#folks vs folx

[transeliot]

Personally, it feels weird and performative to throw an x into an already gender-neutral term just for the hell of it, but want to know what others think.

[sundragon]

Petty sidenote, I still find the folx vs folks thing so strange. Folks isn't gendered or whatever to begin with, but adding an x doesn't even change the way the word SOUNDS.

[girlbob-boypants]

I just randomly remembered the 2 or so year old discourse of folks vs folx and how fucking artifical the entire thing felt? Like. Maybe it's just that I exist in my own little corner but nothing has felt more like some parallel universe accidentally merging with our universe for a month than that entire thing did

[unlikely-course]

Okay lots of people seem confused by this, the word “folx” has nothing to do with being gender neutral and nothing to do with specifically referring to women (people seem confused and think it has something to do with “-trix” suffix as in dominatrix and aviatrix?)

It just means like queer, alternative folks. Like from the seventies comix vs. comics. That’s all.

[loveisbraveandwild]

i listen to a podcast hosted by a nonbinary person about trans issues and experiences and they had some interesting points on folx vs folks, which were 1. who cares, folks is already gender neutral, and 2. if you’re going to use folx then you better actually be doing other things to be inclusive, and if someone is ONLY using folx and not doing anything else than it’s likely just performative

yes this makes sense to me

[lusiphurmalache]

The 'Folx' Meaning Can Be Controversial - Folx Definition

[caringpluto]

why did ppl start using "folx(s)" instead of "folk(s)" like? folks is already gender neutral? i truly do not understand?

[bqstqnbruin]

my (cishet) professor docking 10 points from my assignment because i put “folks” instead of “folx” in my script for my video assignment because “folx” is gender neutral but “folks” is already gender neutral im so confused????

That's? Interesting? I thought they were able to be used the same way?

[vaspider]

hey thanks for explaining that stuff with folks vs folx that's pretty cool and might lead to me using folx more

You're welcome!

[keplercryptids]

do you mind if i ask what other perspectives there are about "folx" and "yxll"? on the surface level, it seems like two words that were already gender neutral, so i don't understand the purpose of the x. i have a hard time understanding how it's any better, but i know i'm probably missing something

yes, by definition these words are gender neutral. however, contextually these terms are used the most in the southern US, in rural areas, etc. i for one almost never heard "folks" said aloud until i moved to the south and now it's like a daily thing. so "folx" came about to specify inclusion, because the way a lot of (most?) people use the word "folks" doesn't actually explicitly include everyone. assuming inclusion with words that are specific to rural/conservative regions isn't something those of us living in these regions have the privilege of doing. for example, when the governor of my state refers to "folks" or "yall" i know for a fact he's not including my queer trans ass lmao. so yeah. the origin and actual usage of those words is important.

there's also the fact that the people i know irl who use the folx/yxll spellings are activists who walk the walk, so to speak. i think these spellings get labeled as strictly performative in many cases when that's not a fair assessment.

i can understand if you don't live in the south, aren't involved in activism in the south, or have only encountered those spellings on places like tumblr, why you'd be jaded about them. but it's about assumed vs explicit inclusion which. is a good specification imo.

[lifblogs]

(about the "folx" vs folks" post) I wondered about the same thing and from what I can find, the x isn't meant to be "more inclusive" but to explicitly say that you mean queer people. (And it might be more widespread among POC? I couldn't find a specific source for that but that's not how language works so I thought I'd mention it)

So basically, "folks" is "everyone" and "folx" is "(queer) people (like us)"

Yeah, I did read up about that, I'm just... I don't know. But thank you, anon!

[fixeddawn]

Hi! I'd like to preface this question by saying I'm genuinely curious and I apologize if this comes off as rude or insensitive. I was wondering about the usage of the word "folx" vs the conventional "folks" -- I saw you used it in a post and I was wondering if I could get your thoughts on it. My first thought is that "folks" is already a gender neutral word so it wouldn't need to be changed to be inclusive, but I'm sure there's some reasoning behind the change that I'm not aware of that I'd love another perspective on. Anyway, thanks for running this blog, it's super fun! And thanks for anything you're willing to share about my question!

