faʻafafine
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Faʻafāfine (; ) are natal males who align with a third gender or feminine gender role in the Sāmoan Islands. Faʻafāfine are not assigned the role at birth, nor raised as girls due to a lack of daughters, as is often claimed in western media. Rather, their femininity emerges in early childhood, and Sāmoans recognize them as distinct from typical boys.
Key facts
- Gender and sexual identity.name
- Faʻafafine
- Gender and sexual identity.image
- File:U.S. Ambassador Huebner in Samoa with leaders of the Samoa Fa’afafine Association (cropped).jpg
- Gender and sexual identity.alt
- Refer to caption
- Gender and sexual identity.caption
- Leaders of the Samoa Fa’afafine Association with U.S. Ambassador David Huebner (bottom center, in glasses) in 2011
- Gender and sexual identity.etymology
- Samoan prefix , meaning "in the manner of" + , meaning "woman"
- Gender and sexual identity.classification
- Gender identity
- Gender and sexual identity.synonyms
- , ,
- Gender and sexual identity.associated_terms
- Fakaleiti, two-spirit, trans woman, ,
- Gender and sexual identity.culture
- Samoan
- Gender and sexual identity.regions
- Polynesia
- Gender and sexual identity.pop1
- Up to 3.5% of natal males
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- U.S. Ambassador Huebner in Samoa with leaders of the Samoa Fa’afafine Association (cropped).jpg
Show 1 more fact
- Commons category
- Fa'afafine
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~13 min read
Article
11 sectionsContents
- History and terminology
- Role in Samoan society
- Society of Faʻafāfine in American Sāmoa and the Samoa Faʻafāfine Association
- In film
- Notable faʻafāfine
- Fictional faʻafāfine
- See also
- References
- Citations
- Sources
- External links
Faʻafāfine (; ) are natal males who align with a third gender or feminine gender role in the Sāmoan Islands. Faʻafāfine are not assigned the role at birth, nor raised as girls due to a lack of daughters, as is often claimed in western media. Rather, their femininity emerges in early childhood, and Sāmoans recognize them as distinct from typical boys.
Faʻafāfine are androphilic (attracted to males) and are usually very feminine. They comprise up to 3.5% of the natal male population, similar to the number of androphilic natal males in the west.