Vakasalewalewa
Vakasalewalewa are people from Fiji, who were born assigned male at birth but who have a feminine gender expression. In Fiji this is understood as a traditional third gender identity, culturally specific to the country. Etymology The term comes from Fijian and translates as "acting in the manner of a woman"; it has connotations of a traditional cultural way of life. A related modern term is , which is used to collectively describe all non-heteronormative male-bodied people in Fiji. Another related term is , which translates as "wanting to be a women". Vakasalewalewa is included in the acronym MVPFAFF+ ( mahu, vakasalewalewa, palopa, fa'afafine, akava'ine, fakaleiti or leiti, fakafifine, and other), coined by Phylesha Brown-Acton, to "enhance Pasifika gender diversity awareness in addition to the term LGBTQI". History and culture Colonial historical records are silent on the role of vakasalewalewa in Fijian society. However, like many other gender identities in Oceania, such ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Phylesha Brown-Acton
Phylesha Brown-Acton (born February 1976) is a Niuean fakafifine LGBTQ+ rights activist. In 2019 she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of her work with LGBTQ+ communities from Pacific countries. Biography Brown-Acton was born in February 1976 in Niue. Her mother was from Niue and her father from Australia. She has seven siblings. Assigned male at birth, she knew from the age of four that she identified as a girl. At school, Brown-Acton was bullied by both students and teachers; at home her father was violent. Due to her complex home life, she was raised by her great-aunt - her grandfather's sister. When she was fifteen years old she socially transitioned and began to receive hormonal therapy in her 20s. In her first career Brown-Acton was a dancer, performing internationally, including at the Venice Biennale. In 2006 she began work for the Pacific Peoples Project at the New Zealand AIDS Foundation as project coordinator; in 2009 she mana ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Kalisito Biaukula
Kalisito Biaukula is a Fijian human rights activist, who is vakasalewalewa. In 2019 they attended the Youth Assembly of International Civil Society Week. In 2022 they were part of a consultation effort organised by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in advance of the Stockholm 50 conference. They have worked for Youth Voices Count, a non-governmental organisation for LGBTQ+ youth who work to address human rights issues. They have also been outspoken on how, in some Fijian homes, conversion therapy is aligned with physical violence and domestic abuse Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner v .... Selected publications * Chandra-Mouli, Venkatraman, et al. "The political, research, programmatic, and social responses to adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rig ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Shaneel Lal
Shaneel Shavneel Lal (born 22 January 2000) is a Fijian-New Zealand LGBT rights activist, known for spearheading the movement to ban conversion therapy in New Zealand. Lal is a model, a columnist for ''New Zealand Herald'', and a political commentator. Lal is a trustee of Adhikaar Aotearoa, a non-profit that provides education, support and advocacy for queer South Asians. Lal has served as an executive board member of RainbowYOUTH and Auckland Pride Festival. Lal is the founder of the Conversion Therapy Action Group (CTAG), a group working to end conversion therapy in New Zealand, educate New Zealanders on the dangers of conversion therapy and advocate for support for survivors of conversion therapy. Biography Lal is non-binary, vakasalewalewa and hijra, and uses they/them pronouns. Lal was born in Nausori, Fiji to a mixed iTaukei and Girmitiya family on 22 January 2000. Lal comes from a Hindu family and was raised in a Hindu and Muslim community. After attending a Chris ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Third Gender
Third gender is a concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither man nor woman. It is also a social category present in societies that recognize three or more genders. The term ''third'' is usually understood to mean "other", though some anthropologists and sociologists have described fourth and fifthGraham, Sharyn (2001)Sulawesi's fifth gender Inside Indonesia, April–June 2001. genders. The state of personally identifying as, or being identified by society as, a man, a woman, or other, is usually also defined by the individual's gender identity and gender role in the particular culture in which they live. Most cultures use a gender binary, having two genders (boys/men and girls/women).Kevin L. Nadal, ''The SAGE Encyclopedia of Psychology and Gender'' (2017, ), page 401: "Most cultures currently construct their societies based on the understanding of gender binary—the two gender categorizations (male and female). Such societies ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Gender Systems
