#faʻafafine

[whatjaswatched]

Next Goal Wins (2023)

This film was wholesome.

It felt a little rushed, and it felt like it oversimplified life on the pacific islands in general, but it was wholesome and sweet.

I’m glad this film exists, and I recommend this for sure, but it had potential to be more than it is.

In my post movie scrolling I came across a 2014 documentary by the same name. This story is a special one, so whether you watch the film or the documentary - it’s one to know for sure.

[watermelinoe]

I know that Tumblr is generally a horrible place to try and convince anyone anything, but it seems like you're a reasonable person with well grounded feminist views outside of the trans exclusionary stuff.

Id recommend reading and watching documentaries on the Faʻafafine, the Two Spirit people of the first nations (like the Nadleehi and Dilbaa of Navajo Nation), and the many other trans people in indigenous cultures.

I understand why in a post colonial, patriarchal society it seems obvious to develop such a narrow view of gender. But in refusing to acknowledge the reality of transgender people, you uphold the white patriarchal colonial supremacy that dehumanizes us all.

a) misogyny existed long before colonialism

b) misogyny exists in other cultures besides white peoples'

c) the existence of additional gender roles is proof of essentialist beliefs about gender

[flagwars]

Flag Wars Bonus Round

[gentlemanwealdan]

Hmm alright, I'll go with this one💕

Do you have a favorite out of all the places you've seen?

Any unique experiences or interactions there that you'll never forget?

Pick a color: red or pink

Hi 💕,

That's a lovely symbol.

No, I couldn't, they're all special for different reasons. The bustling of Chinatown in Bangkok and the stillness of the beach on an evening on one of the Pacific islands are very different and yet beautiful places. South Africa was just majestic and I was in awe in Mexico.

Many. From meeting my first faʻafafine. Being invited and attending a funereal for one of the native papua New Guinean's. Taking part in witchcraft rituals with the and with wiccan's here in the UK.

Hmmm, my favourite colour is orange but, in this case it's pink.

Hope that gives a little insight, thanks for the Ask!

[prideflagcontest]

this ones not an urgent issue for the preexisting poll, but for the word faʻafafine the correct apostrophe to use is: ʻ

a different one will make it come up different in searches bc ʻ is a letter, not punctuation, and as such is coded as a separate character from '

its a weird distinction for people unfamiliar with polynesian languages to be expected to intuit, but like it doesnt impede understanding to have the other one. it just makes it come up different in tags as if it were a typo

thank you! I corrected that too (I think so at least)

[piss-bong]

Oh so you're nonbinary? Name all 147 genders

Okay.

Abinary, Agender, Androgyne, Androgynous, Aporagender, Bakla, Bigender, Binary, Bissu, Butch, Calabai, Calalai, Cis, Cisgender, Cis female, Cis male, Cis man, Cis woman, Demi-boy, Demiflux, Demigender, Demi-girl, Demi-guy, Demi-man, Dual gender, Demi-woman, Endosex, Faʻafafine, Female, Female to male, Femme, FTM, Gender bender, Gender diverse, Gender gifted, Genderfluid, Genderflux, Genderfuck, Genderless, Gender nonconforming, Genderqueer, Gender questioning, Gender variant, Graygender, Hijra, Intergender, Intersex, Kathoey, Male, Male to female, Man, Maverique, MTF, Multigender, Muxe, Neither, Neurogender, Neutrois, Non-binary, intergender, agender, xenogender, genderfluid, and demigender, androgyne/androgynous, intergender, bigender, trigender, polygender, and pangender, Omnigender, Pangender, Polygender, Third gender, Trans, Trans female, Trans male, Trans man, Trans person, Trans woman, Transgender, Transgender female, Transgender male, Transgender man, Transgender person, Transgender woman, Transfeminine, Transmasculine, Transsexual, Transsexual female, Transsexual male, Transsexual man, Transsexual person, Transsexual woman, Travesti, Trigender, Two spirit, Vakasalewalewa, Woman, X-gender, Xenogender

[byebyelingual]

HELLO BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE. Today's post is about:

🇼🇸🌴Samoa🌴🇼🇸

If you didn't know, Samoa is a State made of a group of 💫paradisiac💫 islands in Polynesia, near New Zealand and Australia, riiiiight here:

The best place for a vacation, right?

