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  • Two women look for their rival among those attending the ritual fight.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_08.jpg
  • People congregate every year in the middle of a field of sowing to carry out a ritual where men and women fight to ask for rain and for the corn plant to germinate.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_01.jpg
  • A girl challenges her opponent by taking her by the blouse and closing her fist ready to attack, the other girl closes her eyes but does not give up, she manages to let go and fights with courage.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_04.jpg
  • She on guard, with pain and blood in her mouth, looks directly at her opponent with no plans to give up.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_02.jpg
  • The women throw the blows with force to the face, the one who receives them frequently closes her eyes in pain and even drenched in blood do not give up, they continue to fight.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_05.jpg
  • Tres mujeres buscan oro en los fragmentos de roca extraídos de la mina en Rinconada.<br />
Las mujeres no pueden ingresar a la mina, los mineros creen que si una mujer ingresa a la mina, el oro desaparece.<br />
<br />
Three women look for gold in the fragments of rock that have been extracted from the mine in Rinconada.<br />
Women are not allowed to enter into the mine, the miners have the belief that if a woman enters into the mine the gold disappears.
    48_RC_20120131.jpg
  • Around the fights, other girls take photos and video with their cell phones.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_06.jpg
  • Las mujeres trabajan fuera de la mina. Con un mazo rompen piedras y con suerte encuentran oro en los fragmentos de roca que extrajeron los mineros de los socavones de la mina.<br />
<br />
Women work outside the mine. With a maso they break stones, and hopefully, they will find gold in the fragments of rock that were extracted from the tunnels of the mine.
    51_RC_20120129.jpg
  • A women group works outside of a gold mine looking for gold into rock fragments that were extracted from the mine tunnels.
    49_RC_20120203.jpg
  • A young man teaches dance choreographies for a women group for a fifteenth birthday party in Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, June 28, 2012.
    Ciudad_Neza_26.jpg
  • Patricia Kaly Tito, alias "Alicia Flores", after a fight in a wrestling match. She belongs to a wrestlers group titled "Titans of the Ring" and always wears as Cholita with the traditional costumes of Aymaras women of Bolivia, in El Alto, Bolivia, February 19, 2012.<br />
SPANISH: Retrato de Patricia Kaly Tito, alias Alicia Flores despues de su presentación de lucha libre. Las Cholitas usan la vestimenta tradicional de los Aymara cuando entran al ring a luchar, en El Alto, Bolivia, el 19 de Febrero de 2012.
    Cholitas_Female_Wrestlers_Bolivia_09.jpg
  • Maria Eugenia Herrera Mamani, alias “Claudina the Cursed”, talks with Sarita, alias “The Romantic”, before start the wrestling’s show in a Community Center El Alto. The Cholitas wear the traditional costumes of Aymara people during wrestling shows, Bolivia, February 26, 2012. <br />
SPANISH: Maria Eugenia Herrera Mamani alias Claudina La Maldita  talks to Sarita alias La Romantica before starting the wrestling’s show in a Community Center El Alto. The Cholitas when go into the ring to wrestle wear the traditional costumes of Aymara people, El Alto, Bolivia, February 26, 2012.
    Cholitas_Female_Wrestlers_Bolivia_14.jpg
  • "Cholitas Luchadoras" Fotodiario Rodrigo Cruz, National Geographic en Español, Mexico, Octubre 2013. Photographs by Rodrigo Cruz.
    NGM_Fotodiario_Rodrigo_Cruz_04.jpg
  • "Cholitas Luchadoras" Fotodiario Rodrigo Cruz, National Geographic en Español, Mexico, Octubre 2013. Photographs by Rodrigo Cruz.
    NGM_Fotodiario_Rodrigo_Cruz_03.jpg
  • "Cholitas Luchadoras" Fotodiario Rodrigo Cruz, National Geographic en Español, Mexico, Octubre 2013. Photographs by Rodrigo Cruz.
