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.