Week 12

HIV and AIDS awareness is a huge trend that has been overlooked by the Asian and Pacific Islander communities. This is especially so for the fa'afafine. July 19th, 2007 the Fa'afafine Association met to discuss HIV/AIDS related issues taking place in Apia (the capital of Samoa). For example churches in the South Pacific region teach their respective members to live by the word of God. This word of God is the bible and no where in the bible does it allow for homosexual, let alone a third separate gender of the fa'afafine. These particular churches struggle with these issues of HIV/AIDS due to sexual orientation and gender identity. They often find it difficult to communicate to communities most at risk of infection, so says Rachael Le Mesurier (Executive Director of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation).

The one thing this meeting did was it recognized the equal human rights of fa'afafine. The fa'afafine is a third gender and they need to convince the church to give them equal rights. They must do this because of the influences churches have on most decisions especially in the South Pacific. Without these basic equal rights they will never be fully aware of the epidemic of HIV/AIDS that is increasingly taking over our minority population.

Week 10

This is a post dedicated to the causes of this phenomenon called the "fa'afafine." The birth order has been a very interesting topic when taking into consideration the possible outcomes of having a fa'afafine in the family. First, the fa'afafine is generally decided by the parent's of the children... Or is it? Usually Samoans have many children in their respective families. Gynephilia refers to males that have a sexual attraction to adult females. On the other end of the spectrum is androphilia, which is the sexual attraction to adult males.

Now scientific studies show that we "compare the birth order of androphilic males (i.e. fa'afafine) and gynephilic males from the politically autonomous Polynesian nation of Independent Samoa. Results indicate that relative to gynephilic males, fa'afafine tend to have more siblings and are generally later born when birth order is quantified using Slater, fraternal and sororal indices. More specifically, fa'afafine tend to have a greater number of older brothers, older sisters and younger brothers" (The Royal Society 2007). That is kind of a very broad statement, but it basically states that usually the later born males in these Samoan families are genetically programmed to be androphilic which means they prefer men, which would be easier for them to assume the female role as the "fa'afafine."

This post came from

Week 9

I will focus on my own personal experience. I first learned of this fa'afafine through my uncle. He informed of this third gender in the Samoan culture and told us about how they were accepted and embraced into the Samoan lifestyle. This was disturbing at the time being, because I had always thought that Samoans were super human and super masculine like this picture depicts. Although, I was enlightened that this third gender was a huge part of the Samoan culture especially in the earlier stages in Samoan history. The fa'afafine was a key factor in the raising of Samoan youth and especially important in the household chorse in and around the home. The Samoan community is greatly effected by the fa'afafine. Especially, in American and Western Samoa where the fa'afafine is accepted and treated as an separate gender. In the United States there are groups and programs that are assembled to gain rights for this third gender.

Week 8

Seeing that there wasn't too much on my particular topic within the current month. I opted to talk about a post in the Anchorage Alaska news. This basically states that the definition of the fa'afafine, pronounced (fah ah fee nay). It also describes how anthropologists argue the exact origins of this rare third gender, but do know that they do reside in the American and Western Samoa. It is actually not uncommon for many of the Pacific Islanders to have this so-called third gender in their communities.

Being that the fa'afafine is incapable of having children of their own they generally excel professionally. Many of these fa'afafines go on to become teachers and educators. Other notables is that they generally live with their extended families and tend to care for their aging parents because of the skills of being a good housekeeper and babysitters.

Sexuality and the fa'afafine is quite the complicated topic. They are seen as women, but have the ability of a man. Fa'afafines see themselves as women. Some fa'afafines go on living their lives as a woman with a man and others leave their female identity behind and marry a woman so that they can procreate. Due to the Western culture and it's influential effects society and the media's perceptions of what is proper and what is not? Many of these fa'afafines have been so moved by western society and have decided to alter their own bodies in order to achieve a more permanent physical change.

I found this particular article at this website

Week 5

This is short clip of a documentary about this Samoan culture. Wildly flirtatious by night and dutifully domestic by day, the stunningly beautiful fa’fafines of Western Samoa are accepted as boys who live as girls; even within their strictly Christian society. Moving easily from the role of housewife to drag queen, the colourful personalities of the fa’fafines are loved by Samoans and tourists alike. Paradise Bent presents an intimate portrait of three fa’fafines in the lead up to the annual ‘’Queen of Samoa’’ beauty contest, exploring the personal, sexual and social spirit of the fa’fafines culture of Western Samoa.

