Page "Third gender" Paragraph 38

According to some scholars, the West is trying to reinterpret and redefine the ancient third gender identities to fit into the Western concept of " sexual orientation ".

In her research paper titled " Redefining Fa ' afafine: Western Discourses and the Construction of Transgenderism in Samoa ," Johanna Schmidt has argued that the Western attempts to reinterpret the Samoan third gender identity of Fa ' afafine in terms of homosexuality is influencing the fa ' afafine identity itself which is being reorganised in western ways, i. e. from being a feminine gender space to being a homosexual space.

She also argues that this is actually changing the nature of Fa ' afafines itself, and making it more ' homosexual.