Xaneri Merino, a transgender woman, was born as a boy in San Pedro Jicayán, Mexico, where men are largely barred from becoming weavers. Her grandmother passed on her ancestral practice of weaving to her, teaching her the backstrap loom, a portable device operated by a strap secured around the wearer's waist. Merino now identifies as a "muxe" in Zapotec culture, a term that refers to Indigenous people identified at birth as male who take on women's roles. She hosts workshops on how the loom can serve as a craft and an act of resistance. Despite being punished for weaving at 15, Merino was able to maintain her weaving skills and use them as a tool to heal and heal herself.