Samoan people are bilingual (speaking English and Samoan), so if you happen to be in Apia (Samoa's Capital) and want to make friends, you can say:

Hello = Malō (informal) / Tālofa

How are you? = Ua mai oe?

Thank you = Fa'afetai

Please = Fa'amolemole

Yes = Ioe

No = Leai

Sorry = Fa'amalie atu

I don't know = Ou te leiloa

Have a nice day! = Ia manuia le aso!

I understand = Ua ou mālamalama

I don't understand = 'Ou te lē mālamalama

Help! = Fia ola!

Excuse me = Tulou lava

I miss you = Ou te misia ia te oe

I love you = Ou te alofa ia te oe

One language is never enough = O le gagana e tasi e le lava

Source:

👉 You wanna learn the Samoan writing System? No problem.

The Samoan Language uses the latin alphabet plus 'Okina, the symbol (') used in writing to represent a glottal stop, similar to the sound between the syllables of "oh-oh", and kahakō, which when written over a vowel indicates that the vowel is long.

Samoa's Capital, Apia

🌴But let's look more into Samoan Culture

Samoan culture is based on Faʻa Sāmoa, the 'Samoan Way'.

It includes the behavior and the responsibilities that spell out all Samoans' relationships to one another and to persons holding positions of authority.

Faʻa Sāmoa includes the way one stands, walks and speaks, for example by saying "tulou" when one walks in front of someone who is seated. Likewise, it is extremely disrespectful to eat or drink when walking through a village.

"Family" in samoan is ʻAiga.

'Aiga consists of a wider family group of blood and marriage or even adopted connections who all acknowledge the matai (head of the family) who can be either male or female.

All members of the 'Aiga don't have to live under the same roof or even in the same village but it will assemble when the occasion requires it, generally at the residence of the matai, to discuss family affairs, deaths or weddings.

Samoan matai protestors outside Aotearoa New Zealand's Parliament. On 28 March 2003, this group of 3000 Samoans, among them hundreds of transnational matai, protested against the Citizenship [Western Samoa] Act 1982 outside Parliament. Image: Mark Mitchell

🔥Dancing is a huge part of Samoan culture.

There's many traditional samoan dances:

The Fa'ataupati, or "Samoan Slap Dance". Only performed by males, it's the only dance withouth music but with the clapping of the hands and stomping of the feet.

The Maulu'ulu. Literally it means "light rain" - due to the refreshing movements and style, as a "light rain" would cool the stifling tropical heat of a summer day.

The Sasa can be performed by both males and females.

The Siva Afi, a ceremonial dance using the fire knife.

The Manu Siva Tau is a Samoan War Dance, performed by the Samoan sporting teams before each match.

The Taualuga, considered the apex of Samoan performance art forms.

🌈Lgbtq+ in Samoa

Even though same sex relationships are illegal, Samoa has a large transgender or "third gender" community called fa'afafine.

Faʻafafine are people who identify themselves as having a third gender or non-binary role in Samoa.

They are assigned male at birth, and embody both masculine and feminine gender traits. Their behaviour typically ranges from extravagantly feminine to conventionally masculine.

A curious fact about Samoa is that male relationships are forbidden, while female ones are not.

A book about this general topic was written by the Samoan artists Dan Taulapapa McMullin and Yuki Kihara.

🌴☀️🌴☀️🌴☀️🌴☀️🌴☀️🌴☀️🌴☀️🌴☀️

If you read until now and learned something new, I'm proud of you!

