Muxes have challenged the gender binary for generations

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In the city of Juchitán de Zaragoza, located on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, one variation of the local legend goes something like this.

San Vicente Ferrer, the patron saint of Juchitán, carried three sacks of seeds destined for worldwide distribution. The first contained the male seeds, the second the female seeds, and the third a mixture of the two. But as San Vicente passed through Juchitan, the third sack ruptured and grew into the city’s famous mux community.

The Muxes, a group long recognized among the indigenous Zapotecs of Mexico, are often referred to as the third gender. Embodying the characteristics of both men and women, their existence challenges the gender binary that is so deeply rooted in Western society.

“We are a people with two spirits,” Felina Santiago says in the Oaxaca episode “Eva Longoria: In Search of Mexico.” “We are duality, neither male nor female. You are nothing less, nothing more.”

Indigenous communities in Mexico recognized a third gender even before Spanish colonization and the subsequent influence of Catholicism, with anthropologists pointing to the Aztec priests, who wore clothes associated with the other sex, and to the Mayan gods, who were both male and female. Today, the Muks of Juchitan are just one of several communities around the world that do not fit into the gender binary, such as the Hijras in India, the Bakla in the Philippines, and the Fa’afafine in Samoa.

“Their way of life is a form of resistance to Western colonial forces that have historically imposed their beliefs and behaviors on indigenous peoples,” said Jacobo Ramirez, whose study with Ana Maria Munar explored Muxes and Gender in Indigenous Communities— wrote in an email to CNN.

Muks are usually assigned male at birth, but tend to exhibit typically feminine appearances in their behavior, dress, and occupations. Many are skilled in embroidery or other crafts or work as traders in the markets that drive the region’s economy. Often they care for elderly relatives and community members, says Ramirez, assistant professor of business development in Latin America at the Copenhagen Business School.

However, there is no single way to be a multiplexer. There are muxes who are teachers, lawyers and social justice activists. Many muks wear women’s clothing in everyday life, but some continue to wear men’s clothing at work or elsewhere, wearing more feminine clothing only on certain occasions. But multiplexers are not defined by their appearance.

“What is muxiedad for muxes?” Poet Elvis Guerra reflects in the HBO Max documentary Muxes. “A way to live. That’s how we were born.”

(CNN and HBO Max share parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.)

It may be tempting to equate multixers with transgender people or classify them as part of the broader LGBTQ+ umbrella. But according to muxists and experts who have studied their communities, these labels impose a Western lens and don’t quite capture the nuances of what it means to be a mux.

Muks consider their identity distinct – as a rule, they do not identify themselves as women and not all experiencing gender dysphoria. (Multiplexer definition developing among the younger generation who are more open to hormone therapy.)

“I’ve always said that if I was born again, I would choose myself,” Crystal Aquino, a multiplex activist, says in the documentary Maxes. “I’m a mux at heart.”

Jesúsa is a mux, member of the third gender community in Oaxaca, Mexico.

While most cartoons are attracted to men, many cartoons don’t consider themselves gay either, sociologist Alfredo Miranda writes in his book:Behind the Mask: Gender Hybridity in the Zapotec Community“.

Rather, muxes are “more of a social and gender category than a sex classification, and it is firmly ingrained in the Zapotec indigenous peoples’ perceptions of gender and sexuality,” Miranda wrote in a 2015 article, “Hombres Mujeres: Indigenous third gender“. According to Ramirez, the muxes are really proud of their Zapotec heritage. Many muxes play a key role in the preservation of the Zapotec culture, maintaining culinary traditions and other rituals.

Given these roles, Ramirez said that the muxes were respected and recognized in Zapotec society. Some people consider having a multix in the family a blessing due to the fact that multix are traditionally expected to live at home and take care of their elderly parents as adults. Even the Zapotec language is compliant – it has no grammatical gender, only one form for all people.

Despite conventional wisdom that there is a crowded experience in Zapotec society, Juchitan and the wider Tehuantepec Isthmus is far from a strange paradise.

Although women significant autonomy A culture of machismo and patriarchy persists within Zapotec families, and tend to be sensitive about children they recognize as muxes, Ramirez said. As a result, some multiplexers experience rejection and exclusion at home.

In the documentary Muxes, Krystal recounted how their father ordered them out of the house after seeing pictures of them dressed and kissing a man. But Krystal said that their grandmother and mother would not allow this, and instead sent his father to pack.

(From left to right) Mantis, Miguel and Alexa prepare for the annual

“I felt like my mom was a very brave woman,” Krystal says in the film. “She said her children are more important than a man.”

Muks also face physical abuse and discrimination in education and the workplace, as well as legal and medical barriers. But although programs and initiatives in recent years, sought to protect the rights of the multiplexer and make the community safer, there is work to be done.

“There is still a significant level of discrimination and prejudice against muxists in some parts of the country, and they continue to face significant challenges in terms of achieving full equality and recognition,” Ramirez said. “Despite these obstacles, the muxes have retained their rights and identity and continue to be an important and valuable part of Mexican culture.”

Outside of Juchitán, the muxes are perhaps best known for the festival they put on each November: “La Vela de Las Auténticas Intrépidas Buscadoras del Peligro” or “The Vigil of the Real, Fearless Seekers of Danger”.

The three-day celebration, founded by the Muks in 1976 in response to the persecution they faced, attracts thousands of visitors from Juchitan and beyond. The festivities include a parade of colorful floats, a Catholic mass and dancing. There is also a fashion show that culminates in the coronation of the queen. Everyone dresses for the occasion – some wear traditional embroidered blouses known as huipiles, while others opt for sparkly dresses and high heels.

Vela de las Intrépidas, as it is also called, is a way for mux players to make themselves known in their own space. With and without multiplexers equally taking part in the fun, this is a prime example of a wider community embracing multiplexers.

Dressed in traditional Zapotec clothing, muxes in Juchitán, Mexico, participate in a parade to mark the annual

What began as an independent act of resistance has since grown into a massive celebration. But for all the joy and fun it brings, there is pain and grief beneath the surface.

In 2019 Oscar Cazorlamultiplex activist who helped found Vela de las Intrépidas. was killed at home The circumstances of the murder are still unclear.

“This fight was to tell people: ‘This is me, I am also human and I have rights too.’ I want the same recognition as everyone else,” said Felina Santiago, who was president of the organization behind the festival, in the movie Muxes. “They were brave enough to go out and not hide.”

Today, the mux fight for recognition continues. This was announced by Rafa Fernandez de Castro. merger in 2015 there is also a debate in the community about what it means to be a mux – whether identity is innate at birth or shaped by society, whether muxes should be of Zapotec origin, whether sex reassignment therapy changes the calculation. There is also the question of how an increasingly globalized world might affect the multiplexer’s identity.

However, LGBTQ communities continue to be targeted. in USA And worldwidethe integration of the muxes into the wider Zapotec society may be instructive.

“Muxus is a great example of how cultural diversity and mismatched gender identities can coexist and thrive in different societies,” Ramirez said. “They are a reminder that there is no single way to express gender identity and that gender norms are created by society and can be challenged and transformed over time.”