ENTRE COMADRES

Entre Comadres is a book about women, muxes, memory, and traditions—let it surprise you, challenge you, and inspire you.

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Juchitán de Zaragoza is a small city located in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the south of the state of Oaxaca, in Mexico. This area is the thinnest part of the Mexican Republic and its dominant cultural group, the Zapoteca, maintains its unique culture and vibrant traditions. My initial interest in this area came from the way in which syncretism between the Zapoteca culture and Catholicism resulted in unique approaches to gender relations and social structures.

“Could you please tell me a story? Any story you want to share…”

While focusing on “being woman,” I walked the streets of Juchitán with insatiable curiosity. Without being selective, I stopped to talk to every woman and muxe—male homosexuals, considered a third gender, and closer to being women— I found, entre comadres, I asked them to tell me whichever story they wanted to share.

“There are a few things you should know about Juchitán,” Aida told me as soon as she heard that it was my first time visiting. “We love to party and we have many traditions,” she said in a theatrical manner while I prepared my recorder. This is one of many things you will learn from, and about, Juchitán through the photographs and stories of this book.