    NGM_Fotodiario_Rodrigo_Cruz_02.jpg
  • Jennifer, alias “Two Faces”, helps decorating a friend office for the “Chaya”, an Andean ritual based on watering alcohol and other symbolic elements to the land or any other property, that takes place in the Carnival in La Paz City, February 17, 2012.<br />
SPANISH: Jennifer alias Dos Caras ayuda en la decoración del consultorio de una amiga para la Chaya (ritual andino que se basa en el acto de regar la tierra u otro bien con alcohol y elementos simbólicos) durante el carnaval de la ciudad de La Paz, Bolivia, el 17 de Febrero de 2012.
    Cholitas_Female_Wrestlers_Bolivia_03.jpg
  • "Cholitas Luchadoras" Fotodiario Rodrigo Cruz, National Geographic en Español, Mexico, Octubre 2013. Photographs by Rodrigo Cruz.
    NGM_Fotodiario_Rodrigo_Cruz_01.jpg
  • A Honduran immigrant couple embraces next to the railroad while waits for the train, in Mexico City, May 20, 2008.
    Migration_Mexico_RC_11.jpg
  • Jennifer, alias “Two Faces”, flies over Yenny Wilma Maraz, alias “Marta La Alteña”, during a wrestling match. The Cholitas wear the traditional costumes of Aymara people during wrestling shows, in El Alto, Bolivia, February 19, 2012.<br />
SPANISH: Jennifer alias Dos Caras realiza un vuelo sobre Yenny Wilma Maraz, alias Marta La Alteña durante un espectaculo de lucha libre. Las Cholitas usan la vestimenta tradicional de los Aymara cuando entran al ring a luchar, en La Paz, Bolivia, el 19 de Febrero de 2012.
    Cholitas_Female_Wrestlers_Bolivia_23.jpg
  • Caption: Maria Eugenia Herrera Mamani alias Claudina La Maldita throws foam on the face of her opponent during a wrestling match in El Alto, Bolivia, February 26, 2012.
    Cholitas_Female_Wrestlers_Bolivia_17.jpg
  • Caption: Patricia Kaly Tito, alias Alicia Flores, hits to her opponent with a piece of wood during wrestling match offered every Sunday. The Cholitas wear the traditional costumes of Aymara people during wrestling shows in El Alto, Bolivia, February 19, 2012.<br />
SPANISH: Patricia Kaly Tito, alias Alicia Flores golpea con un pedazo de madera a su adversario durante el espectaculo de lucha libre que ofrecen cada domingo. Las Cholitas usan el vestido tradicional de los Aymara para luchar en el cuadrilatero, en El Alto, Bolivia, el 19 de Febrero de 2012.
    Cholitas_Female_Wrestlers_Bolivia_07.jpg
  • TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS - NOVEMBER 13, 2013: Supporters of Libre Party presidential candidate, Xiomara Castro, hold up flags and wait to go towards their candidate's rally in Siguatepeque, Honduras. Castro, wife of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, is running for Honduran presidential elections on November 24. CREDIT: Rodrigo Cruz for The New York Times
    Honduras_34.jpg
  • Culiacan, Mexico: A girl bathes in an irrigation ditch in a farm field, the water contains chemicals that cause disease in workers. Spanish: Una niña toma un baño dentro de un canal de riego, el agua de los canales contienen químicos, la cual provoca enfermedades a las y los trabajadores de los campos agrícolas de Culiacán, México.
    agricultural_workers_07.jpg
  • Sarita, alias "The Romantic", dances to the rhythm of music and moves her pollera –a baggy skirt- to enter into the wrestling ring. The Cholitas wear the traditional costumes of Aymara people during wrestling shows in El Alto, Bolivia, February 26, 2012.<br />
SPANISH: Sarita alias La Romantica baila al ritmo de la música moviendo su pollera en el momento de la entrada al cuadrilátero de lucha libre. Las Cholitas usan el vestido tradicional de los Aymara para luchar en el cuadrilátero, en El Alto, Bolivia, el 26 de Febrero de 2012.
