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What started as a gesture to make streaming more inclusive by referring to women as 'womxn' backfired in a momentous way after the LGBTQ+ and other communities blasted Twitch for the move.
Seen by many as the wrong move, the platform received severe backlash from the LGBTQ+ community for failing to understand the proper way to use the word.
One user commented:
"Twitch really used the word 'Womxn'? Trans women and women. Using 'Womxn' in a way to mean 'not men' as a way to indicate trans women in this, instead of just using WOMEN. It's not as exclusive as you think it is. Do better."
Following the fiery outburst on social media, Twitch removed its post on Twitter and issued an apology.
"We're still learning. Our good intentions don't always equate to positive impact, but we're committed to growing from these experiences, doing better, and ensuring we're inclusive to all."
Despite the heartfelt apology, Twitter users called out the Amazon-owned company. Here are a few reactions:
Why is it wrong for Twitch to say womxn?
According to the LGBTQ+ community, what Twitch did was not really needed nor asked for. As many users pointed out, the word "women" itself encompassed "transwomen," and changing it to "womxn" was a futile step forward.
One user wrote:
"Bruh, 'acknowledges the shortcoming of gender-binary language.' 'women' is kind of a term that includes, y'know, women. Changing one letter an 'x' doesn't change anything, it's just patronizing and insulting because you make it look like you don't treat transwomen like women."
It's unclear why Twitch decided against implementing the term without discussing it with the community beforehand. A lot of LGBTQ+ members were left baffled and pondered the same.
However, this doesn't seem to be an isolated incident, as the word 'Latinx' soon began trending as well.
'Latinx' trends despite backlash
Despite the backlash following the use of the word 'womxn,' the casual use of the word 'latinx' has sparked outrage amongst Latinos on social media.
According to many, the term is racially degrading and not widely accepted by the Latin community.
Here are some tweets from users regarding the fiasco:
It's unclear how these words came about, but the internet wants them to be canceled posthaste. Hopefully, Twitch does the needful and discontinues allowing people from using these words on the platform.