Gender systems are the social structures that establish the number of genders and their associated gender roles in every society. A ''gender role'' is "everything that a person says and does to indicate to others or to the self the degree that one is either male, female, or androgynous. This includes but is not limited to sexual and erotic arousal and response."Nanda, Serena. Neither Man nor Woman: the Hijras of India. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub., 1990. Print. Gender identity is one's own personal experience with gender role and the persistence of one's individuality as male, female, or androgynous, especially in self-awareness and behavior. A gender binary is one example of a gender system. Gender binary Gender binary is the classification of sex and gender into two distinct, opposite, and disconnected forms of masculine and feminine. Gender binary is one general type of a gender system. Sometimes in this binary model, "sex", "gender" and "sexuality" are assumed by default to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Gender In Oceania
Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures use a gender binary, in which gender is divided into two categories, and people are considered part of one or the other (boys/men and girls/women);Kevin L. Nadal, ''The SAGE Encyclopedia of Psychology and Gender'' (2017, ), page 401: "Most cultures currently construct their societies based on the understanding of gender binary—the two gender categorizations (male and female). Such societies divide their population based on biological sex assigned to individuals at birth to begin the process of gender socialization." those who are outside these groups may fall under the umbrella term ''non-binary''. Some societies have specific genders besides "man" and "woman", such as the hijras of South Asia; these are often referred to as ''third gender ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Geir Henning Presterudsten
Geir is a masculine name commonly given in Norway and Iceland. It is derived from Old Norse ''geirr'' "spear", a common name element in Germanic names in general, from Proto-Germanic '' *gaizaz'' (whence also Old High German ''gêr'', Old English ''gâr'', Gothic ''gaisu''). The popularity of the given name peaked in Norway during the 1950s to 1980s, with above 2% of newly born boys named ''Geir'' during the late 1960s to 1970s. As of 2014, the National statistics office of Norway recorded 22,380 men with the given name, or 0.9% of total male population. Statistisk Sentralbyrå, National statistics office of Norwayssb.no The Old Norse spelling ''Geirr'' is also rarely given (89 individuals in Norway as of 2014). ''Geir'' is also rarely given in Sweden and Denmark. While ''Geir'' was practically unused as a given name prior to the 1930s (and since the 2000s), ''-geir'' is the second element in a number of given names inherited from Old Norse, the most popularly given being '' Asge ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Joey Joleen Mataele
Joey Joleen Mataele is an activist for the rights of transgender women from Tonga. Activism In 1992, Mataele co-founded the Tonga Leitis Association, and became its executive director. She is also the Pacific Island Representative on the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association Executive Board and Chairperson of the South Pacific MSM (Men Who Have Sex with Men) Network Group. In 1993, Mataele founded the Miss Galaxy Queen Pageant as an annual event to celebrate the diversity and creativity of fakaleitis and the LGBTQI community in Tonga. Mataele is also the co-founder of the Pacific Sexual Diversity Network, which was established in 2007 during the Pacific Games in Samoa. The organisation includes members from Fiji, Samoa, the Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea, and aims to work together to gain a stronger voice at regional and international gatherings. Mataele is the subject of the feature documentary film ''Leitis in Waiting''. Honour and award Hon ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono and Apolima); and several smaller, uninhabited islands, including the Aleipata Islands (Nu'utele, Nu'ulua, Fanuatapu and Namua). Samoa is located west of American Samoa, northeast of Tonga (closest foreign country), northeast of Fiji, east of Wallis and Futuna, southeast of Tuvalu, south of Tokelau, southwest of Hawaii, and northwest of Niue. The capital city is Apia. The Lapita culture, Lapita people discovered and settled the Samoan Islands around 3,500 years ago. They developed a Samoan language and Samoan culture, Samoan cultural identity. Samoa is a Unitary state, unitary Parliamentary system, parliamentary democracy with 11 Administrative divisions of Samoa, administrative divisions. It is a sovereign state and a member of the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Cook Islands
) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , languages_type = Spoken languages , languages = , ethnic_groups = , ethnic_groups_year = 2016 census , demonym = Cook Islander , government_type = , leader_title1 = Monarch , leader_name1 = , leader_title2 = 's Representative , leader_name2 = Sir Tom Marsters , leader_title3 = Prime Minister , leader_name3 = Mark Brown , leader_title4 = President of the House of Ariki , leader_name4 = Tou Travel Ariki , legislature = Parliament , sovereignty_type = Associated state of New Zealand , established_event1 = Self-governance , established_date1 = 4 August 1965 , establi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |