Throughout time, individuals have not only characterized themselves as men or women. Rather, there has been an emergence of other genders that have been used to define those who do not see themselves as either one. The town of Juchitan, located in Mexico, is well known for having a new gender known as the Muxes.

Just recently I came across a video in youtube that talked about Mexico's third gender called the Muxes. Similar to gay people, Muxes are men who feel trapped in their body and see themselves as women. Therefore based on socially constructed ideas of gender roles, Muxes adopt the life of a woman by wearing skirts, dresses, applying make-up, wearing heels, doing household chores, and more. However, unlike gay people who are attracted to gay people, Muxes are attracted to men.

To my surprise however, they have become highly integrated in Juchitan. The Juchitan residents annually celebrate the Muxes by hosting a festival called "Las Intrepidas Buscadoras del Peligro" (The Authentic Fearless Danger-Seekers). As Muxes, they are described by many as being different, bold, and daring individuals who do what they please, thus the origin of the festival's name. The festival consists of parading around the town announcing the festival, attending mass, and hosting a party where a new queen of the Muxes is announced.

In my opinion this annually celebrated festival symbolized the complete integration of the Muxes in Juchitan, especially when we take a look at Mexico's long legacy of patriarchy where ideas such as machisimo (beliefs that portray men as the authority figure and women as obeying the men) have been extremely present in the lives of Mexicans; however it does not symbolize full integration.

Machisimo has not only been correlated with the idea of males being the authoritative figures, but also with homophobia. As machistas, they believe a man must act like a man, they must be strong, protective of their family, the breadwinners, can not cry, must not behave as girls or like a man. As a result, Muxes and gays have been the targets of these individuals.

It was surprising to see that living in Mexico, in a patriarchal society, Muxes were accepted, however the patriacrhal aspect of Mexico has not completely vanished.  There is a consensus that Muxes must not have a partner and are therefore doomed to live a life of "soledad" (loneliness) as a Muxe describes. To have a partner is seen as morally wrong and so they become highly appreciated because they are the children who take care of their parents when they are old.

I think this situation can be seen everywhere by societies who still carry patriarchal beleifs. In this case it was even more surprising to hear how individuals who said were accepting of Muxes and even celebrated with them at the festival refused the idea of allowing them to have a partner. This consequently shows patriarchy as the one of the factors that results in the inability for full integration for Muxes and also gay individuals.