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Fijian Masculinity In Fiji Essay

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Despite Europe’s best effort to assimilate the world, resistance was not a futile effort made by indigenous cultures. Through the acceptance of colonial norms, Pacific cultures gained limited authority to dictate the way in which European ideologies would be incorporated into their society. Within this essay, I will demonstrate that Fijian chiefs negotiated for the preservation of their culture through the reinforcement of masculine and indigenous power structures. I will explore how indigenous Fijian masculinity is expressed in various mediums in modern Fiji, and intend to demonstrate how these expressions entrench inequalities in both cultural and state institutions in post-colonial Fiji. The contents of this essay have drawn on the …show more content…

Teaiwa’s (2005, p. 209) article has highlighted the impact of expanding militarism on women, and family structures in Fiji. Using the research of Nicole George (2016) and Pauline McKenzie Aucoin (2000), the third section of this essay will examine the ways in which women have, like the Chiefs before them in the colonial era, have attempted to negotiate claims to for power through cultural institutions.
The presence and absence of indigeneity is central to discussions concerning expressions of Fijian nationalist expressions. Throughout my research for this essay, I have found the focus on indigeneity has been carried into scholarship, with a frequent note of academics acknowledging the limited scope of their research (see Presterudstuen and Schieder 2016, p. 223 for an example). As such, this essay does reflect this focus, and remains primarily concerned with indigenous Fijians. More research needs to be conducted in order to better understand the broader relationship between nationalist expressions and masculine identities in Fiji.
While it is well know that sport and athleticism can transform the human body, they also have the power to reshape cultures and national identities. This way of thinking was witnessed during the colonial era with the introduction of ‘gentlemanly sports’ as a means of pacification and social control (Presterudstuen and Schieder 2016, p. 224). Through the acceptance and

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