in October of 2014 and has since been widely popularized by American blogs and American institutions of higher education. The term is virtually nonexistent in any Spanish-speaking country. This is problematic for many reasons. It serves as a prime example of how English speakers can't seem to stop imposing their social norms on other cultures. It seems that U.S. English speakers came upon Spanish, deemed it too backwards compared to their own progressive leanings, and rather than working within the language to address any of their concerns, “fixed” it from a foreign perspective that has already had too much influence on Latino and Latin American culture. The vast majority of people in Latin America from personal experience, would likely be confused and even offended by this attempt to dictate for them how their language is to be structured and how they ought to manage their social constructs. It is interesting to observe how many “Latinx” activists become outraged when a non-Latino person wears traditional Latino costumes such as sombreros without understanding the significance of what they are wearing when they themselves participate in a form of reverse appropriation. To be clear – this is not to say these Latinos are detached from the culture, but rather taking American ideals and social beliefs and inserting into a language that has widespread use in places outside of the U.S. Rather than taking from a culture or people a part of them without respect or reverence for it, this reverse appropriation aims to put into a culture a part of one's own beliefs. This is not the forced and unwarranted taking of culture but rather the forced and unnecessary giving of incompatible segments of U.S. culture.
Perhaps the most ironic failure of the term is that it actually excludes more groups than it includes. By replacing o's and a's with x's, the word “Latinx” is rendered laughably incomprehensible to any Spanish speaker without some fluency in English. Try reading this “gender neutral” sentence in Spanish: “Lxs niñxs fueron a lx escuelx a ver sus amigxs.” You literally cannot, and it seems harmless and absurd until you realize the broader implication of using x as a gender-neutral alternative. It excludes all of Latin America, who simply cannot pronounce it in the U.S. way. It does not provide a gender-neutral alternative for Spanish-speaking non-binary individuals and thus excludes them. It excludes any older Spanish speakers who have been speaking Spanish for more than 40 years and would struggle to adapt to such a radical change. It effectively serves as an American way to erase the Spanish language. Like it or not, Spanish is a gendered language. If you take the gender out of every word, you are no longer speaking Spanish. If you advocate for the erasure of gender in Spanish, you then are advocating for the erasure of Spanish.
What then, is the solution if not “Latinx”? It may surprise you to learn that a gender-neutral term to describe the Latin-American community already exists in Spanish. Ready for it? Here it is: Latino. Gender in Spanish and gender in English are two different things. Even inanimate objects are given gendered -o/s and -a/s endings, although it is inherently understood that these objects are not tied to the genders assigned to them. In Spanish, when referencing groups, we only use the feminine ending when referring to an exclusively female group. On the other hand, when we refer to groups using the masculine ending, the group could either be exclusively males or a mix of people. For example, when someone says “los cubanos” an English speaker may instinctively interpret this as “the male Cubans,” but a Spanish speaker simply hears “the Cubans.” In fact, the only way to refer to a group that is not exclusively female in Spanish is by using the masculine ending. Therefore, according to the grammatical rules of Spanish, the term “Latinos” is already all-inclusive in terms of gender. For those that want the singular form of “Latino” without the association with gender, alternate forms exist — one can state their ancestry (“soy de Cuba/Mexico/Venezuela/etc”) or “soy de Latinoamerica”. Ultimately, the problem here is that “Latinx” does not fit within Spanish, and never will. X as a letter at the ends of words in Spanish is unpronounceable, not conjugatable, and frankly confusing. These alternate options both respect those on the non-binary spectrum and respect the dignity of the Spanish language.
We understand that some people may still support the term “Latinx”. Ultimately, we will never attempt to force anyone to personally define themselves in any way. If after reading this article anyone still feels that calling themselves “Latinx” instead of any other term brings them more happiness, we will respect that choice. However, we are strongly opposed to and cannot support this particular terminology becoming the new norm or creeping any further into a language it does not belong in. Some may be put off by gender in Spanish. But we are offended by the attempted degradation of our language at the hands of a foreign influence. “Latinx” undoubtedly stems from good intentions but is ultimately also clearly representative of a poorly thought out and self-defeating execution as well as a lack of respect for the sovereignty of Spanish.
Source: Published originally on The Phoenix, The argument against the use of the term “Latinx”, by Gilbert Guerra and Gilbert Orbea, November 19th, 2015.