There are 4 stages to IRM, the first stage being about the deconstruction of “Western standards” of research which Wilson talks about, meaning that instead of looking at the research we are conducting with a Western Academic perspective we should take off those glasses and try on others. The second stage talks about avoiding marginalization without the Western influences and the third stage is “decolonizing” the research, which says to not only take the Western methods and change them up for Indigenous research but to remember that these people have their worldview of everything different from the typical lens. The fourth stage is fully immersing yourself within the culture and then presenting that research and data, better to understand the lives and culture of indigenous people you must be able to connect with their ways of life on a much deeper level than pen and paper, but body and soul as well. With these research methods I could connect to my topic in a much better way without feeling like I am filtering anything, despite using my own experiences to write this project these methods have helped me have a better understanding of not just myself and my struggles but also others with their stories as well.

While a lot of this story comes from personal experience, Mexican culture didn't always have gendered roles. Marianismo (The female gender role of Machismo) has similar ideas to the Christian beliefs of the women being the homemaker, cooking for the family, and birthing many children brought to South America during Spanish colonization along with the Virgin Mary (Nuñez, Alicia, 2016). Machismo and Marianismo have been around for a while, but they weren't originally part of the Mexican culture but instead brought to them by colonization and the forced introduction to catholicism despite Mexico having a third gender way back to the Aztec days with art depicting Priset wearing clothes of another gender and even Aztec gods being both genders (Kaur, Harmeet 2023). We didn't always have a gendered culture, you could argue that the Aztecs were the first instance of gay culture, yet despite these ideologies that cause more harm than good, such as Mexican women experiencing depression twice the rate as men, why do we stick with it? (Nuñez, Alicia, 2016)

This story is meant to be a horror story yes, but at the same time an empowering story about challenging these gender norms and embracing oneself without worrying about if the shirt is a girl's or a boy's shirt. People also struggle with self-image, specifically with the body, with transgender people constantly under pressure to look “passing” enough that their body doesn't look enough of the desired gender or cisgender people not feeling enough for themselves that they aren't good enough in a sense. I want this story to be a motivational piece for the community, like your uncle giving you a pep talk, that no matter what or who says, you are beautiful. 

The ideologies discussed within these few paragraphs show how much of an effect these roles have on a person and even their own culture. Before the Spanish came and colonized Southern America, there were the Muxes who were the third gender being born male but raised as a woman. They were once seen as a blessing for the family, not only caring for the parents or community members when they turn old but in more recent times the Muxes are a way for them to rebel against the ideas that colonizers have imposed on them. Sadly due to Machismo spreading, the Muxes faced many hardships from being isolated by family to possible hate crimes, when in fact this shouldn't even be a thing in the first place.

Coleman, Eli. Et Al. Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender-Nonconforming People. International Journal of Transgenderism, 2012.

Kaur, Harmeet. “This Community in Southern Mexico Has Defied the Gender Binary for Generations.” CNN Travel, 7 Apr. 2023, https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/muxes-mexico-gender-binary-cec/index.html. Accessed 2 Nov. 2024.

Wilson, Shawn. Research Is Ceremony. Fernwood Publishing, 2008.