Fa‘atama: Indigenous Tomboys of Sāmoa

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.23.2.2024.4065

Keywords:

Sāmoa, Indigenous queer, tomboy, fa‘atama, fa‘atane, trans*, queer tropics, queer Pacific

Abstract

This paper acknowledges that queerness has always existed in the tropics, especially in Sāmoa. In traditional Sāmoan life, there has always been more than two genders. While much attention has been given to fa‘afafine, we seek to raise the visibility of another queer group, fa’atama (formally fa‘atane) or tomboys—Sāmoans assigned female at birth (AFAB), who either identify as masculine, are attracted to females, or both. Not only is this group marginalised on the world stage, but also within Sāmoan and Pacific culture, which has suppressed their lives and identities. In the context of a very specific historical and cultural milieu, we examine three recent representations—in poetry, fiction, and film—of queer AFAB Sāmoans in order to privilege their stories.

Author Biographies

Mandy Treagus, University of Adelaide, Australia

Mandy Treagus is of Welsh, Scottish and Cornish descent, and lives on the unceded lands of the Peramangk people in South Australia. She is Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Humanities at the University of Adelaide, where she has taught literature, culture, and visual studies, with interests in critical race and whiteness, gender and sexuality. She researches Pacific, Victorian, and Australian literature and culture and her publications include Empire Girls: The Colonial Heroine Comes of Age, and the co-edited collections Changing the Victorian Subject and Anglo-American Imperialism and the Pacific: Discourses of Encounter. 

Dion Enari, Auckland University of Technology, Aotearoa/New Zealand

Dion Enari is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Sport and Recreation, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences at Auckland University of Technology. He holds a PhD on Samoan culture from Bond University, Australia, and a Lefaoali‘i (high talking Chief) title from Lepa, Samoa.  His research interests include Sport Management, Sport for Development, Mental Health, Pacific Languages, Indigenous Studies, and Trans-nationalism.

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Published

2024-10-15

How to Cite

Treagus, M., & Enari, D. (2024). Fa‘atama: Indigenous Tomboys of Sāmoa . ETropic: Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics, 23(2), 197–212. https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.23.2.2024.4065

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 2 (2024): Queering the Tropics, Part 2. Queering Tropically: Sexuality, Indigeneity, Decoloniality, Spatiality

Section

Essays and Articles

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