WHAT'S BEAUTIFUL?
BODY IMAGE AND THE SOCIOCENTRIC SENSE OF SELF IN FIJI
by Emily Sparks

Chapter 4
Discourse on "Attractiveness" and What It Means to Be a "Good Person" in Fiji

Chapter 4

Young Women's Views of Attractiveness

Young Men and Women Go for the Heart

Older Women's Views on Attractiveness

Conclusion

This chapter will demonstrate first how young women emphasize the physical connotation of the word "attractive" in their discourse, and how important it is to a young person to be what they consider attractive. By doing this, I will examine cultural models of words such as "attractive," "uro" (a Fijian word for "hunk" or "dish", whose definition will be described later), and will examine how young Fijians describe people they consider to be attractive and those who they consider to be "good people." In discussions with young Fijians about being a good person, I found that people who treat them respectfully are considered good people, whether or not they play a role in community affairs. I will then discuss how older women emphasize an attractive person to also be a good person, and one that extends his or herself to the community.

In collecting data about what different ages of Fijians considered attractive, or a good person, I simply asked people and kept their responses private. I asked these questions of women of all ages, women as well as to a few men. I did not ask these types of questions to older men, considering this topic would not be appropriate for a young woman to address in the company of an older man. This would be typical of make and female relations in Fijian society, where older men are treated with the most respect.

Young Women's Views of Attractiveness

To explore young Fijians' ideas about attractiveness in more detail, I will discuss how important the ideals of attractiveness and being uro are to young people in Fiji. That is, I will explore how much thinking about one's appearance (for we conclude that being attractive is a physical quality for young Fijians) plays a part in one's life. Here, I will use anecdotes gathered through participant observation to illustrate my points. There are a few avenues for discussing such a topic. First, I will discuss briefly the ethos of care, and how this plays into the idea of Fijians wanting their guests, and those that they care for, to not be too thin. Then, I will examine people's views on what the best type of figure to have is -- and if obtaining this is an important topic to young Fijians. (I will look at this from the perspective of both genders, though there is more of a tendency for young Fijian women to think about this topic). I will then look at what type of figure teenage boys and young men look for in young Fijian women. Since this discourse is one of judging other people's physical attributes, I will go over what women think of men, what men think of women, and how people feel about judging others. However, I will argue that although when thinking of the word "attractive" young people tend to focus on the physical, this is not something very important to them, and in fact, it is something taken much more lightheartedly than among Americans. What I have found is that, in fact, although young Fijians do speak and think about their body, that this is not an important trait when judging people in full. Rather, what is the most important for a young Fijian woman is how this person treats her.

As I mentioned in the introduction, when I first arrived in Fiji, villagers thought that I was too thin, and when I started to gain weight, they were quite proud, making comments to me, and to my host family, that I was gaining weight. All this seemed very interesting to me, as there were connections among my physical self, the Fijians, and how well they were taking care of me, although I did not fully understand the connections. However, it became apparent to me that the Fijians thought that as I was gaining more weight, that my host family felt proud I was getting a bit chubby within their home. Over the course of the first view weeks, it became apparent to me that Fijians admire robust forms, and since the ethos of care is such an important ideal in the Fijian world view, providing and serving food is embodied in this idea. Thus, a physical body reflects the care and achievements of its caretakers. Becker makes a similar point that "a body is the responsibility of the micro-community that feeds and cares for it; consequently, crafting its form is the province of the community rather than of the self" (Becker 1995: 57). Indeed, part of the Fijian world view and very important ethos of care is that they physically take care of their guests and loved ones. Here, one woman in her mid-twenties explains this common Fijian value:

People who are well taken care of can be a bit chubby. If I was still in school, and I went to a boarding school, when I was at home my parents would care a lot about what I ate, and make sure all their kids eat -- make sure that they are all healthy. But if I was away at boarding school, the body might become very skinny, because maybe the food isn't as much, or as good, or the people don't care as much as school than as at home.