And so are some Samoan characters you didn't know were Samoan, like:

And last but not least,

If you want to learn Samoan or just want to look more into its culture, check this:

Nafanuatele Lafitaga Mafaufau, the creator and writer of O Le Aiga Samoa comic, is the passionate founder and teacher of the Nafanua Communication and Culture Samoan language classes.

This comic helps to make the Samoan language accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds, and its goal is to make especially young people engage in Samoa's beautiful culture.

https://www.boosted.org.nz/projects/o-le-aiga-samoa

[uoblgbtq]

On day 6 of Trans Awareness Week we are looking at the gender labels Fa'afafine and X-Gender, from Samoa and Japan respectively. We are also trying to move from sharing information about genders and communities which our committee members are not a part of, to sharing resources made by those individuals and communities. In doing so, we hope to avoid perpetrating colonial perspectives of non-Western, culturally-specific genders, and to amplify marginalised voices rather than talking over them. These resources are linked below.

Two-Spirit resources:

Tribal Two-Spirited Identity – a talk by Native Out, a nonprofit organisation: https://ihs.cosocloud.com/p8eethowecj/?proto=true Native Out’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nativeout Two Spirit: The Story of a Movement Unfolds – an article from Native People’s Magazine: https://www.kosmosjournal.org/.../two-spirit-the-story.../ Two Spirit: The Trials and Tribulations of Gender Identity in the 21st Century – an article from Indian Country Today: https://indiancountrytoday.com/.../two-spirit-the-trials....

Kinnar resources:

Kinnar Ka Ki – The Story Of Four Transwomen, Their Journeys And Vision – an photo essay, “not about, but by” four Kinnars: https://feminisminindia.com/.../kinnar-ka-ki-story-of.../ Transgender India has several threads on Kinnar identity: https://transgenderindia.com/talk/ India’s Third Gender Rises Again – an article by an Indian anthropologist on Kinnar identity and culture. This article uses language that is considered outdated and/or harmful by some Kinnars: https://www.sapiens.org/biology/hijra-india-third-gender/.

Māhū resources:

A glossary and selection of resources on Hawai’ian culture and gender: https://aplaceinthemiddle.org/resources Aha Kāne 2012- Māhū – A video of a māhū person talking about their identity and experiences: https://vimeo.com/45104464 LGBTQI Hawai‘i – a needs assessment of LGBTQ+ people in Hawai’I, written by non-Native Hawai’ian academics living in Hawai’i: https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/34267.

Fa’afafine resources:

Samoa Faafafine Association Incorporated Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/sfainc/ The Bent Spoon - a web series using food as a way to bring LGBTI communities together, presented by a Polynesian trans woman and featuring several fa’afafine guests: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19B4wqvj5po... Writings by fa’afafine Dan Taulapapa McMullin on queer Samoan identities and culture: https://www.taulapapa.com/writings.html.

X-Gender resources:

An Introduction to X-Jendā: Examining a New Gender Identity in Japan – an paper by a Japanese academic looking at X-Gender in detail: http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue31/dale.htm Pushing for 'X-gender' recognition – a news article by two Japanese writers from NHK World-Japan: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/576/ A selection of resources in Japanese and English: https://genderqueerid.com/.../selected-links-on-non... Nonbinary in Japan – a blog by a non-Japanese resident of Japan: https://www.abnrmljapan.com/home/nonbinary-in-japan.

[Image descriptions:

Image 1: A white square with a black shadow, against a background in the colours of the trans flag: horizonal stripes in light blue, light pink, white, light pink, light blue. Pink and black text in the centre of the white square reads: "Trans Awareness Week highlighting trans identities In light of a recent mistake on our part and on the advice of some of our members, we have decided that when sharing information about gender identities specific to any oppressed communities that our committee members are not a part of, we will focus on promoting resources that have been created by individuals and/or groups who identify with those gender identities. We should aim to amplify their voices rather than speak over them. In the description for this post are educational resources specific to Two-Spirit, Kinnar, Māhū, Fa'afafine, and X-Gender identities, largely created by members of those communities. We encourage our members to learn more about these identities from those who have direct experience with them." In the top left corner of the square is the LGBTQ+ Association logo (two prisms in the colours of the inclusive pride flag, with black text over them reading "LGBTQ+ UoB ASSOCIATION"). In the top right corner is the Guild of Students logo (black and white text reading "Your Students' Union University of Birmingham guild of students"). End image 1.

