Responsibilities are given to boys and girls

Even if they didn’t go to school they were thought by their parents in such a manner that there was an almost similar division of work labor among boys and girls in Samoa. They learned many things such as how to take care of children or do household work from elder children and from adults. Fishing was the most important activity on Samoa island. Therefore the younger children were learning how to undertake long fishing expeditions taught by their parents. 

Growing up as a boy in Samoa

When a boy is born in Samoan society he is taken care of by his mother and few adults in the family. Their mothers and other adults will get rid of that boy when the boy grows a little bit and learns how to walk. More often the children as young as 5 years old are given the responsibility of taking care of these small baby boys. This responsibility is shared by both boy and girl children of the same age group of 5 years. Under the guidance of the children, those babies will grow. Again once that boy reaches the age of 5 years old he has been given the same responsibility of taking care of smaller children. This is continued until that boy reaches the age of 9 years. Once that boy becomes 9 years old he gets rid of taking care of smaller children. He is sent with other elder boys to learn to fish and plant coconut trees. Fishing and planting were the only jobs which most people of Samoa were depending for their livelihood. Planting coconut trees and fishing were the main important outdoor jobs that were taught to children of 9 years old. These two jobs fetched some recognizable amount of money. This is continued until they become teenagers. When the boy is little experienced he is sent to learn lengthy fishing expeditions. Cooking was done in special cooking houses in which major cooking tasks were handled by boys.

Gender is a term that is used to differentiate between two types of individuals present in a community. It will not only stop there but it goes on discriminating against two individuals based on their gender. It is also used to determine our actions like what we do, who we are, what we will become, where we can go, the life choices we have, etc. These thoughts are fed to over mind from birth. Gender is a term that is used to define biological distinctions between males and females. Now it is used to understand the money of the inequalities and power relations between men and women in society. Here we come across how girls and boys are brought up or socially differentiated. The term socialization is not uniform and is socially determined which is continuously changing over time.