Graciela Itubide spent almost a decade working in her celebrated Juchitan de las Mujeres series. Iturbide’s photograph Magnolia I Juchitán, México, spotlights Magnolia, who resides in the town of Juchitan, a Oaxacan community that widely accepts the existence of three genders. Magnolia, a Muxe who does not identify as male or female, was photographed by Iturbide in an array of wardrobes and makeup styles, unraveling the constructed idea of gender.

Iturbide’s Juchitán photographs highlight the culture’s powerful women and muxes, men who identify as women, a third gender that has been acknowledged and celebrated since pre-Hispanic times. In Juchitec society, women hold significant political, economic, and spiritual power. Muxes are similarly revered in Zapotec culture—they are believed to have special intellectual and artistic gifts. Iturbide’s photographs do not objectify or exoticize; instead, they depict respectful, poetic interactions.