Find words that mean

a) so extreme that you cannot deal with the pain/feeling (adj).

b) to gather together in a group (v).

c) a difference between two things.

d) a machine or piece of equipment that does a particular thing.

e) to send something out into the air, for example gas, sound, light, heat.

f) an original idea.

g) to deliberately make someone frightened or nervous.

h) someone who is used in an experiment.

i) to hold something firmly because you are in pain.

j) to stand or wait in a public place, with the possible intention of committing a crime.

UNIT XLII

Samoa

When reporting on foreign culture, the media often focus on what seems alien, and the Polynesian island of Samoa is certainly a target of this kind of reporting. Whenever a journalist comes looking for a story, they inevitably focus on the fa'afafine (Samoan men who dress as women) and overlook most other aspects of Samoan culture. Almost without exception, they misrepresent the valued place that a fa'afafine has in the community.

Fa'afafine translates as in the manner of a woman. In traditional Samoan society, when a family had a large number of male children, one would be selected to help his mother. The choice would be based on which son showed the most ability and interest in domestic chores, and he would then be dressed and raised as female. The choice was in no way based on the sexual preferences the family believed the son might have. It was a choice based on who was best suited to a certain kind of labour. The fa'afafine' s abilities in the home and in producing crafts, combined with physical strength, were a useful asset to Samoan communities. When the son grew up, he would marry and have children, as is expected of all Samoan men, but continue to retain a female identity. Modern-day Samoa has strong Christian beliefs, as well as a firm sense of cultural identity, and many Samoans resent the Western description of fa'afafine as homosexual.

Date: 2015-10-19; view: 414; Нарушение авторских прав