Fa'afafine

Fa'afafine ( Samoan for "like a woman, in the manner of a woman") describes in the culture of Polynesia , especially in Samoa , a person of biologically male sex who was socially brought up as a woman and is regarded as such - in rare cases also one person of the female sex , the early to manhood changes. The Fa'afafines are the result of an education towards the female gender role . Your social task is clearly defined: You should support the family, look after the children, take care of the household and look after the elderly and the sick in the family. The central feature is the assumption of (work) tasks and everyday behavior by women.

The Fa'afafines are treated as a separate social gender in Samoa . Although their sexual partners are expected to be men, Fa'afafines are not considered homosexual  - there was no concept of homosexuality in Samoan culture until globalization . Despite increasing homophobia , many young men still maintain sexual intercourse or temporary partnerships with Fa'afafines; but later they marry a woman and want to have children.

See also

• Fakaleiti (cross-gender men in Tonga)
• Burrnesha ("sworn virgin" as family leader in Albania)
• List of third gender (role) n

literature

• Julia O'Malley: Fa'afafine: Born a boy, but raised a girl. Newspaper article in: The Honolulu Advertiser. August 26, 2007 (English; PDF: 560 kB, 2 scan pages on wcc.hawaii.edu ( memento of October 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive )).
• Johanna Schmidt: Redefining Fa'afafine: Western Discourses and the Construction of Transgenderism in Samoa. In: Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context. No. 6, August 2001 ( online at intersections.anu.edu.au ).
• Roberta Perkins: Like a Lady in Polynesia: The Māhū of Tahiti, the Fa'a Fafine in Samoa, the Fakaleiti in Tonga and More. In: Polare Edition March 3 , 1994 (English; Review version from September 2015 on gendercentre.org.au ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive )).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Julia O'Malley: Fa'afafine: Born a boy, but raised a girl. Newspaper article in: The Honolulu Advertiser. August 26, 2007 (English; PDF: 560 kB, 2 scan pages on wcc.hawaii.edu ( memento of October 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive )).
2. ^ Johanna Schmidt: Redefining Fa'afafine: Western Discourses and the Construction of Transgenderism in Samoa. In: Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context. No. 6, August 2001 (English; online at intersections.anu.edu.au ); Quote: “[…] the 'fact' that their partners must be homosexual men […] young Samoan men find sex with men / fa'afafine less complicated because they don't feel the need to care for their sexual partner's welfare after the act. ".