    Cholitas_Female_Wrestlers_Bolivia_16.jpg
  • Maria Eugenia Herrera Mamani, alias “Claudina The Cursed”, dances during the carnival in El Alto, Bolivia, February 18, 2012.<br />
<br />
En la ciudad de El Alto - ciudad vecina con La Paz, Bolivia- situada a una altura de 4,000 msnm, turistas y gente local hacen fila para comprar boletos para presenciar el espectáculo de las cholitas luchadoras.  Cada domingo un grupo de mujeres, las “cholitas”, se prepara para dar un espectáculo de lucha libre. Ellas portan la ropa tradicional de las mujeres Aymaras, que se ha mantenido desde la época colonial. Su atuendo consiste en faldas amplias, bombines -sombrero típico-, zapatos de plástico, trenzas hasta la cintura, joyas de gran tamaño, maquillaje y chales bordados.<br />
Yenny Wilma Maraz, conocida como “Marta La Alteña”, saluda al público con los brazos extendidos bailando al ritmo de la música, entrega su chal y su sombrero para subir al ring. Sube orgullosa aún siendo abucheada por el público. Ella es ruda y tendrá que pelear contra los buenos.<br />
La lucha libre es un espectáculo teatral, pero también requiere de un enorme esfuerzo físico y de entrenamiento constante para poder realizar vuelos desde las cuerdas del ring y soportar las caídas, que muchas veces son dolorosas.<br />
Los eventos de lucha libre son un negocio cada vez mayor. Cientos de turistas y bolivianos, asisten cada semana para ver a las cholitas vencer a sus adversarios. Las cholitas como otros luchadores pertenecen a grupos manejados por diferentes mánager, quienes en muchas ocasiones sacan ventaja, llevándose gran parte de las ganancias y dejando a ellas con casi nada. Esto ha creado divisiones, y por lo tanto, se han conformado nuevos grupos tales como Las Diosas del Ring, quienes ofrecen su espectáculo en diferentes puntos de la ciudad. La lucha libre boliviana ha ganado popularidad y ha traspasado fronteras gracias a las Cholitas luchadoras.
    Cholitas_Female_Wrestlers_Bolivia_01.jpg
  • Una mujer alimenta a su bebe en el exterior de la habitacion donde vivira junto con su familia mientras trabajen en los campos agricolas de Culiacan, Mexico.
    agricultural_workers_08.jpg
  • A woman attends for medical care to the health center of Rinconada.
    67_RC_20120201.jpg
  • A tired woman holds her child during the long travel, from her community to the agricultural farms fields in Sinaloa, Culiacan.<br />
SPANISH: Una mujer cansada carga a su hijo durante el largo recorrido, de su comunidad a los campos agricolas de Sinaloa, Culiacán.
    agricultural_workers_03.jpg
  • Scene of La Misma Luna, a Mexican movie that talks about migration. Migrants gather in this room to watch movies or TV shows in the Casa del Migrante in Arriaga, Mexico, April 20, 2013.
    Migration_Mexico_RC_25.jpg
  • The Suchiate River in the border of Mexico and Guatemala is the black market point between both countries, and also allows the crossing of thousands of Central American migrants who have the goal of reaching to United States, in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, January 24, 2008.
    Migration_Mexico_RC_03.jpg
  • Maria Eugenia Mamani Herrera, alias “Claudina La Maldita”, tries to hold on the second rope of ring while falls down due a head blow during a wrestling match. Her adversary, frequently a man, is alert to resume the attack before she gets recovered, in El Alto, Bolivia February 26, 2012.<br />
SPANISH: María Eugenia Mamani Herrera, alias Claudina La Maldita trata de agarrarse de la segunda cuerda mientras cae al piso quejándose de dolor por un golpe a la cabeza que recibió de su adversario durante un encuentro de lucha libre. Su adversario, que en su mayoría son hombres, se mantiene alerta para reanudar su ataque antes de que ella se recupere.
