JERRY THE FA'AFAFINE

THE NEW MALE MANIFESTO

2011-12-22T03:10:00.000-08:00

THE NEW MAL MANIFESTO (PDF)
"The New Male Manifesto." in As Above So Below. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher Inc., (1993).

This was found on the net under the google search 'Masculine Manifesto'. It reads like heteronormative privilege. What I found interesting is wether it is an attitude shared amongst men of Pacific diaspora? If so I wonder how these views are generated, fostered and are able to travel in light of Fa'afafine being a familial concept to men like the ones in the picture above.

I took this image in SAMOA, during october of 2011... It is a samoan rowing team post rowing competition. these men are gorgeous, I wonder if they can relate to the NEW MALE MANIFESTO....

LIFE OF A FAF

2011-12-20T05:45:00.000-08:00

#HOUSEBOY HAS FAT BITCH XMAS

2011-12-20T05:34:00.000-08:00

MASCULINE ME TENDER

2011-12-20T03:54:00.001-08:00

The unspoken is a language unto itself, a space where the subtlety of a smile has the power to open up the body in inviting and enticing manners and has the ability to disable our individual restrictions on personal space. In the theatre of mutual male attraction this language of the body is a territory of performance, filled with dancing smiles, sparkling eyes and forbidden Samoan love songs.

SAMOAN MEN ONLINE

2011-12-20T03:12:00.000-08:00

These images are the result of random online searches I do for materials relating to 'Gay Samoan Men' In my journeys I have come across these gems from a photo series of a sexi samoan doing a private show for the camera. They have been retouched and stylized to suit 'Jerry the FAFS' anonymous filter.

POSTURING

2011-12-02T16:18:00.000-08:00

FAF RESEARCH I FOUND ONLINE UNDER THE GOOGLE SEARCH:- fa'afafine research

I propose that the cultural model for gender in Samoa is changing as a consequence of Western influence. I argue that the fa'afafine gender is increasingly viewed as emotionally based rather than behaviorally based, which is a common Western perception of gender. A consequence of this new gender-defining criterion is that the fa'afafine identity is rendered inborn and permanent instead of temporary. Also, fa'afafine appear to identify more easily with previously foreign concepts such as "gay" and "homosexual", which are concepts that emphasize the sexual aspect of the gender identity rather than the behavioral aspect.

site credit:- FollowToLink

BUSH BOYS

2011-11-14T01:30:00.000-08:00

BOYS IN CLUBS // BOYS IN STREETS

2011-06-15T03:54:00.000-07:00

FOB MAN LOVE THEORY

2011-03-15T06:40:00.000-07:00

ROUDY_SPARX IN CONVERSATION WITH BULLET_PROOF [AN NZ DATING TRANSCRIPT]

BULLET_PROOF >

"Thanks.

PS. Whos in the pic with you..."

ROUDY_SPARXX >

"was my boi... but he is over... tooo young in his thinking... tooo hideously inadequate.. cute but boring... fun till it became work.... fuck em and feed em... the ultimate fob love theory. you do those two things and they think they love you.... tragic. dimensionless.

now its on to the next one..."

BULLET_PROOF >

"Interesting.

Selling the dream here man...not the reality."

ROUDY_SPARXX >

"the reality of? qualify..."

BULLET_PROOF >

"Reality of fob man love.

Doesnt work...for the most part".

ROUDY_SPARXX >

"hahahaha its historically positioned throughout Pacific culture to fail.. the reason... failure to reconcile their internal conflicts with their external realities... In my opinion... fagots. liars. and cowards. Harsh words I know. but ultimately the truth. that is the reality of fob man love hahaha cheers for the phrase FOBMANLOVE.. tweet lol xx"

SUCH A FAF

2011-03-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

Artist Statement

JERRY THE FA’AFAFINE 2011
Tanu Gago

This work is concerned with the construction of masculine identities among young urban Pacific gay males, exploring notions of visibility, character play, performance, sexuality and gender stereotype.

I’m interested in what happens to the gay Samoan males excluded from the cultural understanding and security of being identified as a Fa'afafine. Are they to remain invisible and continue to manage alternative lives and identities?

The reality is yes. The reality is JERRY THE FA'AFAFINE; a type of urban Pacific gay male, conditioned both culturally and socio-politically to the gender default of western heterosexual norms. While he accepts and conforms to this state of being it contradicts with his desires. From out of which emerges a new identity, a character that is often hyper masculine and overtly sexual, liberating him from his reality and thrusting him into a world of fantasy, fun, and even if only momentary... freedom.

JERRY'S BLOSSOM

2011-03-11T08:09:00.001-08:00

FAT BOOTY BOYS

2011-03-11T03:50:00.000-08:00

A LITTLE DOCUMENTATION

JERRY first saw this boy at MATAFAGA, a Samoan Night Club in Otara, MANUKAU CITY. When asked if he likes PUSSY, he replied... "YEAH... IT'S OK". Given the nick name FAT BOOTY BOY, Jerry noticed this piece of booty rupturing out of his skinny jeans and knew that it had to be documented. Jerry's appreciation for the booty, ratz tails and Samoan INK has lead to approaching FAT BOOTY BOY to give it up for the camera.

