Sexology in Samoa - with Dr Paul Vasey

Dr Paul L. Vasey is Professor and Board of Governors Research Chair in Culture, Organization and Society at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. His research has focused on understanding the development, evolution and psychobiology of gender diversity and sexual orientation. He has studied female homosexual behavior in Japanese monkeys for the past 33 years. This work has been described as “transformative” by leading scholars in the field. For 19 years, he has conducted annual fieldwork in Samoa, a culture where feminine same-sex attracted males are identified as a “third” gender, called fa’afafine, that is distinct from cisgender men and women. In 2015, Dr. Vasey established another fieldsite in the Istmo region of Oaxaca, Mexico. In this area, the indigenous Zapotec people recognize feminine same-sex attracted males as a third gender called, muxe. This work has been complemented by his long-term research on cisgender gay men in Canada and Japan. His cross-cultural research has been described by external reviewers as “cutting-edge” and “stunningly original.” Vasey is one of only a handful Canadian scholars to receive research grants from NSERC, CIHR and SSHRC, as well as NIH.  His research has been reported on in hundreds of newspapers and magazines worldwide including the New York Times, Oprah, Playboy, National Geographic and TIME. He has been interviewed on camera for several television documentaries, most recently by the American journalist Katie Couric, for the National Geographic documentary, Gender Revolution, in which he spoke about the special role fa’afafine play in promoting the well-being of their families. 

 

Dr Vasey at the University of Lethbridge:

https://people.uleth.ca/~paul.vasey/PLV/home.html

 

Lecture at the University of Lethbridge:

https://youtu.be/hNyy3g2yVfs

 

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