As female residents of

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

, women in Tonga had been described in 2000 by the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' as members of Tongan society who traditionally have a "high position in Tongan society" due to the country's partly matriarchal foundation but "can't own land", "subservient" to husbands in terms of "domestic affairs" and "by custom and law, must dress modestly, usually in Mother Hubbard-style dresses hemmed well below the knee". Based on the "superficial dealings" of LA Times Travel Writer, Susan Spano with the women of Tonga in 2000, she found that Tongan women were a "little standoffish", while Patricia Ledyard, former headmistress of a missionary school for girls in Tonga, confirmed that such "aloofness" of Tongan women were due to the nation's "rigid class system" and the country's "efforts to retain its cultural identity". There were presence of Tongan women who are professionals engaged in jobs as travel agents, as vendors selling an "

exotic Exotic may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Exotic R4, a differentiable 4-manifold, homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to the Euclidean space R4 * Exotic sphere, a differentiable ''n''-manifold, homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to the ordina ...

cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...

of root vegetables and

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

fruit(s)", and as basket weavers.

Traditional position in society

The ''LA Times'' further described that Tongan women have a ''mehekitanga'' (meaning "auntie") or "fahu" (the eldest aunt), a senior women who shared with a brother the authority and power over a family group. The mehekitanga has a special position during "weddings, funerals and birthday parties". The mehekitanga is usually seated in front during these special occasions. Prior to getting married, permission was to be asked from the mehekitanga.

Royal line

The ''LA Times'' mentioned that the royal Tongan line "descends through women".

Education

During her reign from 1918 to 1965, Queen Salote supported providing education to women. Present-day Tongan women can go to foreign countries to complete their college education.

Roles in society

Traditional Tongan women perform activities such as cooking, sewing, weaving and jobs that are entrepreneurial in nature.

Traditional dress

In the 1800s, before the arrival of Methodist missionaries, Tongan women dress in a

topless Toplessness refers to the state in which a woman's breasts, including her areolas and nipples, are exposed, especially in a public place or in a visual medium. The male equivalent is barechestedness, also commonly called shirtlessness. Expose ...

manner.

Lifestyle

During 1806 to 1810, English author and sailor William Mariner described Tongan women in his book entitled "Tonga Islands" as liberal, who upon marriage lived as faithful wives; as single women, Tongan females may take lovers; Tongan women can divorce their husbands and may remarry "without the least disparagement to heircharacter." Upon the arrival of Christianity and the eventual conversion of most Tongan women, the female members of Tongan society became described as "deeply religious" and "respectable girls" never walked alone with Tongan boys. The practice of cannibalism also disappeared. In terms of the Miss Tonga beauty pageant, the annual contest does not involve a portion of the program that displays the wearing of

swimsuits A swimsuit is an item of clothing designed to be worn by people engaging in a water-based activity or water sports, such as swimming, diving and surfing, or sun-orientated activities, such as sun bathing. Different types may be worn by men, wo ...

. In general, modern-day Tongan women work outside the home. They are not obliged to perform manual labor.

References

External links

The WISE Women of Tonga
{{DEFAULTSORT:Women In Tonga