This young woman describes how it is important to stay healthy, and robust, and as a parent, to make sure that one's children eat a lot -- as it displays that they are well cared for at their home, as opposed to at an institution. In this excerpt, the same woman describes why she feels proud of the idea that her four year old daughter has an large appetite, and is certainly a heavy little girl:

Even with my daughter, whenever we go somewhere, people say that she is a very healthy kid, because she can really eat, Va can. I don't care about her figure now, because she is still young. I would agree that being chubby goes along with being well cared for, this happens here in Fiji.

This particular informant does not mind that her daughter is overweight, and since she is young, believes that this is a characteristic of being healthy, and well cared for.

Among all Fijians, there are certain ideals about one's physical size. However, thinking about other people's physical bodies, as well as thinking about one's own body is typical behavior for teenagers and young adults. Specifically, young women speak of having "the right figure" and say that when they are unmarried it is important to have such a figure. The consensus among both men and women is for women to be "slim, but not too slim." Although these terms are vague, it does alert the observer that Fijians believe that their body weight should be somewhere in the middle range. Young women said that although they felt no pressure to be thin when they were younger, and were actually encouraged to be fat at a young age, they now believe that there is a "right figure" for women to have. When young girls are in secondary school, at about age twelve or thirteen, they start to think about their weight, not necessarily as an expression of being well cared for by their community, but as a component of attractiveness. One eighteen year old young women still attending secondary school shared with me what her schoolmates say about body weight. She says, "When we see one of the girls in school with a slim figure we will say, 'Oh, I want to look like that,' we think that the right size to have is slim, but not too skinny. The waist should go in, and then the backside should go out." One young woman from Suva (Fiji's capital, and a fashionable region) describes, in detail, what she believes is the best figure:

Women want to be thin, but not skinny, but then again you have some that enjoy being fat too, and that's all right. It is good to have strong legs, for their breasts to be a bit big, their waist to be small, and their bum to be a bit big. I think women want to be thin, but have some meat on them too; this is what men like in women too.

This young woman suggests that it is acceptable for women to be thin, or fat, as long as she is not too fat.

It is important to note, however, that while these women approve of and appreciate slim but not too slim body shapes, most do not try to become thin or try to cultivate a slim body through dieting. They speak of an ideal that they admire, but do not try and change their body shape by dieting. Dieting, to many Fijians, is something that is not worth doing, as weight is not a reflection of their individual worth, at any age. For example, one young woman describes why she and her friends do not worry about dieting:

Some of my friends, they do talk about dieting, they say that they want to have a slim figure. So we tell them, "Go on a diet then!" And they say, "I can't, I like eating too much!" and we all laugh. I have never gone on a diet though, I think that there's no sense in dieting because any way we look, the boys will come after us, because they're boys!

Here, this young woman speculates that even if one wants to lose weight, that it is impossible, for she enjoys eating too much. Becker also mentions that she found that Fijians spoke of not having control over one's appetite because one enjoys eating large amounts of food. Becker notes that her own findings are similar to Robert Levy's in Tahiti when he describes "a man's resignation that he cannot be thinner, as he would like to be, since he is unable to alter his desire to eat a great amount of food" (Becker 1995: 52). Here another young woman in her late twenties describes what happens when she tries to cut down on what she eats. She says, "I have tried to go on a diet before, because I don't want to grow too fat. But sometimes I can't take it because I just want to 'kana vaka levu!' (eat a lot)." Thus, the idea of not being able to control one's appetite exists, but it is something that Fijians joke about, and take lightheartedly, even though they would like to be thin.

