Samoa - the paradise of gender equality

by Lan Phuong Nguyen (Vietnam)

Making a local connection Samoa

My first impression of Samoa was like Alice in Wonderland. The second day I continued to realize that Samoa was really "a heaven on earth" - probably not for everyone but certainly for single women. This is because the ideology of Samoan men is ideal for girls and women! They are masculine, purely kind, possess a sweet smile and are extremely humorous. During the past two days, the only work I saw Samoa women do was to sweep the yard. They wore beautiful floral skirts, holding long-handled brooms, standing in the lushy yard, talking with each other and sometimes sweeping the yard in a relaxed and gentle manner. And what do Samoan men do? They do pretty much everything else except sweeping the yards, including splitting wood, burning coal, cooking, harvesting coconuts, making coconut milk (being used very often in Samoa cuisine), carpentering, sculpturing, experiencing 12 painful tattoos to become brave men, fishing and even selling fish! Unlike the feeling I have in my country- Vietnam or in many other countries I have visited, I am often concerned about the inequality towards women. In Samoa I feel extremely secured about the rights of women; I'm more worried about Samoa men. So after the traditional dance performance at the Samoa tourist information center, I came to talk more with Alofa - a local guide and a dancer, I asked: Is there any inequality between men and women in Samoa society? Alofa laughed and answered without hesitation: In Samoa society, men - women, both old and young people have their own roles and equal rights. When you saw that Tanoa- a wooden bowl to contain the traditional drink of “Kava”, it has many legs. Each of the Tanoa's legs represents each member of Samoa's family and society. Tanoa's legs have the same role and the more legs a Tanoa has, the more stable the Samoan family is. Everyone is equal, respectful and love each other. I sat still, listening and admiring like a student who was listening to a foreign professor. Alofa stopped to think for a moment and continued: But Samoan men always knows that they have a major role in protecting and taking care for their families. And Who are their families? Families are grandmothers, mothers, older sisters, younger sisters, daughters, girls who need to be protected and loved. The only thing that men cannot do is already taken care by women - that is to give birth and to take care of our children. So women deserve all the care and protection from men. My heart keeps responding, shaking up because I know I'm hearing a true statement about the love that all women in the world deserve to hear from men . Just hearing it made me feel happy, let alone seeing this lovely attitude everyday. Now I have understood why Samoan women are always so happy and relaxed! I still a bit curious, so I asked another question: When Samoan women get married; they will be cared for and protected by their husbands, so their brothers donot continue taking care of them, right? Alofa again said without hesitation: “No, our men still take care and protect their sisters as much as they can. I have 2 older sisters who already got married but we are still a family. I always think that before my sister took her husband's hand, she always hold my hand; or when she gets angry at her husband, she will definitely need me, so I must always be at her side, protect her whenever she needs me”. I was only a bit jealous at the beginning of the conversation but after Alofa explained carefully about their generous care towards Samoan women, I just wanted to insist on Alofa to persuade him to become my adopted brother. However, lovely young Alofa was eating taro and I did not want to make him choked by expressing my sincere desire. So I couldn't help but swallowed my burning dream. However, I really admired this young men for his responsibility and thorough knowledge of his country’s beautiful culture.