Mahu In Mean Girls

Traditionally people who are considered Mahu were seen as important figures in the community. They are seen as strong, wise, and caretakers. However, once Christian Missionaries started trying to convert the people of Hawaii into Christianity, they preached against it. They saw it as a horrible sin. Now, it seems that not everyone is completely accepting of it. The teacher used to get bullied for being a feminine male when she was in school. However, now she’s respected within the community and it seems that people are a lot more accepting of it again. They even see it as something that can be considered a strength. The little girl has it a bit easier because she has a mentor who is well respected and is also in the middle. Han (2006) mentions that Asian men are seen as feminine and non …show more content…
Throughout the film Kumu Hina mentions that she is nervous of not being able to pass as female in front of her husband's friends or just in general when she’s out in public with him. This seems to be a bigger concern in Fiji since her husband says that people are more open to it in Hawaii. Also, there is a part in the film when the little girl's mom tells her that it’s ok to be in the middle, but to remember that she is and will always be a girl. The sex-gender-sexuality system in Hawaii seems to be more liberal than the mainland. They were the 15th state to legalize same sex marriage. Acceptance of Mahu has propelled that. However, like in the mainland there are still people in Hawaii who aren’t so tolerant. People attribute that to the imposition of Western values on the Hawaiian people. Also, it seems that people in the U.S are obsessed with labels. Halberstam (2013) talks about how in Japan there isn’t a word that means lesbian. Nonetheless, they have varying words that describe sexual roles which do not exist in English. Having such rigid labels would make them feel