Women, of course, also have opinions about other women's body shapes. Young women in particular said that there was an ideal body shape that they admired. The consensus among the women was that they admired a female figure that was an average size (not too thin, not too fat). As dictated by what men admire in women, young Fijian women look to be well rounded, yet not too fat. Of course young women in Fiji admire a specific shape, yet are not consumed with acquiring that shape. As one young woman said, "When I see thin girls, I think, 'Oh, that would be nice to look like that, with the right figure,' but I do not really worry about it." This secondary school student thus admires a certain figure, but does not push herself to obtain this figure. Similarly, Becker notes that in her research, "There was no association between the desire to change one's diet and the degree of difference between the self-perceived shape and the desired shape, further substantiating Fijian women's relative lack of interest in formulating attainment of an ideal shape as a personal goal" (Becker 1995: 45).

One striking element in the discourse of young women on body weight was that it had a clear pragmatic quality. Instead of talking about a good body as a reflection of self-control (as Becker, Bordo, and others suggest is typical of Westerners), young Fijian women say that they want to be slim so as to attract men. One young woman quoted earlier matches what she deems an acceptable figure with what men are looking for as well. When questioned, nearly all young women say that the reason why they want to have the right figure was so that men would notice their bodies. Here, one rather plump woman describes why it is important to have this in-between body shape:

For a Fijian, the reason women think about having the right figure is for women to look good for men. If you're too fat, no man will want you. If you eat too much, you'll get fat, and no man will be running after you. Even if you have a good face, and nice looking hair, but if you are too fat or too skinny, I think that the men will not go after you.

Here, the informant stresses the idea of wanting the right figure to attract men. Another informant shares her ideas of why being too fat is not appealing:

The main reason why girls want to get thin is to look good for the boys, to look slim. You know, guys might not like a fat lady, and me, I do not want a fat man. It's not good to be too fat, but it is good to "kana levu" (eat a lot), it is good to be in the middle with your weight.

This young woman agrees that it is important to have a figure that is neither too fat nor too thin, for this is the best figure to have in light of what young men are looking for.

Although most women think that men mostly look at a woman's physical attributes when judging her, young Fijian men said that although they do consider this, they mainly look at what kind of person a young lady is. However, in discussing women's physical attributes, men agreed that the ideal was to be "not too fat, but not too thin." One twenty-four year old young man describes what he thinks men are looking for, "The look that men are searching for in women is that 'right' look -- it's in the face, a sweet looking face, nice hair, and a good build." Another young man commented on what he looks for in a young woman:

Most Fijian men I think want a woman who is maybe a little bit fatter, not too fat, but someone who has some fat on them. Maybe bigger breasts, and a bigger behind. But for myself, I am an athlete, a soccer representative, so the kind of girl I would want is an athletic one like myself. But it is not my decision how she keeps her body. Maybe she cannot help it if she is fat. I think that most Fijian men will say that they like their women to look a certain way, whatever their preference is.

Again, the emphasis here is placed having a voluptuous yet not "too fat" figure. This informant suggests that although individual men may have their preference about a woman's physical nature, that it does not really matter if she is fat, for perhaps she cannot help it. Again, this confirms Anne Becker's idea that the cultivation of the body is not important, and eating a lot, and staying fat is not something that one should change.

Although men have opinions on what a Fijian woman should look like (and from this Fijian women create a sense of what kind of figure they would like to have), men do not suppose that women spend a great deal of time worrying about their weight. Here, one man shared with me why losing weight was not a major concern for women. He says, "I do not think that Fijian women worry about their bodies. Mostly Fijian ladies in their late twenties might start to get fat at that age, but they do not think about their bodies. They just like to eat, and then lie down and take a rest." Likewise, another young man agreed that Fijians do not spend a great deal of time worrying about their weight. One young man shared his opinion on Fijians' views on body image, "The boys do not worry about the build; the only reason we train is for sport teams. The girls do not really worry either, except when they grow fat, they begin to bother over it. It is the girls that tell each other that they are growing fat; the boys do not bother over it, whether they are fat or skinny." Here too we see that although women consider male popular opinion when thinking of themselves physically, men do not place such a large emphasis on this.

