muxes
A Massive Earthquake and the Women Take Charge
The massive earthquake that rocked southern Mexico shortly before midnight two weeks ago damaged or destroyed thousands of buildings and killed scores of people in the Zapotec city of Juchitán de Zaragoza. The magnitude 8.1 or 8.2 quake was located about 150 miles southeast of the city in the Gulf of Tehuantepec, off the coast […]
A Third Gender in Zapotec Society
The New York Times last week put a new twist on the “bathroom debate” currently roiling conservative circles in the U.S. by examining the practices of some Zapotec people who identify as a third gender. The belief in some U.S. states—that transgendered people must use public restrooms matching their apparent gender identity at birth—is at […]
Annual Transvestite Festival in Zapotec Town
According to a Reuters story last week, the Zapotec town of Juchitán just displayed its laid-back attitude toward gays and transvestites with its annual festival in their honor. The article indicates that transvestites, called muxes, a Zapotec word derived from the Spanish word for woman, mujer, are quite widely accepted in the town, a striking […]
