Faʻafafine

Faʻafafine (translated: "in the manner of a woman") are natal males who align with a third gender or gender role in Samoa. Fa'afafine 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 Samoans recognize them as distinct from typical boys.

Fa'afafine 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.

Most self-identify as fa’afafine, rather than men, while small number identify as women. However, they recognize that they are distinct from females.

Fa'afafine enjoy relatively high levels of acceptance in Samoa. They can be seen in all areas of Samoan society, whether assisting as caregivers or working in government. The current Samoan Prime Minister has spoken about the value of Fa'afafine to the country.

History and terminology
The word faʻafafine includes the causative prefix faʻa–, meaning "in the manner of", and the word fafine, meaning "woman". It is a cognate of related words in other Polynesian languages, such as fakaleiti or fakafefine, the akava'ine, and whakawāhine. Ultimately, Western terms like gay and transgender overlap but do not align exactly with Samoan gender terms found in the traditional culture of Samoa.

The Samoan slang word mala (devastation) is a less-common term for faʻafafine, originating in fundamentalist-influenced homophobia and transphobia.

Strong evidence points to Samoa being under matriarchal rule for centuries before contact with Europeans. Queen Salamasina, holder of four paramount chief titles, ascended the throne in the 16th century through the shrewd maneuvering of the powerful female chieftains around her. Samoa continues to value the leadership roles of women and third gender people. There is no restriction on the transfer of chiefly titles to women or fa'afafine, and there is a substantial list of past and present faʻafafine chiefs.

The history of faʻafafine is difficult to trace. Nafanua, the female warrior and chief of Samoan early history, is often held up as an icon of faʻafafine and faʻatane. According to Dolgoy's recorded interviews with faʻafafine from the 1980s, Johnny Fruitcake was a popular faʻafafine during the American military occupation of American Samoa in World War II, and Anita (Tony Schwenke) was the founder of Hollywood, a tailoring shop and house of refuge for faʻafafine in Apia in the 1960s–1970s. Since the 1980s, the Samoan diaspora has given faʻafafine a higher profile outside Samoa.

Paul L. Vasey, Professor of Psychology at the University of Lethbridge, has claimed that the existence of faʻafafine supports the evolutionary psychology hypothesis of a gene that directs kin-directed altruism, which proposes that androphilia could be passed down because it is societally advantageous to have non-traditional roles. The hypothesis contends that the existence of androphilia may serve the evolutionary purpose of providing avunculate support for related kin, meaning that families that include faʻafafine and members in other non-traditional roles, such as unmarried aunts and uncles, would have more time and resources to dedicate to the success of their kin.

Role in Samoan society
The existence of a third gender is so well-accepted in Samoan culture that most Samoans state that they have friendships with at least one faʻafafine. However, faʻafafine are not fully accepted in all parts of the community, such as by some fundamentalist Christian groups and traditional leaders.

Samoan popular culture views faʻafafine as hard-working and dedicated to the family, in the Samoan tradition of tautua or service to family. Ideas of the family in Samoa and Polynesia include all the members of a sa, or communal family within the faʻamatai family system. Traditionally, faʻafafine follow the training of the women's daily work in an aiga (Samoan family group). Faʻafafine state that they "loved" engaging in feminine activities as children, such as playing with female peers, playing female characters during role play, dressing in feminine clothes, and playing with female gender-typical toys. This is in contrast to women who stated that they merely "liked" engaging in those activities as children. Some faʻafafine recall believing they were girls in childhood. In Samoa, there is very seldom ridicule or displeasure towards a biologically male child who states that they are a girl. One study showed only a minority of parents (20 per cent) tried to stop their faʻafafine children from engaging in feminine behaviour. Being pushed into the male gender role is upsetting to many faʻafafine. A significant number stated that they "hated" masculine play, such as rough games and sports, even more than females did as children.

Faʻafafine have sexual relationships almost exclusively with men who do not identify as faʻafafine.