It is also interesting to consider ideas about male bodies. I asked young women what they considered attractive in males. I asked five young women between the ages of sixteen and twenty-eight to give me the terms that they would use to describe a male whom they found attractive. By looking at the list below, we can see what five young women associated with the word attractive. It is noteworthy that the first word most people came up with was "uro." In Fiji, "uro" is a slang term that literally means something along the lines of a fat in an attractive way (if the Westerner can image such a thing!), or as in a fatty piece of meat, or "fat like a baby's fat," according to one Fijian. In short, it means "fat" in an attractive, cute sense of the word. The word "uro" yelled out between teenagers, and young men and women, can be compared to the English version of "hunk", "dish" or "babe". In my questioning, I asked people what words they would use to describe an attractive person, as well as what they meant when they called someone "uro." For a table of young Fijian women's associations with these words see Appendix B.

By looking at these comments young women made on "attractiveness" and "uro" one can see that young women think of these terms as synonymous (though people might have defined the terms in similar ways just because I asked about them at the same time). For example, the second young woman used the terms "cute," "broad" and "well built" to describe the meaning of both attractive and uro. The third young woman uses the word "gorgeous" to describe both terms, while the other informants also attribute similar meanings to the words "attractive" and "uro".

Although there are ideals expressed by women for physically attractive qualities in men, there is almost no pressure for a young Fijian man to adhere to these ideals. Here, one woman describes what she finds physically attractive in young men, "For me, I look for a man that is as tall as I am, and not quite as fat as I am. Not too skinny, but not too fat." Thus, women also like men with middle-range builds. Overall, the fact that both young Fijian women and men do not have a well defined specific figure that they admire, shows that this is not the most important thing that they look for in admiring a person of the opposite sex.

Informants also mentioned that men do not concern themselves with their bodies. Here, one informant describes men's attitudes on their bodies, "Well, in Fiji, for the man, I think that they do not have to worry about their figure. Only women worry about their figure, but for the men, never. That is why these men have these men have these huge big stomachs, they never think of their weight." Although it was true, men in Fiji seemed less concerned with their physical appearance than women, a broad, muscular build -- one that exemplifies a hard worker, is admired by women.

While young Fijians frequently talk about each other's weight, it did not necessarily follow that they actually placed great importance on having the right shape as the material I discussed above indicated. I found that Fijians joke about weight in order to build rapport, and in fact do not take the comments personally, but see them as a way to develop bonds between people. One fourteen year old girl, when asked if she has nicknames to comment on other people's physical appearance, laughed and listed off many, including liliwa, (too skinny), baleta (which literally means belt, for someone who is too skinny), and "pumpkin" for someone who is too fat. Although such comments are frequent they are for the most part meant lightheartedly and not taken seriously. However, some young adults (those at the age where they felt that they did not want to promulgate communal ideals) felt that these comments caused them to feel as though they were being judged, in a negative way. For example, one young woman in her twenties commented, "I feel a pressure to look a certain way, and I get jealous of the really pretty girls; I say that I want to look like them." Similarly, another young woman stated, "Women feel as though they are being judged. If a particular woman goes out in public, if she wears a lot of makeup, people judge them, or at school, if we would feel pressure to look a certain way." Thus, in both these instances, although commenting on weight and one's physical appearance is an everyday, lighthearted part of Fijian life, and is actually part of a joking discourse, young women feel pressure due to these jokes. The second woman's remark, however, indicates that when people talk about each other's appearance they do not necessarily focus on attractiveness alone. Instead, they focus on the extent to which a person shows proper respect for others by conforming to traditional Fijian norms. According to the informant, a woman who wears make-up is clearly drawing attention to herself, and thus not reflecting communal values. This, in fact, confirms Becker's idea that Fijians look to the body not as an expression of individual ability to achieve success but as an index of how well a person respects the communal order and puts the community's interests ahead of expressing individuality.

