Miami Dade College Faith and Religion Responses

1. Religion is a question of faith, or conviction-based belief rather than scientific proof. Rituals, which are formal, ceremonial activities that express religious ideas, and totems, which are things that are collectively sacred, are commonly used to depict faith.

The people of Azande expain unfortunate events by saying its caused by witchcraft. A 30 year old woman passed away from a disease but they thought it was something else. They thought she was bewitched. They used a practice called oracles to find out the reason of the unfortunate event.

They believe in Mboli an ominipotent god. They also practice in witchcraft, magic, and oracles to solve their problems.

I think the Azande beliefs are less rational comapred to other religions. I think other religious beliefs are rational. Judaism is a religious life based on Scriptures and rabbinic traditions, as well as belief in an one transcendent God who revealed himself to Abraham, Moses, and the Hebrew prophets. In Christianity, they believe in one god. In Islam, they also believe in one god. In Islam they are five pillars which they have to follow. Buddhists believe that life is full of suffering and that enlightenment may be attained via meditation, spiritual and physical effort, and good behavior.

2. Religions are a type of worldview. The Azande people featured in the film use witchcraft to explain unfortunate events. They believe if the roof of a granary falls on someone while they are under it, it is a form of witchcraft. Azande people also believe death is contributed by witchcraft as well. A 30-year-old woman who was sick passed away and the Azande people believe she was bewitched. Azande people consulted an oracle to receive answers to their suspicions. They see a witch doctor to combat witchcraft. 

I think that the Azande people’s beliefs may be a bit less rational than other religions. It appears they put all misfortunes into the hands of witchcraft, although there may be a more rational reason behind those misfortunes. They rely on an oracle and a witch doctor that practices spells, substances, and procedures. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all believe in a god. Buddhism does not believe any god. 

3. Anthropologists understand sex as the physical characteristics that traditionally distinguish males from females (for example, body shape, distribution of body hair, reproductive organs, sex chromosomes), while gender is understood as the culturally constructed roles assigned to males or females, which vary considerably from society to society.

The Muxe live in harmony in their communities and are legitimized, respected, and accepted as a third gender. Three of the possibilities that they enjoy are:

• They have festivities and parties where the entire community participates.
• They are loved by their relatives and accepted without discrimination.
• They have the institutional support of the Church.

However, some of the problems they face are: 

• The primary source of work is prostitution. 
• They experience loneliness since they are not allowed to have partners. 
• They suffer from health problems due to body modification due to the use of oil.

Currently, there are three genders in our society: male, female, and non-binary. However, it is worth noting that not all states recognize the third gender. Little by little, different states are legislating to acknowledge these new genres more openly. But, right now, it’s more of a political decision.

4. 1. Gender is a social and cultural categorizarion defined by the meanings given to biological differences between the sexes. Gender roles are the social skills, abilities, and ways of acting thought appropiate to members of a society depending upon their sex. 

In evaluating the presented sexual characteristics of a set of human remains, forensic anthropologists use the term sex to refer to the skeleton’s physical sex characteristics, which may or may not reflect the gender of the person. 

2. The muxe community live in the quiet outskirts of metropolitan Mexico among Zapotec people in souther Oaxaca. Muxes are respected contributors to their town, often working as artists and merchants amid the rest of Juchitan’s working class of craft makers, artisans, beatucians and manufacturers. Muxes are not only respected, they are celebrated throught Juchitan for their defiance of gender roles. A celebration to honor muxes and their gender ambiguity manifests in Oaxaca’s three-day festival called Vela de las Intrepidas (Vigil of the Intrepids).

The muxes face some limitations in the jobs they can access. Socially, it is not accepted for them to seek political offices or positions of popular representation. Many schools do not allow them to dress as women, so they drop out. When there are scare economic opportunities in traditional jobs, some opt for informal jobs. The muxe dressed as a women has two options: the first is to stay in her community and opt for these culturally assigned trades, or be a social fighter, to open spaces that improve lives of the muxes; the other, which may be a false door, is to go to another city and live under the illusion that she is going to be accepted as part of another sexual identity. 

The challenge for the muxes is to find a balance between the appreciation and respect they recieve from their community, and in turn, find ways to overcome the traditional challenges that limit their access to academic opportunities and social participation. 

3. Our society has two genders. Men and a women. 

If men is dressed as a women is still a men… same apply to a women dressed as a men. Is still a women. Hiding true gender behind clothes, make up and wigs, doesnt change a person gender.