The word you're looking for is "Mahu." Here's some background on the
concept of the Mahu in Hawaii:
"The other Hawaiian reality, the Mahu, deeply rocked the Christian
missionaries. Mahu is a transgender person, a man living as a woman
and adopting social roles usually ascribed to women. Mahu's were
ostracized and punished in the missionary times but are again more
accepted and allowed to live their lives in the today's Hawaii's. The
island of Molokai, which is little developed and has the highest
percentage of Hawaiians of all the islands (save Ni'ihau) in it's
largely rural population has a whole town where Mahu's have
concentrated. On Molokai and in Kaunakakai in particular, there is no
name calling or finger pointing and the ancient Hawaiian acceptance
(not just tolerance) of Mahu as a valid social role is respected.
Mahu's run businesses on Molokia and it is quite accepted for a Mahu
to wear women's makeup and clothing in running their business."
Cache of 365gay.com
http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:LJZinsCOSE4C:www.365gay.com/travel/TravelFeatures/011403destinations.htm+mahu+polynesian&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
"The Hawaiian language contains no female or male adjectives or
articles, and even proper names are androgynous. This reflects the
Polynesian emphasis on integration and balance of the male and female
gods. The notion of gendered polarity of opposite sexes is foreign to
Hawaiian thought. The Mahu embody this ancient Polynesian principle of
spiritual duality and are viewed as an honored intermediate sex,
integral to Hawaiian culture and cosmology... The Mahu phenomenon
cannot be reduced to any parallel Western concept of gender. Many
women in Hawaii were raised as boys by parents or grandparents to keep
them free of sexual liaisons with men. In earlier generations, these
girls would have performed tasks of healing or the sacred hula dances.
Similarly, elderly Hawaiian men who begot many sons but no daughters
often decided to raise the youngest boy as a girl. In this way, they
were able to provide additional labor for women's tasks. This practice
seems to date back to ancient times."
Gendertree
http://gendertree.com/Mythology%20and%20Demonology.htm
I was made aware of the word "Mahu" by a cousin of mine, who lived for
many years in Hawaii. My search strategy in locating the information
posted above used these search terms:
"mahu" + "hawaii"
"mahu" + "hawaiian(s)"
"mahu" + "polynesian(s)"
"mahu" + "pacific island(ers)"
I hope this information is useful. If anything is unclear or
incomplete, or if a link does not function, please request
clarification before rating my answer; I'll be glad to offer further
assistance as needed.
Best wishes,
pinkfreud |