Young Men and Women Go for the Heart

The idea that Fijians were more concerned with people's orientation toward others than in their individual achievements was also confirmed by the fact that both genders said that the most important thing that they look for is not the look of the person, but their "heart." Or as one young Fijian woman said, "There is that saying that goes, 'Don't go for the look of the person, or the skin of the person, because the skin will grow old, and the color will fade, and the heart will remain as gold.'" Many young Fijians articulate an idea similar to this one. In fact, this saying expresses a pervasive theme in young Fijians' thoughts on opposite sex. For example, here a Fijian woman in her late twenties describes what she is looking for in a boyfriend, "I know that I always talk about the look, but really I want a kind person. Our eyes tell us something different, but really it's the person inside."

Thus even though young Fijian women spend their time talking about physical features of young men, they actually look for what kind of person he is. This idea fits in with the concept of vakaturaga, and being well liked by the community, although young adults do not put as much emphasis on this idea as do older generations. Young Fijian women think that although they are looking for a young man with a good heart, the boys only look for a woman with the right build. Young women from ages eighteen to twenty-eight made statements such as this one, "I think that most boys go for the look at this age, whereas I am thinking more of the person."

Likewise, individual Fijian men also acknowledge the fact that, contrary to the stereotypes, they deem a young woman's heart to be more important than her body. One young man notes, "When I look for someone that I want to date, I start off by saying, 'Yadra' (good morning), and I observe the look in her face. You can see it in her face, if she is friendly and nice." Another young man comments, "I look for someone that is acting friendly all the time, talking to people in the village, someone who everyone admires." These two young gentlemen suggest that although they may talk about a girl's figure, they are paying attention to her personality and how she acts in the village. However, the individual men that I interviewed thought that while they are not primarily interested in the look of a woman, that this is what most of their friends talked about. My host brother shared his sentiments on this topic:

Me, when I look for somebody that I want to date, I do not look for mostly appearance. I look at the face, if she has a welcoming look on her face, which means that she is a nice person. But most other guys go for the look, or if the girl works, a school teacher or a nurse, if she makes some money.

Here, this young man says that although he does not consider the woman's physical or financial status, most men look for this. However, another young man expresses similar sentiments, "For me, the most important thing is how she's acting, not just if she is beautiful. If we just go for the look, we don't know what is in the future. But if we know her heart, then we know that she will act well with us and in the family." These passages show us that despite stereotypes that young Fijian men and women hold concerning judging each other's physicality, both genders show that they consider more than physical appearance when judging Fijians of the opposite sex.

Young Fijians say that one should looking for a mate who is a good person, despite their prevalent discourse on having "the right look." Although young Fijian men and women discuss body shapes and comment to one another on the opposite gender's physical self, they are more concerned with if someone is "a good person." In Fiji, among all generations the idea of being considered a good person is very important, for it displays vakaturaga -- a Fijian community ideal.

However, I found that young Fijians had a different view of what made a person good than did older Fijians. While older people are concerned with people displaying respect for Fijian tradition, younger people are only interested in people displaying a respectful and caring attitude toward individuals. In other words, a youth's perspective of "a good person" is someone who displays respectful qualities to individuals, as opposed to the community. Here, one young woman in her late twenties describes what a good person is by describing her best friend:

She is very kind of me, when I need help she is always there. She is two years younger than me. I admire her because she will look out for me. When I need money, she will help, or when I need to get away, she will invite me to her house. When I go for the weekend I will come and bring something, some bread, some good, but if I buy anything, she always says, "No!" Her husband tells me, "Don't buy anything for us, it's ok!" They are giving towards me.

This young woman also says that good people are those who look out for her, as an individual. Later in this interview, she speaks of her parents as the ideal "good people." She mentioned that they are good to everyone in the community, that they have given her much love and support during difficult times that she has experienced. In this next passage a good person is described as someone who shows interest in this young woman, as an individual, and is respectful towards her:

For me, I can say a good person is someone who cares about me, or looks out for me. The turaga ni koro (village spokesperson) is someone in the village who is particularly a good person to me. Every time he looks at me he says, "yadra" (good morning), and when he talks to me he talks slowly, and just a little bit of joke, and then a small laugh. He is very polite. When he borrows something he will always give it back.