Society of Faʻafafine in American Samoa and the Samoa Faʻafafine Association
The Society of Faʻafafine in American Samoa or (Le Sosaiete o Faʻafafine i Amerika Samoa) (SOFIAS) describes itself as an organisation dedicated to balancing both Samoan values with western influences and aims to promote a positive attitude toward the Samoan faʻafafine community. It fosters collaboration between faʻafafine and LGBTQI+ communities in American Samoa, the Asia Pacific region, and the world. The Miss SOFIAS pageant has been held in Pago Pago, American Samoa, since 1979.

The Samoa Fa'afafine Association (SFA), based in Apia, was founded in 2006. It works closely with government, churches, and youth organisations, supporting community projects for the fa'afafine community, but also for elders and youth in Samoa. SFA is also active on the international level, working with the United Nations and Pacific regional NGOs, on behalf of the faʻafafine, transgender, and LGBT communities of the Pacific Islands. They also work with media organisations to promote an equitable representation of faʻafafine.

The SFA, with fa'afafine lawyers Alex Suʻa and Phineas Hartson Matautia, have initiated legislative activity on issues of LGBT rights in Samoa. Their efforts to repeal homophobic and transphobic laws implemented during the period of New Zealand colonial rule have met with partial success. Same-sex marriage for faʻafafine is still unlawful in Samoa, and despite legalisation in the U.S., it is still not recognised in the US Territory of American Samoa.

Notable Faʻafafine

 * Edward Cowley a.k.a. "Buckwheat" – a drag performer and television personality based in Auckland, worked with New Zealand AIDS Foundation, champion bodybuilder.
 * Yuki Kihara – a contemporary artist whose work has been featured in numerous museum exhibitions art galleries around the world. Her solo exhibition, Shigeyuki Kihara: Living Photographs (2008–9), was the Metropolitan Museum of Art's first exhibition of contemporary Samoan art. Kihara is co-editor of the 2018 book Samoan Queer Lives.
 * Marion Malena – a multiple beauty pageant winner and performer from American Samoa currently living in Seattle. She hosts American Samoa: Through the Years.
 * Fuimaono Karl Pulotu-Endemann – a medical professional, Justice of the Peace, and gay activist from New Zealand. In the 2001 New Year Honours, Pulotu-Endemann was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Public Health.
 * Jaiyah Saelua – American Samoan soccer player. Saelua was the first faʻafafine player to compete in a men's FIFA World Cup qualifier. Saelua featured in a UK documentary Next Goal Wins. In the feature film Next Goal Wins (2023 film) based on the events in the documentary, Saelua is played by fa'afafine actor Kaimana.
 * Dan Taulapapa McMullin – poet, painter, filmmaker. Artist book: The Healer's Wound: A Queer Theirstory of Polynesia, published by Pu'uhonua Society and Tropic Editions of Honolulu. Exhibitions and screenings at Honolulu Museum of Art, De Young Museum, Museum of Contemporary Native Art, Bishop Museum, Metropolitan Museum, United Nations, Museum of Modern Art. Collection of poems: Coconut Milk (American Library Association Top Ten LGBT Books of the Year).
 * Leilani Tominiko – first openly transgender professional wrestler in New Zealand.
 * Amao Leota Lu – performance artist, activist, community leader

Fictional Faʻafafine

 * Half-man half-girl, an unnamed character in Albert Wendt's novel Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree (1979)
 * Muli and Pipi, in Dan Taulapapa McMullin's poem The Bat (1993) which received a Poets&Writers Award
 * Sugar Shirley, a character in Sia Figiel's novel Where We Once Belonged (1996)
 * 'Vili Atafa, a character in the Pasifika play A Frigate Bird Sings (1996) by Oscar Kightley, David Fane and Nathaniel Lees
 * Sinalela (2001), a fictional character in the short film Sinalela by Dan Taulapapa McMullin, awarded Best Short Film in the Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival
 * Faafafine (2001), an autobiographical solo performance piece by Brian Fuata
 * Brother Ken in bro'Town (2004-2009), a school principal
 * Jerry the Faʻafafine (2011), a thematic figure (influenced by the poetry of Taulapapa) in an artwork series by Tanu Gago