Women of Polynesia

In Hawaii, gender roles in the home were not very different from the rest of the United States.  Men and women typically shared the responsibilities of parenting equally. Although men helped with some household chores, it was usually the women who did the majority of the cooking and cleaning. Today, roles are pretty much the same.  However, more women are branching out to actually work and bring home family income.

In Tonga, partners did not necessarily split all of the parenting roles.  The mother would most often be found doing the nurturing, feeding, and most other child-rearing responsibilities.  However, both men and women partook in the disciplinary role. Men often worked in the fields and with animals, while women stayed at home.  Today, men and women are fairly equal in societies eyes.  However, interestingly enough, it's still usually only men who inherit land.

Samoa was very similar to Tonga.  Women were a major part of the home, while the men were out in the field.  However, one major aspect of Samoa is that the men did quite a bit of cooking.  Also, men and women often did not eat in the same room nor at the same time. The Samoan society seems to have men in forefront, while women do a lot of work behind the curtain.

Fiji is a little different story from the other islands.  It was definitely a male dominated society. Women did all of the house work, while men brought home the bread.  Women in Fiji were often the brunt of abuse and would rarely ever get a say in their community lives.  Today, the winds are shifting slightly, but it is still a very male governed society. 

New Zealand, similar to most of her sister islands, was a society where men brought home the revenue, but women were very essential to their lives.  Today, there is even less of a divide in equality on the islands.  Women are being given more public official jobs and are bring home a family income as well.