‘Fa'afafine claim is a myth, it's offensive'

A copy of the joint letter to the editor penned by Leasiolagi Dr Malama Meleisea and Dr Penelope Schoeffel published in the Sāmoa Observer on Sunday, 21 July 2013. The letter critiques the SBS story on THE FEED by Patrick Abboud (16 July 2013) reproduced in The Observer on 18 July 2013. The SBS story made an assertion that Sāmoans raise boys to be girls, which Leasiolagi Dr Malama Meleisea and Dr Penelope Schoeffel claim is a myth and offensive to Sāmoan families: ‘It is as damaging to the way Sāmoan culture is perceived by outsiders, as the infamously false claims by Margaret Mead that Sāmoan culture encourages sexual promiscuity.'