Muxe

Muxe performance artist Lukas Avendaño (2017)

A muxe or muxhe ( pronunciation : [ muʃeʔ ], plural muxes; probably from Spanish mujer "woman") is a third gender person (beyond male / female ) among the Zapotecs in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca , especially in the city of Juchitán de Zaragoza . Muxes do not identify with the biological sex assigned to them at birth and can - often from a young age - dress and behave appropriately for the opposite sex. Muxes were born boys and pretend to be women and take on female gender roles . A marimacha is a person who was born a girl and acts and acts more like a man . A muxa is a person who feels like a woman but does not wear women's clothes.

The intersex of the muxes and marimachas is understood in ethnology (national research) as their own gender ("social gender"), which is based on a centuries-old tradition among the indigenous Zapotec ethnic group and is socially recognized. The Oaxaca region is also strongly Catholic , which is accompanied by a strict rejection of homosexuality . Sexual relationships between muxes or marimachas and men or women are viewed reluctantly and only accepted under restricted conditions. There are cases when they become targets of homophobic attacks. While in Mexico City , the same-sex marriage is allowed, it is still prohibited in the state of Oaxaca. Muxes do not enter into sexual relationships with one another, instead they cultivate love relationships with married men. Some of the muxes and marimachas later choose the gender role that corresponds to their biological gender and start families.

In addition to women's clothing, many muxes are primarily interested in the work and activities that women traditionally do among the Zapotecs. While men mostly work in industrial companies or as fishermen, women work as craftsmen and traders. Often they generate the majority of the family income and secure the family. Muxes are valued in women's work areas; they are considered to be particularly hard-working and helpful. Many muxes want to live with their mother, look after her and look after her in old age. Marimachas can make a career in male professions without being discriminated against .

See also

• List of third gender (role) n
• Amarete (place in Bolivia with ten social genders)

literature

Newest first:

• Stefanie Graul: The conflict of recognition among the three sexes of the Binnizá: an ethno-psychoanalytical study. Utz, Munich 2017, ISBN 978-3-8316-4630-2 (doctoral thesis University of Philosophy Munich 2016; on the three genders "women, muxe" and men "among the Binnizá, the Isthmian Zapotecs in southern Mexico).
• Barbara Bachmann: “Authentic intrepid danger seekers”: In Juchitán, Mexico, “muxes” are recognized as the third gender. In: Latin America News . No. 443, May 2011 (freelance travel reporter; online at latein Amerika-nachrichten.de).
• Lynn Stephen: Sexualities and Genders in Zapotec Oaxaca. In: Latin American Perspectives. Volume 29, No. 2, Article 123, March 2002, pp. 41-59 (English; Professor of Anthropology , University of Oregon ; online at researchgate.net).
• Veronika Bennholdt-Thomsen (Hrsg.): Juchitan - City of women: From life in the matriarchy. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1994, ISBN 3-499-13396-2 (collection of articles).

Documentation

• The Guardian : Muxes - Mexico's third gender on YouTube, October 27, 2017 (12:40 minutes; Spanish, with English subtitles; Shaul Schwarz reconnects with the characters and culture he photographed extensively from 2002–2006).
• Ivan Olita: Define Gender - Muxes on 99.media, April 2017 (9:22 minutes; Spanish, with English subtitles).

Web links

Commons : Muxes  - collection of images

• Tanja Krüger, Johanna Rubinroth: The feature: Queer, Catholic, Mexican. In: NDR.de . 2019 (with audio: 53:35 minutes; muxes are popular, but there are also brutal attacks).
• Interview with Stefanie Graul (ethnologist): Transsexuality in Mexico: Muxe - a third social gender. In: Deutschlandfunk Nova . November 21, 2019 (with audio: 6:12 minutes; the original task of the muxe is to help the mothers).
• Thomas Schlittler: In Juchitan there should be people who are neither men nor women. We found it. In: Watson.ch . February 2017.
• Veronika Bennholdt-Thomsen : Muxe: the third gender. In: Humboldt. No. 149/97, Goethe-Institut , 2008 (Juchitán, city with more than two sexes).

English:

• Jasmine Aguilera: Vogue Mexico's December Issue Cover Features an Indigenous Trans Woman for the First Time. In: MSN.com . November 23, 2019 ("will feature an openly transgender 'Muxe' on its cover").
• Rafa Fernandez de Castro: Meet the Muxes: How a remote town in southern Mexico reinvented sex & gender. In: Fusion.net. April 28, 2016 (with photo gallery).
• Marc Lacey: A Lifestyle Distinct: The Muxe of Mexico. In: The New York Times . December 6, 2008 ("Mexico can be intolerant of homosexuality; it can also be quite liberal").

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Veronika Bennholdt-Thomsen : Muxe: the third gender. In: Humboldt. No. 149/97, Goethe-Institut , 2008, accessed on March 8, 2020.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Stefanie Graul (ethnologist) in conversation: Transsexuality in Mexico: Muxe - a third social gender. In: Deutschlandfunk Nova . November 21, 2019 (with audio: 6:12 minutes).
3. ↑ ^{a b} Barbara Bachmann: “Authentic intrepid danger seekers”: In Juchitán, Mexico, “muxes” are recognized as the third gender. In: Latin America News . No. 443, May 2011 ( online at latein Amerika-nachrichten.de).