Keli Laban, 21, former Miss Fa'afafine 2012, changes in preparation for the Divas of Samoa performance at the Maliu Mai bar & restaurantThe Samoan fa'afafine translates as 'in the manner of woman'. In many Samoan families when parents think that their sons act like girls, they raise them as females and they may take on the third gender identity, fa'afafine. In Samoan culture fa'afafine are generally accepted and not stigmatised and it's not uncommon for some parents to decide to raise a boy as a girl, even if the boy does not behave in a feminine manner. Fa'afafine are considered hard workers who can do jobs traditionally designated for women or men and also known for their good deeds. It is thought that fa'afafine originate from a practice of raising some boys as girls, dressing them in girl's clothes and training them in women's work. This might have been done where there were only boys in the family. Such children were not necessarily homosexual but may have displayed feminine characteristics as a child. In contemporary society this has evolved and is far more complex with some fa'afafine self-selecting and more likely to identify as homosexual. However, there are examples of young boys pressurised to become fa'afafine whose young identities have been confused by the process. Ironically, despite the acceptance of fa'afafine it was only in 2013 that the law against impersonating a female was removed from the Samoan statute.