Author name: communityoflights

The human body is an amazing thing. It is capable of creating life, surviving horrible diseases and accidents, and tasting all kinds of good (and equally bad) food). But human bodies are also susceptible to great tragedies, from freak accidents to medical mysteries. Understanding your body and how it works is vital to not only surviving, but also to live longer. So often when something goes wrong with our bodies, it can be traced back to our diets.

While Mexico holds conservative views when it comes to gender roles, flexibility in this area was common in the country prior to being introduced to Catholicism. And even now, attitudes towards sexuality and gender are open in the state of Oaxaca. Instead of being ridiculed or judged, the homosexual crossdressers in the town of Oaxacaqueno de Juchitan in southern Mexico are revered members of their community.

One way of shielding children from gender stereotypes: Keep their biological sex secret. Three-year-old twins Zyler and Kadyn Sharpe scurried around the boys and girls clothing racks of a narrow consignment store filled with toys. Zyler, wearing rainbow leggings, scrutinized a pair of hot-pink-and-purple sneakers. Kadyn, in a T-Rex shirt, fixated on a musical cube that flashed colorful lights. At a glance, the only discernible difference between these fraternal twins is their hair — Zyler’s is brown and Kadyn’s is blond.