Week 4

This is Pejay Clark a 30 year old man who describes himself a Samoan. He does this because Samoan Culture accepts individuality, but it also accepts and embraces diversity.

Pejay is respected in Samoa, "because he does his job of a fa'afafine better than any woman can" so he says. "We're the the important ones, not the real girls," said Pejay.

Pejay is a fa'afafine born a man, but assumes this transgendered role which is accepted in the Samoan society. Pejay who has 11 siblings made her own decision to be a fa'afafine. "I am a woman trapped in a man's body," Pejay said.

Fa'afafines have relationships with straight me, as the men are attracted to the idealized feminine appearances that the fa'afafine portrays.

This story seems like a regular story of the Samoan culture being accepting towards diversity.


There is another story about a Sonny Vaetoa, 26 who was raised in Auckland, but identifies himself as Samoan because of his heritage. In Australia, Sonny calls himself a mala, a gay man who undertakes female skewed jobs involving physical activity such as plantation work and collecting coconuts.

If Sonny had been raised in Samoa, he feels he would be live a third category according to Samoan culture, undercover, where men live a heterosexual life, but enjoy homosexual relations on the side. "I'd have a wife and children. My family is quite religious," he said.

I personally don't agree with Sonny's idea of the fa'afafine. It totally goes against the true Samoan Culture of the fa'afafine.


Both Pejay and Sonny cited the 1999 Australian-funded documentary, A Paradise Bent: Boys Will be Girls in Samoa, featuring television personality fa'afafine Cindy as the speaker for homosexuality.




http://www.starobserver.com.au/community/2008/11/26/where-family-comes-first/2833

Week 7

This is a video of a beauty pageant in American Samoa. This isn't any regular beauty

pageant either because the contestants are fa'afafines. That's right the third gender

of the Samoan culture. This video is of Lola doing a little stand up skit to persuade

the audience that she is the best candidate for this Miss Corona beauty pageant. This

beauty pageant is set up for exclusively fa'afafine. You might think that is gender

discrimination, but the Samoan culture generally doens't discriminate on such issues

so basic as gender. That is why this third gender is still accepted and flourishes in

and throughout the community. As you can see there are many men in attendance of this

pageant, because the fafa isn't considered gay or in other words they are socially

accepted, which would be completely different in the United States at a similar drag

queen pageant. Men in the crowd would be in attendance because of their own sexual

orientation, not for entertainment value such that the Samoan culture brings in this

beauty pageant.







Another video about the fa'afafine. They along with other transvestites from other

cultures have come together to gain rights towards equality. Their ultimate goal is

to bridge the discrimination that they face in western societies. Mainly the

fa'afafine is only accepted in Western and American Samoa, but is slowly and surely

becoming a more common occurring thing in more western societies.

Fa'afafine's Role in Society (in place of last week)

The fa'afafine's role in society is much based on the idea that they can do the work

of women, it is just they have the strength of the men. This third gender plays a key

and interesting role in the early stages of Samoan culture. Although this idea that

it is the youngest male sibling that ends up the fa'afafine, it is an odd coincidence

that generally in a large families the 3rd or 4th male born, are born homosexual. Is

this something that is a learned behavior?, or is it a innate behavior? that the child

is awaiting to let out. If this is just a Samoan cultural thing why does this occur

in the outside world and that it is not accepted as a norm. The only difference is

the idea of the fa'afafine, which is the third gender identity to which they cannot

intermingle with other fa'afafine's themselves, only straight men. This is because they

dress, act, and behave as women and in turn are treated in this third gender category.


One factor of this fa'afafine phenomenon is that this third gender of the Samoan culture

is that it completely fabricated by the culture and the family of the young male who

is being brought up. Some situations the boy does not want to part take in becoming a

fafafini and in terms of happening in today's culture and society it is much more

accepted for the young males to have choice, but back in the day he would have to

become a fafafini no matter what. The fa'afafine's role are the basic duties a woman

has just their strength capabilities exceed that of a woman. This Samoan subculture

is slowly dying due to the pressing norms that society creates.

Video for Week 3 post

This is a video on the National Geographic Channel showing the Samoan subculture of the fafafini.

Fa'afafine

A Samoan male that dresses, behaves and is accepted in Samoan culture as a "Fa'afafine," which is a separate sexual identity in itself. I will dive further into interesting topic as I continue to blog. John Thomas Togiai