Interesting Article

[JoAnnDallas]

Interesting article and slide presentation in today’s NY Times.



http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/1 ... ?th&emc=th

[CharLee]

I often wonder why some so called backwards or 3rd world countries are more accepting of this life style than we or other industrial nations are.
They seem to accept this life style as a "gift" from God that no one has the right to judge. They embrace their children and support them, not make outcast of them.
Our more advanced societites could ( and should ) take a lesson from these countries on how to treat people who don't fit into the norm of their way of living.

[Virginia]

That is so neat!!!!!

Aztec's and Inca's are from whom a lot of the Mexicans decended and it speaks well of their heritage.

Of course they have names for us here in the US, but they are not worth repeating.

We are who we are not only here but around the world, it is just that here in the modern, up to date, unbiased USA well, we just have not arrived YET!!!

Go Forth Woman --- AND BE!!!!!

Love,

Virginia

[SilverLady(SO)]

Hi, all -

Apparently, JoAnn inadvertently posted the same thread twice , and Carolynn had originally posted the following in JoAnn's duplicate thread. Before I deleted the duplicate thread, I copied Carolynn's post in its entirety.

Living as a Third Sex in Oaxaca: The Muxes

a bit of further information:

Dating from pre-Colombian times, native people in parts of Mexico recognized a third sex, men who believed they were women, and accorded them an accepted place in society. Despite the efforts and attitudes of their Catholic conquerors, pockets of this acceptance still survive.

An article in the Sunday New York Times "Week In Review" section, dated tomorrow:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/weeki ... lacey.html

Do be sure to click on the link embedded in the small-font caption on the picture, "more photos", which will bring you to a slide show of 15 images with captions.

By MARC LACEY
Published: December 6, 2008
Mexico City — Mexico can be intolerant of homosexuality; it can also be quite liberal. Gay-bashing incidents are not uncommon in the countryside, where many Mexicans consider homosexuality a sin. In Mexico City, meanwhile, same-sex domestic partnerships are legally recognized — and often celebrated lavishly in government offices as if they were marriages.

In Mexico, Beyond Gay and Straight But nowhere are attitudes toward sex and gender quite as elastic as in the far reaches of the southern state of Oaxaca. There, in the indigenous communities around the town of Juchitán, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight. The local Zapotec people have made room for a third category, which they call “muxes” (pronounced MOO-shays) — men who consider themselves women and live in a socially sanctioned netherworld between the two genders.

“Muxe” is a Zapotec word derived from the Spanish “mujer,” or woman; it is reserved for males who, from boyhood, have felt themselves drawn to living as a woman, anticipating roles set out for them by the community.

Anthropologists trace the acceptance of people of mixed gender to pre-Colombian Mexico, pointing to accounts of cross-dressing Aztec priests and Mayan gods who were male and female at the same time. Spanish colonizers wiped out most of those attitudes in the 1500s by forcing conversion to Catholicism. But mixed-gender identities managed to survive in the area around Juchitán, a place so traditional that many people speak ancient Zapotec instead of Spanish.

Not all muxes express their identities the same way. Some dress as women and take hormones to change their bodies. Others favor male clothes. What they share is that the community accepts them; many in it believe that muxes have special intellectual and artistic gifts.

Every November, muxes inundate the town for a grand ball that attracts local men, women and children as well as outsiders. A queen is selected; the mayor crowns her. “I don’t care what people say,” said Sebastian Sarmienta, the boyfriend of a muxe, Ninel Castillejo García. “There are some people who get uncomfortable. I don’t see a problem. What is so bad about it?”

Muxes are found in all walks of life in Juchitán, but most take on traditional female roles — selling in the market, embroidering traditional garments, cooking at home. Some also become sex workers, selling their services to men. .

Acceptance of a child who feels he is a muxe is not unanimous; some parents force such children to fend for themselves. But the far more common sentiment appears to be that of a woman who takes care of her grandson, Carmelo, 13.

“It is how God sent him,” she said.

Katie Orlinsky contributed reporting from Juchitán, Mexico.

- Have a great day!

- SL

[JoAnnDallas]

Many of us are on the same forums, so not surpised that multi-people may post the same report.

[DonnaT]

http://crossdressers-haven.com/forums/v ... php?t=8977