(HEEEEYO so here's my personal understanding of it. I am Agender and am around a LOT of gender non-binary people. While there are she/her, he/him, They/them, there is also Xe/xer, zhe/zhim, xey/xem, etc. for me folx includes those folx! If anyone else understands differently, feel free to explain as well, for i know very little.)

[galaxytale]

actually on that post abt folx and yxll

now dyslexic ppl arent a fucking monolith but lemme tell ya as a dyslexic person who is also from the south? folx doesnt give me any trouble at all. literally my whole deal w dyslexia and stuff is that part of how i spell and read things relies on /how that word sounds/ so - even aside the thing that folx is aave - like. since it functionally sounds the same as folks does to me i understand it as just another spelling of the word. its the same way tho works just as well as though

infact, and most ppl who talk to me on discord can attest to this, if its not a typo or ACTUALLY INTENTIONAL, i usually misspell things because i actually /dont/ know how to ‘properly’ spell them and end up just sounding them out mentally and going w it.

yxll versus yall though would make me confused bcos the x does not make the same noise as the a does. so yeah THAT is an issue. because it doesnt work phonetically. typing out yxll is just as bad for me as like.... people whos urls use C and L to be a d or something. bcos i have to actively stop and figure out what the fuck word is intended there. its a clock vs dock situation - you could be intending to say “hand on the clock” or you could be saying “hand on the dock” and without context i would have a hard time figuring out what youre meaning by it because its completely different sounds. yxll straight up doesnt look like its supposed to be a word.

[loveisbraveandwild]

personally, folx confuses me because isn't folks already gender neutral? to be honest i'm not very educated on that particular area (the folx vs folks thing) and i've seen such mixed opinions from different people that it doesn't seem like there's any consensus one way or the other

it is already gender neutral and it also confuses me for that reason! 

[nitrosplicer]

if you police people’s use of folx vs folks and “call out” people for using folks and tell them they should use folx instead.... you’re going against the point of people saying folx in the first place as a means to decentralize grammar prescriptivism

[bookofwisdom]

folks is already identity-neutral i. why is this still a thing

On the one hand, I understand small petpeeves over language use arising as our language changes. For example, I've been finding the use of "his or her" and "his/hers" rather than their or theirs more and more annoying over time. It's clearly in common use and people making arguments against it in the rules are clearly looking for a reason to avoid using it (which is funny because I remember being annoyed at some point in K-12 because I thought his-or-hers was clunky).

On the other hand, I find it concerning that your issue here is that I used a spelling commonly used in some minority settings (in my case as a small way to indicate that I was probably gay friendly, was aware of the folx dialog discussion, and as another indicator that my discussion was likely to be safe for readers and probably free of radfems) and not that I was discussing what appeared to be a common acceptance of racism as a part of community humor.

I'm going to go with the assumption that you, like the majority of us, are on a journey to work on learning how what we say affects others and that this is just one of those things that had made it through the wide net we all have to cast as we go. In the case of folx/folks vs. they/his-or-hers, I don't think folx hurts anyone and can also have it's uses as a small signifier that I'm interested in including people where and when I can.

If my net example is correct for you, I've got a research suggestion that was helpful for me and maybe will be useful for you. Do some looking into why enforcing grammar/language rules has some serious angles of classism and racism buried into them. (Examples: people with less access to education not having the exacting, negating value of discussions and ideas from people using a new language, etc.)

Also...I'm going to be real. Of all the things going on in the world and the things I'm concerned about changing in how I talk? Folx isn't one of them or worth my time. Capitalization or friendly spelling variations (which aren't in use as signifiers for bigoted communities) aren't hurting anyone and sometimes I just don't feel the need to care about little things that do no harm.

The process of unlearning is hard, and I hope you find the process as comfortable as any of us can. (Also, if you'd rather chat with me about this in a non-public context, feel free to message me.)