All Hail the Queen!!!

On Saturday night, some friends and I went out to have a real Samoan cultural experience, and we attended the Mizz Corona Pageant in Pago Pago. Now this was no ordinary beauty pageant (no scholarship opportunity here). It was a beauty pageant for fa'afafines. What's a fa'afafine? Look carefully at the above photo. A bit manly? Guess what...

Fa'afafines are transgendered men who play an important role in Samoan society. They are very accepted and respected here. Google fa'afafines and do little research.

The pageant was a little bit Miss America and a lot drag show. It was a hoot!



I found it very interesting that the Jr. ROTC were on stage during the evening gown portion of the pageant saluting the wannabe queens. No, they are not the military yet, but they are the next best thing. I saw it as an interesting combination of gays and (almost) military.

Prizes included cans of tuna and cases of beer!!! Alright!