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Fa'afafine

'Fa'afafine' (literally 'in the manner of the woman') is a Samoan third-gender role for AMAB persons who live in a feminine social role from a young age. The equivalent term in Tonga is 'fakaleiti'. Fa'afafine are an integrated part of Samoan culture and family structure.

What is meant by it?

A fa'afafine is usually recognised already in childhood and accepted as such in the family. The role includes household and caregiving tasks that are considered 'women's work' in Samoan culture, plus specific social and religious functions. Fa'afafine are not 'transgender' in the Western sense: the identity is embedded in its own cultural framework and is generally not aimed at medical transition.

Distinction and overlap

Similar third-gender roles elsewhere: hijra (South Asia), kathoey (Thailand), muxe (Mexico), two-spirit (indigenous North America). Fa'afafine is socio-culturally embedded in a way the Western identity discourse does not have.

Social and practical context

Fa'afafine are visible and partly accepted in Samoan society; some well-known artists and athletes are fa'afafine. Legal status for a third gender does not formally exist in Samoa; official documents show birth sex.

Critical perspectives

Fa'afafine is sometimes used in Western media as proof of a universal 'third gender'. Anthropologists warn against that projection: the role functions within specific Samoan family structures, with a division of labour, religious values and socio-economic ties that have no direct parallel in a secularised Western context.