Fa'afafine (also spelled faafafine, fafafige, fafafine) is a third gender specific to Samoan culture. Fa'afafine are biologically men who in childhood choose by their nature to be raised to assume female gender roles, which is not discouraged in the traditional fa'asamoa (Samoan society). The word fa'afafine includes the causative prefix "fa'a", meaning "in the manner of", and the word "fafine", meaning "woman"; and it is cognate with other Polynesian languages like the Tongan "fakafefine" or "fakaleiti", the Maori "whakawahine" or "akava'ine" in Cook Islands Maori, and the Hawaiian "mahu". Samoan slang "mala" for faafafine or gay is in less use being an abject derivation from the Samoan bible. I met one, on my campus and she was really cool. While I know it sounds like a weird thing to do but it's accepted, een within their own they still meet a mixture of ridicule, but also appreciation for most of them (usually) being highly artistic . They help care for the family, and the elderly within the family
There's even an organization called UTOPIA dedicated to the Fa'afafine
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