Abstract
Debate exists in the behavioral sciences regarding the extent to which androphilic males reproduce compared to their gynephilic counterparts. Quantitative data that might speak to this debate are surprisingly rare. Here, we compared the reproductive output of 235 transgendered, exclusively androphilic Samoan males (known locally as fa’afafine) to that of 447 exclusively gynephilic Samoan males. Samoan gynephilic male participants fathered significantly more children than fa’afafine participants. In fact, none of the fa’afafine in our sample produced offspring. On the basis of this evidence and anecdotal accounts in the anthropological literature, we contend that absence of reproductive output is a near absolute cross-cultural universal characterizing non-Western, transgendered androphilic (“third-gender”) males. Models for the evolution of male androphilia must account for how genes associated with this sexual orientation originated in the past and persisted in populations over time despite the fact that the vast majority of androphilic males have no direct reproductive success.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Resitara Apa, Nancy Bartlett, Stephanie Derkson, Gardenia Elisaia, Vaosa Epa, Peniamina Tolovaa Fagai, Sarah Faletoese Su’a, Vester Fido Collins, Liulauulu Faaleolea Ah Fook, Deanna Forrester, Gaualofa Matalavea, John Mayer, Avau Memea, Nella Tavita-Levy, Andrew Paterson, Palanitina Toelupe, Trisha Tuiloma, Avalogo Togi A. Tunupopo, Tanner Watts, Chelsea Wrightson, Ken Zucker, the Kuka family of Savai’i, the Samoan AIDS Foundation, the National University of Samoa, the Department of Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures of the University of Hawaii-Manoa, the Samoan Ministry of Health, and the Government of Samoa. We are grateful to all of the individuals who agreed to participate in our study. We extend special thanks to Alatina Ioelu without whose help this study would not have been possible. Various stages of this research were supported by the University of Lethbridge. In addition, PLV received an Alberta Provincial Government S.T.E.P. Award, an Alberta Innovates Health Solutions Sustainability Fund Grant, and a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Catalyst Grant in Methods and Measures for Gender, Sex and Health in support of this research. JLP received a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Graduate Scholarship. DPV received a Sexual Medicine Society of North America Post-Doctoral Fellowship Stipend.
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Vasey, P.L., Parker, J.L. & VanderLaan, D.P. Comparative Reproductive Output of Androphilic and Gynephilic Males in Samoa. Arch Sex Behav 43, 363–367 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-013-0195-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-013-0195-9