Akava'ine
Encyclopedia
An akava'ine or 'akava'ine is a Cook Islands Māori
word used to describe transgender
or transsexual women in the Cook Islands
.
It can also refer to women who have an inflated opinion of themselves, draw attention to themselves in ways that disrupt groupness, don't heed others advice, or who act in a self-serving or self-promoting way.
Antonym
: akatāne - Act like a man, have manly qualities; be a tomboy
.
behaviour displayed by a man, for example being described as effeminate or homosexual. Laelae is the colloquial Cook Islands term; the word tutuva'ine (meaning "like a woman") is used less frequently. Homosexuality is illegal for males in the Cook Islands.
, and the Cook Islands were no exception. In the 1800s they started bringing in homophobic and transphobic attitudes.
Cook Islands Maori
The Cook Islands Māori language, also called Māori Kūki 'Āirani or Rarotongan, is the official language of the Cook Islands. Most Cook Islanders also call it Te reo Ipukarea, literally "the language of the Ancestral Homeland"....
word used to describe transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
or transsexual women in the Cook Islands
Cook Islands
The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...
.
It can also refer to women who have an inflated opinion of themselves, draw attention to themselves in ways that disrupt groupness, don't heed others advice, or who act in a self-serving or self-promoting way.
Etymology
The term akava'ine is a prefix of "aka" (to be or to behave like) and "va'ine" (woman).Antonym
Antonym
In lexical semantics, opposites are words that lie in an inherently incompatible binary relationship as in the opposite pairs male : female, long : short, up : down, and precede : follow. The notion of incompatibility here refers to the fact that one word in an opposite pair entails that it is not...
: akatāne - Act like a man, have manly qualities; be a tomboy
Tomboy
A tomboy is a girl who exhibits characteristics or behaviors considered typical of the gender role of a boy, including the wearing of typically masculine-oriented clothes and engaging in games and activities that are often physical in nature, and which are considered in many cultures to be the...
.
Other terms
Sometimes the word laelae is also used, typically when implying criticism or ridicule of feminineFeminine
Feminine, or femininity, normally refers to qualities positively associated with women.Feminine may also refer to:*Feminine , a grammatical gender*Feminine cadence, a final chord falling in a metrically weak position...
behaviour displayed by a man, for example being described as effeminate or homosexual. Laelae is the colloquial Cook Islands term; the word tutuva'ine (meaning "like a woman") is used less frequently. Homosexuality is illegal for males in the Cook Islands.
History
Culturally, akava'ines have been around for centuries. And they've always been part of the family, part of the village, and part of the tribe. But when the missionaries came, things changed quite dramatically for everyone in the Pacific IslandsPacific Islands
The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....
, and the Cook Islands were no exception. In the 1800s they started bringing in homophobic and transphobic attitudes.