Image 2: A white square with a black shadow, against a background in the colours of the trans flag. Pink and black text in the centre of the white square reads: "Trans Awareness Week highlighting trans identities Fa'afafine and X-Gender" In the top left corner of the square is the LGBTQ+ Association logo. In the top right corner is the Guild of Students logo. End image 2.

Image 3: A white square with a black shadow, against a background in the colours of the trans flag. Pink and black text in the centre of the white square reads: "Trans Awareness Week highlighting trans identities Fa'afafine Faʻafafine is a third-gender or nonbinary role in Samoa, American Samoa and the Samoan diaspora. A recognized gender identity/gender role in traditional Samoan society, faʻafafine are assigned male at birth and embody both masculine and feminine gender traits in a way unique to Polynesia. The word faʻafafine includes the prefix faʻa–, meaning "in the manner of", and the word fafine, meaning "woman". The transmasculine equivalent term is faʻatane, faʻatama, or fafatama. Fa'afafine is included in the umbrella term 'trans'. Not all transfeminine people from Samoa consider themselves to be fa'afafine, and not all fa'afafine consider themselves to be trans." In the top left corner of the square is the LGBTQ+ Association logo. In the top right corner is the Guild of Students logo. End image 3.

Image 4: A white square with a black shadow, against a background in the colours of the trans flag. Pink and black text in the centre of the white square reads: "Trans Awareness Week highlighting trans identities Jaiyah Saelua  (she/her) is a fa'afafine American Samoan international football player. She is a member of the American Samoa national football team, which is nominally a men's team. She is the first transgender international football player. Jaiyah is a FIFA ambassador for equality and LGBT athletes. She is featured in the 2014 documentary Next Goal Wins. A feature film version of the documentary will feature Kaimana, an actor who is also a fa'afafine, as Saelua, and will be directed by Taika Waititi." There are two photos of Jaiyah, an American Samoan fa'afafine with long black hair. In one she is wearing a grey top and smiling. In the other she is wearing a football kit and playing with a football. In the top left corner of the square is the LGBTQ+ Association logo. In the top right corner is the Guild of Students logo. End image 4.

Image 5: A white square with a black shadow, against a background in the colours of the trans flag. Pink and black text in the centre of the white square reads: "Trans Awareness Week highlighting trans identities X-Gender X-Gender or X-Jendā is a Japanese gender label that is not female or male, similar to genderqueer or nonbinary. The term X-gender came into use during the 1990s, popularized by queer organizations in Kansai, Osaka and Kyoto. X-Gender is included in the umbrella term 'trans'. Not all trans people from Japan consider themselves to be X-Gender, and not all X-Gender people consider themselves to be trans." In the top left corner of the square is the LGBTQ+ Association logo. In the top right corner is the Guild of Students logo. End image 5.

Image 6: A white square with a black shadow, against a background in the colours of the trans flag. Pink and black text in the centre of the white square reads: "Trans Awareness Week highlighting trans identities Yuhki Kamatani (they/them) is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator, best known for their series Nabari no Ou. They are X-gender and asexual, and they note their gender as toX, without revealing their assigned gender at birth. Yuhki's manga frequently features characters in transitional life stages and issues regarding identity and marginalization. In Shimanami Tasogare (published in North America as Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare), they depict queer characters coming to terms with their identity." There is one photo of Yuhki, a Japanese X-Gender person with short black hair. They are wearing a yellow t-shirt and are holding a microphone. There is also a self-portrait by Yuhki of themself as a grey cat in a pile of orange leaves. In the top left corner of the square is the LGBTQ+ Association logo. In the top right corner is the Guild of Students logo. End image 6]