Muxe facts for kids

In Zapotec cultures of Oaxaca (southern Mexico), a muxe (also spelled muxhe; IPA: [muʃeʔ]) is a person assigned male at birth who dresses and behaves in ways otherwise associated with women; they may be seen as a third gender.

Etymology

The Zapotec word muxe is thought to derive from the Spanish word for "woman", mujer. In the 16th-century, the letter x had a sound similar to "sh" (see History of the Spanish language § Modern development of the Old Spanish sibilants).

Gender and identity in Zapotec culture

In contrast to Mexico's majority mestizo culture, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec has a predominantly Zapotec population, one of the country's indigenous peoples. One study estimates that 6 percent of males in an Isthmus Zapotec community in the early 1970s were muxe. Other Zapotec communities, outside the Isthmus, have similar third gender roles, such as the biza’ah of Teotitlán del Valle.

Some marry women and have children while others choose men as partners. According to anthropologist Lynn Stephen, muxe "may do certain kinds of women’s work such as embroidery or decorating home altars, but others do the male work of making jewelry".

Muxe may be vestidas ("dressed", i.e. wearing female clothes) or pintadas ("painted", i.e. wearing male clothes).

Within contemporary Zapotec culture, reports vary as to their social status. Muxe in village communities may not be disparaged and highly respected, while in larger, more Westernised towns they may face some discrimination, especially from men, due to attitudes introduced by Catholicism. Muxe generally belong to the poorer classes of society. Despite this, muxe have traditionally been considered good luck, and many now have white-collar jobs or are involved in politics.

Prominent individuals

In 2003, 25-year-old Amaranta Gómez Regalado from Juchitán de Zaragoza gained international prominence as a congressional candidate for the México Posible party in the Oaxaca state elections.

Lukas Avendaño is an emerging performance artist whose recent work constitutes a queer performatic intervention of Mexican nationalistic representations, particularly that of Zapotec Tehuana women. Avendaño, born on the Isthmus, embodies the complex identity of muxes. His performance interweaves ritual dances with autobiographical passages.

See also

In Spanish: Muxe para niños

• Blossoms of Fire (2000), a documentary film about the people of Juchitán, Oaxaca.