Ixchel Gone Missing

I’m here in Isla Mujeres and can see some changes since I was here seven weeks ago. There is a very small Mayan ruin at the South end of IM (Punta Sur). It is surrounded by a nice sculpture garden and fronted by a small mercado devoted to the tourist trade. The ruins were sacred to Ixchel who was a Mayan Goddess of Fertility. On my last trip I photographed an almost anatomically correct statue of Ixchell at the mercado entrance, but found its role usurped by a brazen hussy of a statue that would do Norman Rockwell proud.

Here is the earthy version before and after:

And here is the tourist friendly replacement. What happened to the fertility part? What we have now is the usual white man’s Indian Princess fantasy.