InJuchitán de Zaragoza, aZapotec culture ofOaxaca (southeasternMexico), amuxe (also spelledmuxhe;[muʃeʔ]) is a personassigned male at birth who adopts aspects of femininegender roles, including dress, behavior, and social standing. The extent to which muxes present with feminine or masculine gender identities depends on location, social reception, and individual preference, among other factors. They are commonly defined as athird gender which is neither male or female.[1][2] Muxe identity not only involves gender identity and presentation, but also a preservation ofZapotec culture and customs.[3]
Although the exact etymology of theZapotec wordmuxe is unknown, it is thought to derive from the Spanish word for "woman",mujer.[4] In the 16th-century, the letterx had a sound similar to "sh" (seeHistory of the Spanish language § Modern development of the Old Spanish sibilants). The wordmuxe is a gender-neutral term, among many other Zapoteco words.[5]
In contrast toMexico's majoritymestizo culture, theIsthmus of Tehuantepec has a predominantlyZapotec population, representing one ofthe country's indigenous peoples. Other Zapotec communities, outside the Isthmus, have similarthird gender roles, such as thebiza'ah ofTeotitlán del Valle. One study estimates that 6 percent of males in an Isthmus Zapotec community in the early 1970s were muxes.[6]
It is unknown if the Zapotecthree-gender system predatesSpanish colonization due to the lack of sources that survived the colonial period. Although there is evidence of homosexual activity inindigenous Mesoamerican societies[7] and accounts of cross-dressing given spiritual or ritual significance,[8] little historical evidence exists that sheds light on the origins of muxes.
According to a popular myth in Juchitán, San Vicente, the patron saint of Juchitán, had three sacks, one with women, one with men, and another that contained a third gender. He accidentally ripped open the sack containing the mixed-gender individuals in Juchitán, giving the community more third-gender people than the rest of the world.[9] Another variation states that the muxes were so boisterous that they ripped open the bag once San Vicente got to Oaxaca.[3] The myth describes why more muxes are present in Juchitán than in other societies.
Identification as a muxe is partly societal and partly individual. The individual's family and neighbors observe sons for signs of feminine behavior in their childhood.[10] Once identifying a muxe, mothers may encourage their muxe children to participate in work usually done by women and provide feminine clothing for them.[11][12]
American anthropologistBeverly Chiñas explained in 1995 that in the Zapotec culture, gender and sexual identity is seen as an inherent attribute rather than something that can be chosen or changed.[13] Most people view their gender as something God has given them and few muxes desiregenital surgery.
Although there are individuals within Juchitán who identify asgay andtransgender, these individuals do not usually overlap with those who identify as muxe. Gay men identify as men, dress like men, and do work associated with men, while muxes adopt feminine identities to some extent.[3]
Muxes very drastically in terms ofgender presentation and expression. Many muxes have masculine and feminine personas, with both a masculine birth name and a feminine muxe name. Most literature uses feminine pronouns when muxes are in feminine clothing and masculine pronouns when muxes use amasculine presentation.[5] Some may dress in traditional feminine clothing all the time, while some may only dress up on special occasions or in certain places. Likewise, some muxes prefer to identify solely with their feminine names, present asfeminine, and take on feminine work.
However, to many muxes in Juchitán, gender presentation as "female or male" is less important than living as a Zapoteco individual. Whereas identifying as transgender solely involves a person's gender identity, being a muxe requires one preserve and respect traditional Zapotec culture, regardless of whether they present as masculine or feminine at any given time.[3]
Rather than agender identity that defines itself in opposition to thegender binary, muxes occupy a defined gender category with a distinct role within Juchitán society. Juchitán society ismatrifocal, and Juchitán women have important and valuable societal roles.[3] For instance, women control Juchitán's economy, as many women are at oncematriarchs,artisans, andmerchants. Muxes participate in these feminine spheres of Juchitán society, such as artisan work, household maintenance, and merchantry. While men and women often leave the parent's household to get married, muxes are traditionally supposed to live in their parents' household in order to care for aging parents. The help that muxes provide with household/artisan/merchant work and their care for their parents in adulthood is posited as a reason for why some families view muxes as a blessing.