    Cholitas_Female_Wrestlers_Bolivia_18.jpg
  • Caption: Every Sunday the audience applauds and supports its favorite wrestlers in the wrestling show in a Community Center in El Alto, El Alto, Bolivia, February 26, 2012.<br />
SPANISH: El publico aplaude y apoya a sus luchadores favoritos en el espectaculo de lucha libre que se lleva a cabo cada domingo en el Multifuncional El Alto, en El Alto, Bolivia, el 26 de Febrero de 2012.
    Cholitas_Female_Wrestlers_Bolivia_08.jpg
  • TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS - NOVEMBER 14, 2013:<br />
A woman and her child go down by the stairs in Ulloa neighborhood, one of most violent of Tegucigalpa. The current government has created the Military Police to struggle against the criminality that batters Honduras. CREDIT: Rodrigo Cruz for The New York Times
    Honduras_40.jpg
  • Supporters of Juan Orlando Hernandez, candidate for the ruling National Party, at a rally in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Nov. 12, 2013. The possibility of a left-wing party's return to power and the military's growing influence over politics in this crime-plagued country have cast a shroud of uncertainty over the election scheduled for Nov. 24. (Rodrigo Cruz-Perez/The New York Times)
    Honduras_30.jpg
  • Students gather with friends at the streets in the evening in Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, March 29, 2011.
    Ciudad_Neza_03.jpg
  • Dos niños toman un baño dentro de un canal de riego, el agua de los canales contienen químicos, la cual provoca enfermedades a las y los trabajadores de los campos agrícolas de Culiacán, México.
    agricultural_workers_06.jpg
  • Una mujer espera el amanecer frente a su casa. Las mujeres inician muy temprano su día preparando los alimentos de su familia para después ir a trabajar una jornada de 10 horas al día en los campos agrícolas de Culiacán, México.
    agricultural_workers_22.jpg
  • María Eugenia Mamani Herrera alias Claudina La Maldita inside her home showing her belt of National Champion of Bolivian Association Catchascan 2012, in La Paz, Bolivia, February 26, 2012.
    Cholitas_Female_Wrestlers_Bolivia_10.jpg
  • People watch inside of a room that was used to hide migrants kidnapped by a group of criminals and the police, in Lara Grajales, Mexico, October 13, 2008.
    Migration_Mexico_RC_19.jpg
  • A woman sets fire to keep warm while waits the next train arrival in México City, May 20, 2008.
    Migration_Mexico_RC_08.jpg
  • Maria Eugenia Herrera Mamani, alias “Claudina the Cursed”, celebrates her victory by defeating her opponent and even to the referee during a wrestling match every Sunday, in El Alto, Bolivia, February 19, 2012.
    Cholitas_Female_Wrestlers_Bolivia_22.jpg
  • TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS - NOVEMBER 13, 2013: At the top of a bus a woman watches the arriving of supporters of Libre Party presidential candidate, Xiomara Castro, in Siguatepeque, Honduras. Castro, wife of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, is running for Honduran presidential elections on November 24. CREDIT: Rodrigo Cruz for The New York Times
    Honduras_33.jpg
  • A tired woman holds her child during the long travel, from her community to the agricultural farms fields in Sinaloa, Culiacan.<br />
SPANISH: Una mujer cansada carga a su hijo durante el largo recorrido, de su comunidad a los campos agricolas de Sinaloa, Culiacán.
    agricultural_workers_03.jpg
  • Liseth Elvira Lopez Hernandez, 22, after two months of recovery, rests into a room of the Albergue Buen Pastor. Her husband was killed in a car accident years ago in Guatemala, after that, Elvira attempted to reach the U.S. but fell down from the train on movement and lost her right leg, in Tapachula, Mexico, April 20, 2013.
