Fa'afafine: An antinomy of gender roles not understood outside of Samoa

Shared by Trans Health Australia on planetransgender's facebook page a revealing look at what it means to be a Fa'afafine in Samoa.

There are up to 3000 Fa'afafine – men raised as girls – currently living in Samoa. The Feed's Patrick Abboud investigates this complex and often misunderstood cultural phenomenon.

While it is not widely known in Australia, there is a third gender of people who make up an important and accepted part of Samoan culture.

Samoan Fa'afafine – or “Fafa” – are men who are raised as females and identify with that gender.

They mostly have relationships with heterosexual men and are generally not gay.

In Samoa, gender identity is largely based on a person’s role in the family and if one family has numerous sons and no daughters, it's not uncommon to raise one of the boys as a girl.

 

Phineas Hartson 2 weeks ago

As one of the "Fa'afafine" I was not raised to be Fa'afafine I just WAS and simply left to be ME. My family did try to direct me towards more masculine pursuits but never forced me to be anything other than myself. They definately never pushed me to be more feminine or female. Defining "Fa'afafine" is neither black or white, which is the whole point. I'm greatfull that Leo, Ymania and I were able to share our stories and that to be truly happy you must standup and be true to yourself.

Published on Jul 16, 2013

Not really a boy, not really a girl, not traditionally 'trans' of any kind. Somewhere between all those identities exists a third gender. We're talking about the Samoan Fa'afafine or 'Fafa'.

Fafa have the body of a man but identify as female. They have relationships with heterosexual men mostly and are generally not gay.

Confusing?

Well not for the Samoan community - it's part and parcel of their culture. Gender identity for Samoans is about the role you play in the family not so much which anatomical bits you have. So when you've got 7 or 8 sons - no girls in the family, it's quite the norm to simply raise one of your boys as a girl.

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Only a Few Pay What You Can Tickets Left For Namoli Brennet's On Line Show Sunday 8-4-13

Here we are smack dab in the middle of summer, and I can finally engage in one of my favorite pastimes of the season: a little something I call "looking for shade". A close second is a little game I nicknamed "hiding from the sun." At the moment I'm house-sitting in Northern Wisconsin, so things are a little milder than usual - although I should let you know that it *did* heat up to a blazing 72 degrees today. It's probably one of the few places where you can take up needlework during summer, as I did this past week. In case I start a knitting group, I already have the name picked out: Purl Jam©. I'm doing a live-streaming show from Trego, WI tomorrow (Sunday) via StageIt starting at 4 pm CST. As with the other StageIt shows, it's pay-what-you-want and it's pretty darned simple to sign up. Have you been missing my weirdness? Because I still have PLENTY OF IT to spare, tune in and see. Maybe I'll even show you my knitting while I snack on cheese curds, ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN. Coming up next weekend on Saturday, August 10th, something I am super-excited about: Out In The Woods, an LGBTQ music festival in Greenwich, NY, just a little ways from Albany. The lineup is pretty incredible and features some of my own personal heroes: John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), Mx. Justin Vivian Bond (Shortbus), as well as John Kelly, Rachel Sage, Freddy Freeman and an incredible lineup of artists. Tickets and info are available at outinthewoodsmusicfestival.org and proceeds benefit LGBTQ youth programs at Easton Mountain. Coming up this fall, starting to book some dates on the East Coast! A few shows on the books already including Chicago, Knoxville, Connecticut, Massachussetts and Maine, more to be announced at the end of the month. As always, if anyone is interested in hosting a House Concert feel free to drop me a line, it's super easy and one of my favorite things to do.  I'll be in and around New England, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and finishing up in the Midwest in late October. Trying *real* hard to make it back to the Southwest in either November or December - miss you all and haven't forgotten about you, I promise. Off to rock some knitting in the shade, see you soon! xoxo namoli