The Emic Conception Of Gender In Paradise Bent

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The emic conception of gender in Paradise Bent was interesting to see since it is so different from what we are used to in our culture. In Samoa, the people there do not gender-linked to biological sex. Gender to the culture there is linked to social constructs (90), for example, boys who help with housework are called fa’afafine. Samoan people believe that the fa’afafine have both a feminine and masculine spirit. For traditional fa’afafine there is a different concept of what it means to have both spirits where they only help with house chores. However, the modern fa’afafine have embraced the feminine spirit more and started to wear more feminine clothes. It was interesting to see how not all Samoans have embraced the fa’afafine, however,