Cunning linguists
Spanish gendered adjectives?
PineappleDanish · 04/03/2020 09:03
I consider myself a fairly fluent non-native Spanish speaker. Did a degree yonks ago and watch a lot of Spanish stuff on Netflix. Currently addicted to the Spanish version of the Sewing Bee on the TVE player which has a whole new vocabulary which I never learned. (Lorca, Borges and Marquez don't really mention bias, seam allowance, overlockers and how a fabric drapes).
Anyway. One of the contestants is a very exuberant gay man called David. David is definitely male and doesn't "present" as female, whatever that means. David however speaks about himself using the female form of the adjectives/nouns - "Estoy muy contenta" or "Soy la jefa" or "me van a mirar y pensar - uy, que guapa!"
As a non-native speaker, it's really weird. The one other equally flamboyant gay contestant didn't do this at all but he was a little older. Anyone shed any light? (My current theory is that it's a self-obssessed millennial thing.).
Marphise · 12/04/2020 09:02
I know a gay guy who occasionally refers to himself and gay friends as "she". Very light hearted. I think it's just a thing some people do ? I wouldn't read more into it.
Kangourou · 12/04/2020 09:22
Mario Vaquerizo used to use female pronouns and adjectives, and he is neither millennial nor gay 
I think it's just a way of playing with the language and expressing yourself. Although I once read a comment along the lines that gay men who use female-declined adjectives and pronouns among friends probably revert to masculine ones in job interviews and applying for jobs, which just reinforces the idea that female is worth less than male.
I am also a huge fan of Maestros... Finished it last week and am toying with the idea of watching the first series (I started watching it last year so have seen 2 and 3).
PineappleDanish · 24/04/2020 08:22
Missed this updates to the thread. Watched the end of Season 3 of Maestros and then all of the first Season. Now powering through the second season. It's expanding my sewing vocabulary considerably - I knew words like thread, needle and zip obviously but not things like overlocker, seams, hem, interfacing....
Love the judges on this show, especially Caprile. What a talent and he is fair but tough on the contestants.
Is masterchef spain any good?
AmeliaE · 09/05/2020 09:15
Many gay men use female adjectives to describe themselves or their friends as a form of banter or lighthearted jokes (zorra, loca, guapa, etc).
It doesn't necessarily mean that they identify themselves more with the female gender.
I would never use female adjectives describing a gay man unless the person is a very close friend.
lazylinguist · 09/05/2020 09:20
Yes I'd assume it was similar to lighthearted referring to each other as 'she' or 'girl' in English.
Reading the thread with interest though - I'm teaching myself Spanish and was meant to be doing an A Level this summer. I haven't really explored Spanish stuff on Netflix, so it's good to get some recommendations!
Unicornflakegirl · 10/06/2020 17:31
Good on you OP, I would have to figure out in English first what overlocker and seam allowance mean!
Some of my gay friends here do a similar thing, only a few words like superguapa or vaga, just banter / in-jokes.
@lazylinguist 'La Casa de Papel' is a Spanish show from recent years that has also been popular in the UK.
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