"You got to do so much to actually make it": Gender, Ethnicity, and Samoan Youth in Hawai'i

Abstract

Although a burgeoning literature exists examining the intersections of gender and race in adolescent research, little attention has been paid to Asian American or Pacific Island youth, and this is especially true for girls from these groups. This study surveys the issues confronting Samoan adolescents, with a particular emphasis on the problems facing girls. Utilizing focus group and interview data with Samoan community leaders, other key informants, parents, and adolescent girls (N = 42), this study highlights some of the ways Samoan girls negotiate a social terrain characterized by both racism and sexism. Participants discuss unfavorable biases in schools, unequal domestic gender roles, western legal confines, and a lack of positive role models as critical issues for Samoan girls in contemporary society.