Being transgender in Samoa is a very good thing.
Read all about what the prime minister of Samoa describes as the "glorious miracles and creations of our Lord" here. (Thank you, Jo, for the story)
A related story, "Fa'afafine - Samoan boys brought up as girls," describes Hazy Pau Talauati (photo above), "a Samoan man who dresses and lives as a woman. She is a fa'afafine. Like most fa'afafine in Samoa - and there are a few in most villages - Hazy is an accepted member of the community, valued for the work she does."
UPDATE: Here is the website of S.O.F.I.A.S. - Sosaiete O Fa'afaine i Amerika Samoa, which translates to "Society of Fa'afaine in American Somoa."
I'm moving to Samoa!
Very interesting articles. There are some well known Samoans playing football in the US.
ReplyDeleteI was a bit taken aback by the negative comments from the IFGE. The comments from the Samoan PM were generally supportive of TG Samoans. It is sad that some groups and some folks will make the good the enemy of the perfect.
Pat
Interesting! I don't recall if Stana has had past FEMULATE posts but the MUXES of Mexico are quite similar. Muxes are typically homosexual males that live and dress their entire lives as women. They typically have boyfriends but live with their mothers and hekp and support them. They are valued members of the community and typically earn good livings as hairdressers dress boutique owners and workers and other feminine pursuits. They do have Muxe beauty pageants and from what I've seen the MUXES are much more feminine and attractive than our Soamon sisters. Anybody else familiar? Jaye Anne
ReplyDeleteJaye Anne --- Thanks you for the heads-up. I posted about muxes here back in December 2008 and photos of muxes appeared in The Femulated: sidebar within the past few weeks.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, on MUXES, The Catholic Church in the region where Muses are so prevalent is substantially supportive of this "3rd sex". Whether this officially sanctioned, I don't know but if only we could get the Catholics everywhere to feel this way. Jaye Anne
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