    Migration_Mexico_RC_04.jpg
  • Dos mujeres visitan la tumba de un familiar y ofrecen una corona de flores, al fondo se pueden ver las montañas a las que mas tarde subirán en procesión para realizar un ritual que tiene que ver con el aseguramiento mágico de las lluvias y la fertilidad de las tierras.
    Ritual_Agricola_Pelea_Tigres_Mexico_...jpg
  • Caption: Yenny Wilma Maraz, alias Martha La Altena, knocked down on the floor, complains of pain due to several blows received during a wrestling match. The Cholitas wear the traditional costumes of Aymara people during wrestling shows in El Alto, Bolivia, February 26, 2012.<br />
SPANISH: Yenny Wilma Maraz, alias Marta La Alteña derribada al piso se queja del dolor por una serie de golpes que recibio de su adversario durante su enfrentamiento de lucha libre. Las Cholitas usan el vestido tradicional de los Aymara para luchar en el cuadrilatero, en El Alto, Bolivia, el 26 de Febrero de 2012.
    Cholitas_Female_Wrestlers_Bolivia_24.jpg
  • Una niña carga una cubeta llena de pepinos en el interior de un invernadero en Culiacan, Mexico. Niños y niñas que viven en pobreza se ven obligados a trabajar largas jornadas con el fin de contribuir en la economía familiar.
    agricultural_workers_15.jpg
  • Two women fight in the center of a circle made up of the same women who attend the ritual fight. Nobody intervenes in the fights, the only way to finish is to surrender.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_09.jpg
  • In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_19.jpg
  • In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_20.jpg
  • In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_08.jpg
  • Sometimes women ask for time out to rest and clean the blood from their nose. His blood is an offering to his deities, which will be accepted and rewarded with a good harvest.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_07.jpg
  • Muxes during the celebration of the vela Muxe. The velas are celebrations that take place in the region of the Itsmo of Tehuantepec, in the state of Oaxaca, where they eat, drink and dance.<br />
<br />
<br />
In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_01.jpg
  • In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_22.jpg
  • In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_17.jpg
  • Angelo Martinez Linares, 24, and her mother Ofelia Linares Sanchéz, 49, in Juchitán, Mexico.<br />
<br />
In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_15.jpg
  • Angelo Martinez Linares, 24, in Juchitán, Mexico.<br />
<br />
In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_14.jpg
  • Angelo Martinez Linares, 24, during the annual party known as the Muxe Candle in Juchitán, Mexico.<br />
<br />
In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_13.jpg
  • In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_12.jpg
  • In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_04.jpg
  • In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_25.jpg
  • Angelo Martinez Linares, 24, during a mass in Juchitán, Mexico.<br />
<br />
In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_23.jpg
  • In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_11.jpg
  • Angelo Martinez Linares, 24, during the annual party known as the Muxe Candle in Juchitán, Mexico.<br />
<br />
In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_10.jpg
  • Angelo Martinez Linares, 24, during the annual party known as the Muxe Candle in Juchitán, Mexico.<br />
<br />
In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_09.jpg
  • Most women have fought at some time in their life and this starts as children.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_11.jpg
  • In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_18.jpg
  • In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_06.jpg
  • In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_03.jpg
  • In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_24.jpg
  • In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_21.jpg
  • Angelo Martinez Linares, 24, and her mother Ofelia Linares Sanchéz, 49, in Juchitán, Mexico.<br />
<br />
In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_16.jpg
  • In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_07.jpg
  • In Juchitán in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight, the locals make room for a third category, whom they call “muxes”.<br />
<br />
Muxes are 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.<br />
<br />
They are considered hard workers that will forever stay by their mothers side, taking care for their families operating as mothers without children of their own.<br />
<br />
Not all muxes express they 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.