HOUSE BOY

2011-03-06T19:33:00.001-08:00

I THINK JERRY IS READY FOR TWITTER NOW... FAFA HOUSE BOY!!

SIVA AFI.... BOYS BOYS BOYS

2011-02-27T18:16:00.000-08:00

JERRY @ 2010 M.F.A PECHA KUCHA

2011-02-20T14:47:00.000-08:00

I HEART THE MEN OF MANUKAU FOR THEIR AWKWARD SILNCE..

The Mangere Art Centre was home to the MFA 2010 PECHA KUCHA NIGHT. Public speaking is difficult at the best of times, so drinks were needed to flush out the nerves. When you're talking to the Pacific men of Manukau City about how in your personal experience a large percentage of this same group of men secretly wanna suck your dick, the reaction tends to go a little like this......CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO OF JERRY THE FAF

BOY

2011-02-09T15:40:00.000-08:00

The first rule of JERRY CLUB... is never feed the Jerry!!

JERRY THE FAF

2010-12-12T23:10:00.000-08:00

FCKH8

2010-12-07T13:44:00.000-08:00

FCK BULLIES by FCKH8.com: DON'T B H8N ON THE HOMOS! from FCKH8.com on Vimeo.

MUMMYS BOYS

2010-12-05T02:52:00.000-08:00

Nothing AMAZING about these photos other than the talent. Samoan rugby league players showing off their underwear; a product called MUMMYS BOYS (lil strange) Makes me feel like this kinda shit doesn't happen enough. Adult Pacific Island Men posed like its all for their Mammas. CUTE!!! So... JERRY would like to show some love. Here's the facebook page... ENJOY.

BLACK N WHITE DIVERSITY

2010-12-04T14:40:00.000-08:00

custom made JERRY, not very fancy but still fun to make.

THE ART OF ASS LOL

2010-11-24T19:05:00.000-08:00

IMAGES TAGGED UNDER MALE FASHION.. HAHAHA

BODY OF WORK

2010-11-12T17:56:00.000-08:00

JERRY is totally intrigued by this "BODY OF WORK". JERRY LIKES... but for many reasons that are not apparent to the audience this work is made for. These images are beautiful. JERRY has this calender plastered to the wall of his man cave. But while it flicks my switches and melt my eyes, the images seem conceptually positioned to exclude FAGS like JERRY THE FAF.

I do enjoy that Pacific masculinity is being celebrated as non threatening, non violent and seemingly soft.. I qualify my use of the term "Soft" in that the aggression of contact sports like Rugby League appears absent and that male beauty is the prevailing sentiment and not "weakness" which is often synonymous with references such as soft. But so straight, as if to imply that all our Pacific Men are these Warriors. JERRY must be wearing his gay goggles but it also seems borderline homoerotic.

JERRY understands wanting to respond to racism in a male domain like Rugby League. I understand charity and creating work with a social functionality and commercial appeal. But JERRY IS HARDOUT interested in the gender politics that are being traded, paid for and consumed by the audience of this work.

JERRY likes Rugby League players as much as League players like to fuck gay boys. They're all over the internet. Day and Night. Any gay Polynesian knows or is part of the unspoken and invisible network of Under-Cover-Brothers. (UCB) Whats funny is that most of them are ASSpiring, or established athletes. I guess it's interesting the idea of "men in sport" just coming to terms with the complexity of race. JERRY is wondering when "men in sport" will be able to cope with talking about being Gay? (JERRY IS SO MAKING A CALENDER!!!!)

JERRY @ PECHAKUCHA MANUKAU 2010

2010-11-03T21:57:00.001-07:00

Presented a talk at the 2010 Pecha Kucha night held at the new Mangere Art Centre as part of the Manukau Festival of Arts. The talk was to present JERRY THE FA'AFAFINE as an art project under construction, but more importantly to out JERRY in a public way and to the peeps of Manukau City. It made sence in my mind for JERRY THE FAF to flash his shit in Mangere (Mad and Angry).

I grew up in Mangere. The view from Archboyed Avenue painted by local gangbangstas F.M.S (Fuckin Mangere Styles) was that the "275" will kill you in your sleep, door step your chucks, closeline your gears and just generally fuck you up. I'm 27 and these same menacing shits I grew up with, running round wreaking fucking havoc like domestic terrorist, uneducated, unmotivated, stonefucked, drunk pissy and just all out "Don't give a fuck" guy; are the same fuckahs cruising online spaces for some cock and balls "stab up my meat" gun play.

So I laugh at the idea of presenting JERRY THE FAF to the peeps of mangere, knowing that thse boys (not men) may be in the audience.

Pecha Kucha works as a presentation of 20 photographic slides of anything. You then have 20 seconds per image to talk to what people are seeing in an attempt to make them feel like it was worth the $5 they paid to come see your shit..

