Sexuality in Samoan Culture: Fa'afafine's Role in Society.
The term Fa’a Fafine refers to a third gender, specific to Samoan culture. Fa’a Fafine are biologically men who in childhood choose to be raised to assume female gender roles, which is not discouraged in the traditional Fa’asamoa (Samoan) society.
Women were a major part of the home, while the men were out in the field. However, one major aspect of Samoa is that the men did quite a bit of cooking. Also, men and women often did not eat in the same room nor at the same time. The Samoan society seems to have men in forefront, while women do a lot of work behind the curtain.
Roles can be reinforced by positive and negative sanctions. Women and men that conform to gender expectations (men are breadwinners and women are mothers and homemaker’s) are positively sanctioned and those who refuse to conform to gender roles are negatively sanctioned named called (mothers boy and lesbian or tomboy).
THE POSITION OF WOMAN IN SAMOAN CULTURE REV. JOSEPH DEIHL, S.M. Apia, Samoa SAMOA is a group of islands,-Savaii, Upolu, and Tutuila, with Manua and several smaller islands,-lying in the South Pacific, at about 14? S. lat., and ranging from about 170' to 1730 W. long. The peoples of these islands belong to the brown Polynesian race.
Culture Determines Gender Roles Culture definitely aids in the determination of gender roles. Socialization in all cultures is directly linked to the final product of a human being. Culture dictates, at a very young age, how boys and girls are supposed to act, feel and respond to certain situations. Boys and girls are separated by gender at birth.
What are the gender roles in Maori culture, historically? I had noticed during some of the talks that there were some unfamiliar gender roles being described. For example, the chief had to be male, and it was possible for a man to take more than one wife, but women were the landholders.
Gender roles, and more generally the family unit, are deeply ingrained within Mexican society, and whole volumes could be written about their origins and development. The analysis here, however, will be restricted to two policy changes during the 20th century which have been identified by feminist scholars as particularly important in shaping the norms that define the modern Mexican family.