    Muxes_Rodrigo_Cruz_02.jpg
  • At early hours of day, a laborer goes up to a truck that will transport to farm workers to the fields, to begin their workday in Culiacan, Sinaloa.
    20081126_123.jpg
  • After a long workday in the agricultural farm fields, a family rests in its current house, a small room of 4 x 4 meters.<br />
SPANISH: Después de una larga jornada en los campos agrícolas de Sinaloa, una familia jornalera descansa por la noche en lo que ahora es su casa, un pequeño cuarto de 4 m2.
    20081124_041.jpg
  • A bloodstained paper on the battlefield, while more fights take place more rain should fall over the corn plants.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_15.jpg
  • Women sell fruits and tubers in Boca Colorado, Peru. Boca Colorado is a town formed entirely by mining activity in the Peruvian Amazon.
    Mining-Peruvian-Amazon-56.jpg
  • The fight is over, he now wipes the blood from his face, he has already spilled blood on the sowing field.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_16.jpg
  • It is time for the exchange of blows, the rules are simple, just blows with a closed fist to the face until one of the two opponents decides not to continue, at the end, they cordially shake hands and take a break, possibly someone else ask to fight one of them and if not, they will wait until next year.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_13.jpg
  • Caption: Patricia Kaly Tito, alias Alicia Flores, belongs to a wrestlers group titled Titans of the Ring. She gets dressed as Cholita, as traditionally called to the wrestlers that wear traditional costumes of Aymaras women of Bolivia, in El Alto, Bolivia, February 25, 2012.<br />
SPANISH: Patricia Kaly Tito, alias Alicia Flores pertenece al grupo de luchadores Titanes del Ring, ella viste de Cholita, con la ropa tradicional de las mujeres Aymaras de Bolivia, en El Alto, Bolivia, el 25 de Febrero de 2012.
    Cholitas_Female_Wrestlers_Bolivia_05.jpg
  • A child with tears in his eyes, perhaps from feeling defeated in his fight.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_17.jpg
  • A woman takes a handful of dirt from the ground to wipe the sweat from her hands to clench her fists more firmly and start the fight.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_03.jpg
  • La Esperanza, an indigenous people that lives from agriculture and commerce, is located in the state of Guerrero, in southern Mexico.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_18.jpg
  • A Nahua indigenous raises his fist in victory at the end of their fight during the ritual asking for rain.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_14.jpg
  • Before fighting it is important to bandage the hands to avoid injuring the wrist or knuckles.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_12.jpg
  • An indigenous Nahua woman prays in a sacred place, here the townspeople gather to celebrate and share food before the ritual fights take place.<br />
<br />
In the indigenous Nahua community of La Esperanza in Mexico, people maintain the tradition of fighting to ask for rain and obtaining a good harvest season. The people of La Esperanza and nearby communities gather in the afternoon in the middle of a field of sowing set up as a battlefield. Men and women fight with their fists and the blows are aimed at the face. His blood represents the fertility of the earth and when it falls into the furrows it becomes the sacred liquid that will germinate the corn plant.
    Ask-for-Rain-Ritual_Rodrigo-Cruz_10.jpg
  • Three women pose for a photo during a party in the main square of Boca Colorado, Peru. Boca Colorado is a town formed entirely by mining activity in the Peruvian Amazon.
    Mining-Peruvian-Amazon-48.jpg
  • Two women prepare te meal inside they house in Mahuayani, Mahuayani is the last town before the 8-kilometer walk to the Lord of Qoyllur Rit'i sanctuary in Cusco, Peru.
    Qoyllur_Riti_RC_06.jpg
  • Women clean potatoes to prepare food for a group of pilgrims, in the backgroud, hundreds of tents that pilgrims place to stay for 3 or 4 days in the valley of the sanctuary of the Lord of Qoyllur Rit'i , a festival that takes place every year in Cusco, Peru.
    Nieve_Brillante_Rodrigo_Cruz_07.jpg
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