CLOTHING, IDENTITY AND GENDER ROLES AMONG THE MAZAHUA: INDIGENOUS WOMEN WEARING RESISTANCE, MEN WEAVING IT

Abstract

This study involved analyzing and describing the traditional clothing of the Mazahua people from San Felipe del Progreso and San José del Rincón, Mexico. It also explored its connection to identity and gender roles. This investigation considered ancestral customs and practices while examining the reasons for the decline in the use of traditional attire. A qualitative approach was used, guided by grounded theory and Lévi-Strauss' structuralism, combining bibliographic review with fieldwork. Ethnomethodology, observation, and data collection were employed, along with in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with seven women and five men; all local leaders from different age groups. The sample was non-probabilistic. The findings revealed that clothing comprises various elements tied to worldview, the environment, nature, the Mazahua way of life, and gender roles. It is therefore part of their biocultural heritage, giving a distinct identity to those who wear it. In the production process, men are responsible for weaving on the loom, while women are the primary wearers of this traditional attire. By so doing, they defy Western fashion trends, thus reinforcing both individual and group identity, and embodying a visible form of resistance despite facing discrimination and acculturation.