Male Homosexual Roles Among the Isthmus Zapotec of Southern Mexico

Male Homosexual Roles Amog the Isthmus Zapotec of Southern Mexico

Carlos and Javier are two men living in the city of Juchit∫n, Mexico. They work at a small hotel just off the z-calo, the main town square. Sometimes they converge with other men outside the hotel to watch people as they walk past in the z-calo. As nearly anywhere in Mexico, the men comment and nudge each other when an attractive woman passes, but Carlos and Javier remain silent throughout the exchange. It is not until an attractive young man walks by that they speak up. ãÃUy, que guapo!ä Carlos exclaims: ãAh, how handsome!äÊ Carlos and Javier are muxeâ, the effeminate male homosexuals of Isthmus Zapotec culture.

Male homosexuality and transvestism is present in many if not most Native American societies to at least some degree, notably the DinZh, Lakota, Tohono Oâodham, and so on. In pre-Hispanic Mexico, homosexuals were common and respected in most area cultures. With the advent of the Spaniards, however, homosexuals and transvestites were pushed further and further to the margins of society, branded as deviants and persecuted under the influence of a rampant machismo. Only in a few places did homosexuality survive as a common and respected practice. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca state at the very south of Mexico, home to the Zapotec people, is one of these places. I was privileged to spend July and August of 2000 living among the Zapotec in the city of Juchit∫n. I was intrigued by the position of homosexuals in this culture, and following are some of my efforts to understand them.

Muxeâ is the Zapotec word for effeminate male homosexuals, though the origins of the word remain in debate. Probably the word derives from the Span...

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...to peoples like the Zapotec as we try to determine how to respond. North Americans have much to learn from a society that extends to homosexuals an acknowledged and respected role.

[1]Bennholdt-Thomsen, p. 280

[2]The word mayate is a Mexican Spanish term for a Coleoptera beetles.

[3]Bennholdt-Thomsen, p. 304

[4] CAAN, p. 40

[5]Bennholdt-Thomsen, p. 293-294

References:

Bennholdt-Thomsen, et al.Juchit∫n, la ciudad de las mujeres. Oaxaca, Mexico: Instituto Oaxaqueúo de las Culturas.Ê 1997.

Canadian Aboriginal Aids Network, Canadian Strategy on HIV/AIDS, and Health Canada. Hands Across the World: An Indigenous Peoples Forum. Final Report, July 17, 1999 AIDS Impact Conference. Ottawa: Blue Moon Consulting.Ê 1999.

Chiúas, Beverly L. The Isthmus Zapotecs: Womenâs Roles in Cultural Context. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1973.