A fakaleiti is a Tongan man who dresses and lives as a woman. In many Tongan families, if several children have been born and they are all boys, one of them will be dressed as a girl and do girls' chores, such as housecleaning. As the fakaleiti grows up, he or she may decide to continue to live the rest of his or her life as a woman.
An adult fakaleiti will usually wear western, rather than traditional Tongan, women's clothes. If one sees a young Tongan woman in a miniskirt or revealing dress, chances are that, rather than being a native who has been influenced by the ways of American or European fashion, the young woman is a fakaleiti.
See also: List of transgender-related topics
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the
"Fakaleiti".
Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world