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We have noticed that the majority of the sources we have read in our exploration of indigenous rights have been authored by men. Although women played an important role in multiple aspects of various revolutions, they were often still limited by sexist structures that subordinated them to men. In more modern times, however, Latin American women have been able to be more actively involved in struggles for indigenous rights. It is important to notice their contributions to these movements and helping their messages be heard, which is often very difficult for members of minority groups in general, much less members of minority groups within a minority group.
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Jeannette Paillan, Chile:
Utilizing film media, Paillan shares the culture and traditions of the Mapuche tribe, minimizing stereotypes by allowing for self-representation.
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Tarcila Rivera Zea, Peru:
Zea is a Quechua activist who has fought for awareness of indigenous lifestyles and social injustice for over 30 years. She holds positions on a variety of committees, founded a center for indigenous cultures of Peru, and won the Visionary Award in 2011.
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Marylen Serna Salinas, Colombia:
For over 30 years, Salinas has been fighting for indigenous rights, leading several movements and participating in multiple summits. She also focuses on the importance of women’s rights, campaigning against gender-based violence. Unfortunately, on April 7th, 2017, the activist was “abducted, interrogated, beaten, tortured and sexually assaulted by three unidentified men in Popayán, Colombia” [1], which demonstrates the dangers faced by revolutionaries and women in the context of Latin America.
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Additonally, gender manifests itself in interesting ways in certain indigenous communities. Specifically, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, the Istmo de Tehuantepec region is home to three genders: men, women, and muxes. This term comes from the Zapotec language, in which there are no grammatical genders. There are many definitions of muxe, including people who are assigned male at birth but do not present themselves in a traditionally masculine way. Muxes and people who have relations with them can be of any sexual orientation, because this gender mostly manifests itself in social and cultural ways.
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Exploring the existence of gender in different cultures is important, as it requires us to examine concepts with which we are unfamiliar. In the context of muxes, gender is not as restricted to a binary as it is in the United States. However, some overlap does exist between gender in the culture of the U.S. and gender in this indigenous Latin American communities. For example, gender has a sociocultural role in that members of each gender have specific duties and responsibilities in society. Therefore, although people in the Istmo de Tehuantepec region are not limited to a certain gender, their gender limits their powers in their community.
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Further, the presence of muxes is relatively well documented, which allows their existence to be shared with others, thus increasing their visibility and the respect and understanding they received from greater society. A significant amount of this documentation is in the form of photographs, which represents the variety of ways muxe identity manifests itself. The majority of these pictures show these muxes presenting themselves in traditionally feminine ways, wearing dresses and makeup. Many of these outfits are inspired by Frida Kahlo’s traditional look, indicating the necessity of muxes to remain connected to their cultures and traditions.
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Additionally, muxes value self-identification to label their gender identity, as opposed to being limited to outsider labels. This importance of self-identification also applies to indigenous identity as a whole [5], which connects muxes to their larger indigeneity. Further, this overarching theme indicates similarities between different aspects of identity and the necessity of self-perception. Overall, commitment to increased knowledge and subsequent understanding and is the most important in exploring any aspects of identity.
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[1] “Take Action for Marylen Serna Salinas,” Front Line Defenders, April 13, 2017, , accessed June 9, 2019, https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/action/take-action-marylen-serna-salinas.
[2] Monica Sabella, “Meet Latin America’s Most Prominent Indigenous Female Icons,” News | TeleSUR English, March 05, 2018, , accessed June 8, 2019, https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Meet-Latin-Americas-Most-Prominent-Indigenous-Female-Icons-20180305-0027.html.
[3] Great Big Story, YouTube, June 19, 2018, accessed June 3, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEZEiiNS3Ew.
[4] Ola Synowiec, Muxes in Traditional Clothing.
[5] Andrew Canessa, “Who Is Indigenous? Self-Identification, Indigeneity, And Claims to Justice In Contemporary Bolivia,” Urban Anthropology and Studies of Cultural Systems and World Economic Development 36, no. 3 (Fall 2007): , accessed April 17, 2019, JSTOR.
[6] Leora Yashari, “Muxe: Meet Mexico’s Third Gender Community,” Culture Trip, January 07, 2017, , accessed June 8, 2019, https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/mexico/articles/a-brief-history-of-muxe-mexicos-third-gender/.
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