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Muxe

'Muxe' (pronounced 'moo-shey') is the designation for a third-gender role among the Zapotecs in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, especially around the city of Juchitán. Muxes are AMAB persons who present themselves in a feminine role — socially, culturally and in clothing. The tradition goes back many generations and is often presented by anthropologists as an example of pre-Columbian gender diversity.

What is meant by it?

A muxe is not an exact parallel to 'transgender woman'. The role is socially assigned and accepted within the matriarchal-leaning Zapotec culture, in which women traditionally carry the market and the economy. Muxes often take on caring or domestic tasks and play a ceremonial role at festivals, especially the annual 'Vela de las Auténticas Intrépidas Buscadoras del Peligro' in Juchitán.

Distinction and overlap

Similar third-gender roles: hijra (South Asia), kathoey (Thailand), fa'afafine (Samoa), two-spirit (indigenous North America). Muxe differs in that the role is fairly strongly integrated into the broader economic role of women in Zapotec society.

Social and practical context

Muxes are generally accepted in Juchitán; outside that area — in urban Mexico or in the north of the country — their position is less secure. Legal recognition of a third gender does not exist in Mexico; muxes remain male in documents.

Critical perspectives

Western media regularly present muxe as 'the Mexican third gender' and as evidence of universal gender diversity. Anthropologists point out that muxe is only intelligible within the specific Zapotec context: the matriarchal economy, the Catholic-syncretic religious life and the local family structure. It is not an abstract 'gender' category but a social role pattern.