Here, we see that this young woman admires someone who is a good person, particularly to her. The idea of the "turaga ni koro" being a good person within the community is not as important as the fact that he treats her respectfully. Likewise, a young woman of eighteen shares her thoughts on judging a person based on their character, rather than their appearance, "When I think of the kind of person that I want to marry, I think that as long as someone loves me, I am not going to go for his look, I will see how he treats me first." Thus, the importance of treating the ego respectfully is stressed among women when judging men. Young Fijian men hold a varying belief on this topic.

Interestingly, although young Fijian women judge young men's treatment towards them as the most important thing, young men stress how a young woman that they are interested in will act within the community, as opposed to how they will act towards their husbands or boyfriends. For example, according to interviews, young men will look to see how a young woman acts within her own village or community, or within her own family, before bringing her to his own community and family. Here, one young man shares with us why it is important to judge young women based on how they act within their own family and community:

For me, the most important is first to know how she's acting. Not just someone beautiful. If we just go for the look, we don't know what is in the future, no matter how you look, if we know that she has a good heart, we know that she will act well within the family. Some of the men, who just look for "uro" (good looking), they do not know how she will act when they bring them home to the family. For me, I just want to know how she's going to act in the family. If she will be acting good towards my parents, obeying the rules, or will she do what she wants. Can this girl help my parents? The family? When I bring her home, she is supposed to do the same thing that she does at her home, so I will try and see how she acts at home, so I know she will be acting good when I bring her home to my parents. That's the one that I want to find. And that would make her attractive, if she could do that for me. If she could play that role within the community it is better, and it is attractive to me because she would be helping my parents -- bringing us food, and caring about the family.

When my parents are old, and they can no longer work, we will help, and the girl that I marry will be able to help cook food, and my mother and father will have a rest because they are old. So she will act like a mother, taking care of my parents, washing clothes, taking care of the family. If she can look after my family, and treat them well, and get along well in the village, that is the most important thing.

This young man clearly stresses that although he is not interested in searching for a woman with the "right look," he is interested in finding a woman that treats his family and his community respectfully.

Since men have a more satisfying role in society, their ideas are similar to mainstream, communal Fijian ideals. From this idea, perhaps the reason why men of all ages agree with Fijian popular culture's notion of an attractive person is because they are more satisfied with their societal roles than young women are. Thus, one may argue that in Fiji people who are more satisfied with their role in the community express ideas closest to the cultural norm. This idea will be explored in further detail in subsequent chapters.

Perhaps men express views that are more like the mainstream views because they have more control over their lives and so are more satisfied with their bodies. Young women, who have little power in the years after marriage, worry with good cause about finding a man who will treat them well, for they have seen many cases of young wives who are abused by their husbands and can do little to help themselves. Young men, on the other hand, do not have this same fear of being abused so are not as concerned with finding a wife who will treat them well. The statements of one young woman confirm these ideas. She says:

In my opinion, there is a reason why the girls are going more for what kind of person the boy is. They want to make sure that they will be treated well. Like in my family, the girls are well cared for, and they want to continue that trend during their married years. Some boys really do care for the girl, but others, if the girl does anything wrong, she will get a beating or a punch. So the girl must really look for a good person, with a good heart, because when she gets married, that is something that she might face, and a good person will be less likely to beat her up. For example, my tavale tells me that she thought her husband was very handsome when they married, but she was not looking to see if he was a good person, and her husband always beats her up, so a girls must be very careful to find someone who treats them well.

I heard similar things from other young women.

