Talofa lava! I just found your post about getting tualima/malu tatau as fa'atama. As a young, fairly-new-to-it fa'atama who's still growing into their identity, I wanted to ask: do you have any thoughts or advice about/from your journey of getting traditionally feminine tatau as someone fa'atama?
All my life i'd planned to get tualima, malu and other AFAB tatau... but now I feel like my family might understand me less if I'm trying to live comfortably and dress like my dad/uncles, cutting my hair etc but having those tatau.
Fa'afetai lava for sharing, I know other fa'afine & fa'atama, but not anyone who has tatau. Thank you for reading! Manuia le aso :)
Hey uso/suga/aiga! Honored that you would reach out to me on this matter! This is extremely new territory for our people, completely spearheaded by us youngsters and without a blueprint, and the best way to serve "the movement" is to discuss in a public forum. That said, we all have different backgrounds and experiences and what's best for you may differ on what's best for me.
Let's talk about the tattoo itself first:
For malu/tatau, this is a multi-layered question. As you probably know, malu/pe'a was originally reserved for the nobility and was closed to the rest of us. There are dwindling numbers of conservatives who still gatekeep this practice. However, due to colonialism, our traditional practices are gradually fading, and there are now more ethnic Samoans in diaspora than are living in the home islands. Thus, the younger generations abroad have been dismissing this old way of thinking.
I am an American from Texas. A traditional malu done on the legs and via traditional methods using au is completely unavailable to me, as there are no tufuga (trad tattoo masters) here and I have no ability to set the merits required of me to earn one, since we are not living in a traditional village. This is the same case with most Samoan girls living abroad; not only are we not nobles, but we just dont have access to our culture as we should. Thus, in order to show our pride in our culture and in order to identify ourselves as Samoans, many of us get the malu on other parts of the body, specifically hands. This is a bypass to the "old ways:" it's not considered a "real" malu, but is a thoughtful way to represent ourselves. I imagine many elders would find it cute and honorable, like my own.
Here are some lovely examples on Pinterest:
Now, the trans/fa'atama part:
As you also know, us Samoans have specific roles for each gender. We are also fortunate to have our third gender, fa'afafine (transwomen), which actually makes the idea of a trans guy not too far removed from reality for our elders, if we give them time and show them that we can still perform our duties as expected. I am likely older than you and have the experience of being a mother and an aunt. I am also a sister and a daughter. Being any one of these things carry cultural significance that is not compatible with calling yourself "Tama" (man) in the traditional sense. For example, our men do all the cooking in our culture. Can I make an umu or slaughter a pig for pua'avilivili (luau)? No, I have no freaking idea how. Can I raise children and do chores as a woman does? Yes I can. I was not raised to do anything else culturally. This late in my life (mid 30s, I came out in my very late 20s) it's disingenuous for me to switch over and wouldn't make sense, since I have fulfilled my role as a fafine/woman well since birth.
The cool thing about Samoan culture is that aside from those things, nobody really cares what you dress or look like. In fact, many Samoan women are androgynous and dress as tomboys. Your gender is whatever capability you have to have children. So, since I am already a mother, to Samoans, I will always be a woman. In my personal and professional life though, I am he/him and others are not allowed to call me a female. This is my preference and this is why I identify as gender fluid in the West. Anyone looking at me knows I'm genderqueer or lbgtq. What I want a Samoan to know is that even though I'm Trans or queer, I am a mother in our culture. That's why I have a malu on my hand.
I suppose getting a tattoo depends on who you are or want to be in the context of OUR culture. Consider your "Samoan gender" in a vacuum, completely unrelated to western/palagi ideology. Are you a daughter? Do you fulfill female roles and are comfortable with it? Or are you interested and welcome to hanging out with dad and uncles and learning, literally fa'atama, the way of the man? This can determine which tattoo you get.
I hope this helps you and anyone else reading it. Please feel free to message me if you would like to discuss your situation in private.
Malo lava ❤️
