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Fakafifine are people from Niue, who were born assigned male at birth but who have a feminine gender expression. In Niue this is understood as a third gender, culturally specific to the country.

Etymology

The term comes from Niuean and is composed of the prefix faka- (in the manner of) and the suffix -fifine (woman) and is defined in Niue Language Dictionary as 'to behave like a woman' or 'to be effeminate'. A related term is fakataane which means 'to behave like a man'.

Fakafifine 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".

Notable fakafifine

• Phylesha Brown-Acton (born 1976), human rights activist.

References

1. Ravulo, Jioji; Mafile'o, Tracie; Yeates, Donald Bruce (2019-04-26). Pacific Social Work: Navigating Practice, Policy and Research. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-38624-1.
2. "Transgender New Zealanders". Ministry of Health NZ. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
3. Niue; Linguistics, University of Hawaii at Manoa Dept of (1997-01-01). Niue Language Dictionary. University of Hawaii Press. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-8248-1933-0.
4. Hooper, Robin (1998). "Review of Tohi Vagahau Niue/Niue Language Dictionary: Niuean-English, with English-Niuean Finderlist". Oceanic Linguistics. 37 (1): 193–200. doi:10.2307/3623286. hdl:2027/mdp.39015041305700. ISSN 0029-8115. JSTOR 3623286.
5. "From Fa'afafine to Fakaleitī: Understanding Pacific gender diversity". www.abc.net.au. 2019-08-30. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
6. Motuga, Ann-Tauilo (2022-02-23). "National health survey for Pasifika Rainbow+ is now open". TP+. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
7. Brown-Acton, Phylesha; Peteru, Maiava Carmel (2014). Strengthening Solutions for Pasefika Rainbow (PDF). Le Va Pasifika.

• Fakafifine
• Gender in Oceania
• Gender systems
• Culture of Niue
• Third gender
• Society of Niue
• Indigenous LGBTQ culture