Some muxes marry women and have children while others choose men as sexual or romantic partners.[14][15] Although it is looked down upon by wider society, muxes sometimes pay straight men for sexual relationships.[3]
Muxes may bevestidas ("dressed", i.e. wearing traditional women's clothing) orpintadas ("painted", i.e. wearing make-up but not women's clothing). The phenomenon of muxes dressing in clothes typically worn by women is fairly recent, beginning in the 1950s and gaining popularity until nearly all of the younger generation of muxes today arevestidas.[16] Muxes termedvestidas tradicionales dress with traditional Zapotec clothing all or most of the time, includinghuipiles, which are handmade dresses composed of colourful fabrics.[17][3] In contrast,vestidas modernas dress in modern feminine clothing.
"Las Velas" are a general name for festivals celebrated in Zapotec cultures sincepre-Columbian times.[18] The four-day celebration consists of amass; the regada de frutas (tossing of fruit); the vela, an all-night dance; and the lavada de ollas (washing the pots) held the afternoon after the vela.[19] Muxes play importanteconomic roles in the vela festivals, where they work asartisans to provide thetraditional dress worn by many in attendance. Muxes were banned from wearing traditional clothing to the vela festivities for sixteen years, during which they fought for their right to participate in traditional clothing, until their return in 2019.[20]
La Vela de las Intrépidas, a vela that takes place in early November, is the most prominent of the velas organized by Las Intrépidas (a prominent muxe organization) which celebrates muxe identity andZapotec society.[21][22] Since generosity and gift-giving is highly valued within indigenous Juchitán society, muxes compete to finance the vela. After the end of the celebration, one muxe is crowned as queen, named the "mayordomo."
Although muxes in Juchitán are socially accepted and, in many cases, valued, outside of Juchitán, muxes face oppression and hostility. Some families see muxes as a blessing, while other muxes are forbidden by their families from deviating from a masculine gender role.[11] Muxes from larger, more Westernized towns face ample discrimination, especially from cis men due to attitudes introduced by Catholicism.[14]Gender variance andsame-sex desire in wealthier communities of the region are more likely to follow a Western taxonomy of gay, bisexual and transgender. Such individuals are also more likely to remain "in the closet". Since muxes belong to indigenous communities, many of which are systematically disadvantaged, they generally belong to the lower classes of society.
Las Auténticas Intrépidas Buscadoras del Peligro are a muxe organization founded in 1975 composed of and representative of muxes within Zapotec community.[3] Las Intrépidas are well-integrated into Juchitán, particularly due to their ties to theCatholic Church and other political entities in the community, and are thus well-respected. Las Intrépidas members can come from various walks of life and may receive more employment than other muxes; for example, they are often hired around town atquinceañeras. Las Intrépidas also advocate forsex education,AIDS awareness, anddomestic abuse support.[3] Since they require an entrance fee, many of its members are from high social standing.
Amaranta Gómez Regalado fromJuchitán de Zaragoza is a prominent activist for LGBTQ+ rights, HIV prevention, disabled rights, gender equality, and the promotion of indigenous culture.[10][23] In 2003, Regalado gained international prominence as a congressional candidate for theMéxico Posible party in theOaxaca state elections.[24] She later earned a Bachelor’s degree in social anthropology at theUniversity of Veracruz, the first muxe to have done so.[25]
Lukas Avendaño is an emergingperformance artist whose recent work constitutes a queerperformatic intervention of Mexican nationalistic representations, particularly that of ZapotecTehuana women. Avendaño, born on the Isthmus, embodies the complex identity of muxes. Hiscross-dressing performance interweavesritual dances with autobiographical passages and actions that involve audience members, in order to challenge the widely-held view of a gay-friendly indigenous culture and point towards the existence of lives that negotiate pain and loneliness with self-affirming pride.[26]
Alex Orozco is an actress, playwright and theater director that has won several regional awards with "Bala'na", a monologue about Muxe sex workers in the state of Oaxaca.[27]
Marven is a food vendor often referred to by her business nameLady Tacos de Canasta. Her first notable appearance was a viral video taken while she was selling food at a 2016 Gay Pride march. Since then, she has grown in popularity and been featured on multiple media outlets. She was featured in Episode 3 ofTaco Chronicles, the 2019 Netflix documentary series, in which she discusses both her business and gender. She was involved in multiple reported incidents with police in February and July 2019.[28][29][30][31]
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