Meanings
- A Samoan whose gender is neither male nor female, being biologically male but preferring (or being raised for) traditionally female duties and tasks.
What I wish to emphasize here is that 'traditionally' fa'afafine have been and generally still are initially identified in terms of labour preferences.
2004, Ulrike Schuerkens, Global Forces and Local Life-Worlds: Social Transformations, →ISBN, page 2092 more examples
While Pakeha (New Zealanders of European descent) transyouth are invisible in the curriculum through their gender identity, fa'afafine youth are additionally invisible through their cultural identity. There are currently no support groups in Aotearoa/New Zealand for fa'afafine young people.
2005, James Thomas Sears, Youth, Education, and Sexualities: An International Encyclopedia, →ISBNTo begin with, he describes the relationship between his Samoan and fa'afafine identities by saying: 'for me culture is always first and then sexuality', and 'any interaction I have with anybody, the two things I want them to find out about me is the fact that I'm Samoan first and foremost and .... [secondly] that I'm fa'afafine.'
2006, Susan Stryker, Stephen Whittle, The Transgender Studies Reader, →ISBN, page 660
Origin
- Samoanfa'afāfine
- Englishfa'afafine
Borrowed from Samoan fa'afāfine, from fa'a (“in the manner of”) + fafine (“woman”).
More words from Samoan
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
fa'afafine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fa'afafine
“fa'afafine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fa'afafine. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fa'afafine,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fa'afafine.
Source: fa'afafine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.