Fakafifine
{{Short description|Niuean gender}}{{Infobox gender and sexual identity|name=Fakafifine|image=|alt=|caption=|etymology=|classification=Gender identity|synonyms=|associated_terms=Fakaleiti, Two-spirit, Trans woman, Akava'ine, Māhū, Pinapinaaine|culture=Niuean|regions=Polynesia|region1={{flag|Niue}}|pop1=}}{{Transgender sidebar}}
{{Wiktionary|fakafifine}}
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.{{Cite book|last1=Ravulo|first1=Jioji|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TyGVDwAAQBAJ&q=fakafifine&pg=PT108|title=Pacific Social Work: Navigating Practice, Policy and Research|last2=Mafile'o|first2=Tracie|last3=Yeates|first3=Donald Bruce|date=2019-04-26|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-351-38624-1|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Transgender New Zealanders|url=https://www.health.govt.nz/your-health/healthy-living/transgender-new-zealanders|access-date=2021-06-21|website=Ministry of Health NZ|language=en}}
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'.{{Cite book|last1=Niue|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hOaGrwSRBMIC&q=fakafifine&pg=PA76|title=Niue Language Dictionary|last2=Linguistics|first2=University of Hawaii at Manoa Dept of|date=1997-01-01|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-1933-0|pages=76|language=en}} A related term is fakataane which means 'to behave like a man'.{{Cite journal|last=Hooper|first=Robin|date=1998|title=Review of Tohi Vagahau Niue/Niue Language Dictionary: Niuean-English, with English-Niuean Finderlist|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3623286|journal=Oceanic Linguistics|volume=37|issue=1|pages=193–200|doi=10.2307/3623286|jstor=3623286|issn=0029-8115|hdl=2027/mdp.39015041305700|hdl-access=free}}
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".{{Cite web|date=2019-08-30|title=From Fa'afafine to Fakaleitī: Understanding Pacific gender diversity|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-31/understanding-the-pacifics-alternative-gender-expressions/11438770|access-date=2021-06-21|website=www.abc.net.au|language=en-AU}}{{Cite web |last=Motuga |first=Ann-Tauilo |date=2022-02-23 |title=National health survey for Pasifika Rainbow+ is now open |url=https://tpplus.co.nz/community/national-health-survey-for-pasifika-rainbow-is-now-open/ |access-date=2023-01-07 |website=TP+ |language=en-NZ}}
Notable fakafifine
- Phylesha Brown-Acton (born 1976), human rights activist.{{Cite book|last1=Brown-Acton|first1=Phylesha|url=https://3ff63170-9ffb-4cf7-b5ad-a285defbbd41.filesusr.com/ugd/b7eedf_bde38e5dc6d145309dee8f169a749fb7.pdf|title=Strengthening Solutions for Pasefika Rainbow|last2=Peteru|first2=Maiava Carmel|publisher=Le Va Pasifika|year=2014}}
References
{{reflist}}{{Gender and sexual identities}}