As my presentation flicked through 20 gay pictures of JERRY with his ass and boobs out, I could hear the cringing of the straight men in the audience. I ended with a proposition to the men in the audince to model for me as a JERRY for an up comming exhibition in Wellington. At that moment there was a silence and I thought to myself.... "Who is the domestic TERRORIST now?"

It was great to have an affect on men. They know when to show when they're pussy!!

http://www.pechakucha.co.nz/

AND THEN THERE WAS COLOUR

2010-11-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

JERRY THE FA'AFAFINE (IN THE MANNER OF A SAMOAN MAN).

This project will be realised as a photographic series of five images depicting the modern reinterpretation of the term Fa'afafine. The objective of Jerry The Fa'afafine is to enable discussion around the construction of male gender identity and sexuality among men of the pacific, specifically Samoan men living in south Auckland New Zealand.

This work examines the way in which our sexual preferences are inexplicably linked to the manner in which our gender identity is formed and looks at the social and cultural constructs of identity that house our desires as gay men.

Fa'afafine translates literally into english as "In the manner of a women" this being the only definition in the Samoan language that speaks to sexuality of non heterosexual men and women. The western understanding of this term being literal in that Fa'afafine are categorised as men with a leaning toward a hyper female disposition that at times is exagerated due to their contradicting male physicality. This nature and way of being is often viewed as a characture and performance of the female gender.In addition it is also perceived under its own virtues and is referred to as "the third gender" of the Pacific.

I am interested in the alternative side of this spectrum of gender and sexuality. One in which gay men perform to a hyper-masculine ideal as oposed to the femanine. I view this as every part the same performance as a Fa'afafine in that their value system is constructed with the same conviction to their maleness as say a Fa'afafine to her belief she is a woman. This ideology is framed within an urban and post migration context that is present and alive within South Auckland.

I wish to emphasize the manner in which gay Samoan men have made their sexuality invisible through this idea of performance. Jerry is a representation of this performance, his function as an art concept is to bring vissibility to the presence of gay Samoan men in New Zealand. Firstly by identifying him within his own hyper masculine environment and to bring him to the forefront of the conversation, not as an atempt to shame him, but as a mechanism to normalise and validate his experience as one that is ok to be talked about.

RUDE BOYS

2010-08-24T15:10:00.000-07:00

//LOOKING FOR MODELS//

JERRY needs your help with a tight spot. I'm looking for male models between the ages of 18 and 35 for an artwork to be created in mid November of this year. A full casting brief is at the ready for anyone interested in striking a pose for the camera. The criteria is pretty open. Must be....

- Male
- Between the ages of 18 and 35
- Samoan or Polynesian
- Gay or Bisexual
- From Auckland or Manukau City

Sure, there's more to it than the top criteria, some performing and a little acting involved but nothing X rated. This a professional and legitimate art project, only genuine candidates need apply. There is remuneration and the opportunity to work within a creative and dynamic environment. This post is hella vague but if your even slightly interested or have questions then don't hesitate. Send through an email to the address below with your name and contact details.

tanugago@gmail.com

JERRY THANKS YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

BIG UPS TO YOU GUYS THAT HAVE ALREADY RESPONDED TO THIS. WADDA SKUXX!!!

YOU'RE SO JERRY RIGHT NOW

2010-07-13T15:09:00.001-07:00

Seen this moe kolo around? maybe loitering around the bogs at MATAFAGA getting eye fucked by the beef cakes in their tank tops and skinny skinny jeans. He so JERRY!! maybe you NZD mailed him before and he bounced you. lol he so JERRY.

BEBO BOYS...

2010-07-12T15:02:00.000-07:00

These are portraits sketched from photographs submitted by Polly boys on BEBO.. JERRY GETS AROUND!!

The image just below this text is an illustration of a photograph that appeared in the "TAGGED JERRY" section of this blog. I was contacted by a friend of the person in the image, they asked me to remove the photograph as the context of this blog misrepresents their friend as a gay male or as the intro to this blog previously compared the Jerrys in the world of men to "One of those faggots from American Samoa".

He didn't like the idea of being thought of as a faggot!! SOME CHANGES WERE MADE.

I removed the original photograph one that I had sourced from the public domain of the internet, more specifically BEBO. But I can't seem to let it go. Clearly there are some issues around intellectual copyright in terms of claiming ownership of an image authored by someone else but as none of these images appeared on the net with copyright protection I had such a hard time justifying to my own creative process why I should have to care.

However, good practice I.E. one that considers the polite engagements of its audience surely should be able to make room for peoples responses. This is after all the nature of having something exist in a public space. Even if it is online. Although the image below is inspired by the photograph I was asked to remove I feel confident in posting it back on the blog as now I am the original "Author" of this image. I just liked the photograph so much, I couldn't help but want to keep drawing him again & again.

Finally if you have a picture of yourself send it through. I'd like to draw you. The other images have been consensually appropriated into JERRYS and were submitted by sexy boys from BEBO.

Heart you BEBO BOYS...

JERRY

KUMFASA

2010-06-01T14:23:00.000-07:00

JERRY THE FAFA

2010-05-17T16:57:00.000-07:00

JERRY 1

2010-05-11T00:28:00.000-07:00