Emiliano Zapata was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution before he was assassinated in 1919, at 39. Many Mexicans still consider him a hero. The painting "The Revolution" shows a naked shoe, with heels and pink overcoat, on a sexually excited horse Zapata’s “feminization” has inflamed the admirers of the revolutionary leader. Among the protesters were many communal farmers who admire Emiliano Zapata – who was a poor peasant – for his fight against land appropriation by the rich landowners.
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.
It's been a year since the dramatic rescue of the 12 members of the junior football team and their coach from the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand. The rescue put a spotlight on spelunking and the adventures to be had underground. Caves have an almost primal appeal—they hold the secrets to our past and are mysterious in and of themselves. They are home to mini-ecosystems that are otherwise impossible above ground and are the last vestige of exploration.
Life-size sculptures submerged underwater—accessible primarily to divers and snorkelers—are part tourist attraction, part ecological experiment in Jason deCaires Taylor's innovative art installations. "Instead of seeing the world as a hidden, endless resource that we can treat how we want, I tried to change our relationship to it and turn it into a more intimate space," says deCaires Taylor, a British environmentalist and sculptor.