In conclusion, Although young Fijians talk about how they want their boyfriends and girlfriends to look, both genders articulate the idea that a person's character is more important than their physical body. This is in keeping with the Fijian ethos that places more of an emphasis on being a good person than on appearance. However, there are gender differences in young Fijians' sense of a good person. While young Fijian men follow the mainstream Fijian world view of a good person being someone who puts the community's needs before one's individual needs, a young Fijian woman idea of a good person is someone who most importantly treats her respectfully, and then displays vakaturaga, acting respectfully within the community.

Older Women's Views on Attractiveness

There was a striking difference between the ideas of young men and women and those of older women. Older Fijian women discuss attractive qualities as those that exemplify a person's community-oriented spirit, displaying vakaturaga. They say physical appearance is unimportant and those who worry about their appearance are seen as selfish, and too individualistic. To older women, attractive qualities are displayed through one's efforts on behalf of the community, rather on one's individual appearance. In analyzing middle-aged to elderly women's discourse on terms such as "attractiveness" and "good person" we can see that they are almost one in the same, and that these women place a high priority on being a good person that is someone who displays personal characteristics of working for the community. This, to them, is attractive.

Although there is less of an emphasis among middle aged and older Fijian women on physical appearance, there is still quite a large discourse involving commenting on other people's bodies (as is the case with all Fijians). For older women, attractive means cultivating a body that reflects an ethos of care in relation to the community. Here, one middle-aged woman describes why it is important for Fijians to offer food, care and love to guests. Note here that this middle ages woman seems to care more about public opinion than do most younger women and, therefore, expresses views that are much like the dominant values:

It is good for you to gain weight while you are here. It is very important mainly to us, because you can go back to your father and mother and other relatives, and they will look at you and say, "What have you been eating over there in Fiji? You must have lived happily with your Fijian family." Because then you will tell your parents what you have experienced, and they will say, "Fijians took care of our daughter very well, they love her like we love her, they are very caring," and it is important for us to be caring towards others. So by you getting fat, giving you food and drinks, and by the way that your Fijian family is keeping you safe at night, shows that we Fijians are very caring people.

This middle-aged woman emphasizes that the "right figure" is one that reflects harmonious relations within the community. Thus older women do discuss people's bodies just as younger women do. In fact, older women spend quite a lot of time talking about who has gained and lost weight. They tease people who gain weight and make jokes to each other about being too fat. For example, at a handicraft workshop one woman jokingly commented that all the women who were so fat that their bottom went up over their heads when they were trying to stand up should stay home for the first day of the workshop, when the important guests would be there. This discourse shows that the older women like people who are fat more than people who are thin because for them this says that the person is a real Fijian who eats a lot, enjoys life and is not hung up on appearance.

As with young Fijian women, the "right" size or figure is not too fat, but not too thin. A body that does not stand out too much on either extreme is considered the most desirable for younger women. Older women exempt themselves from these standards, saying that after marriage a woman should not be concerned with her figure but instead should worry about looking after her family. Here, one mother of eight children, the eldest being in his mid-thirties, shares her thoughts on the right figure, "If you eat the right amount of food, you will have the right figure. Not too fat, but not too skinny. In my opinion, I'd rather be in the good figure -- not too skinny, not too fat. It's good to see people in the middle." Here, another "Nana" or mother comments:

A woman who is attractive is nice looking and acts respectfully. It is good to have some fat on you. Like if she's thin, then people will say, "What kind of family does she come from, what kind of food to they feed her," people will talk. In Fiji, you must offer people food, it is part of our tradition.

Thus, this middle aged Fijian woman also draws attention to the idea of not being too thin and having a family that cares for a young woman enough so that she eats bountifully.

While older Fijian women emphasize similar characteristics concerning individual body image as do young Fijian women, the older women repeatedly gave a specific reason to have this middle body shape, and this is so that the individual will be able to perform work and tasks for the community. The idea of being not too fat and not too thin, to them, is closely related to the idea of being able to extend one's efforts for the good of the community. This is a perfect illustration of Becker's idea that Fijians look to body shape as a manifestation of proper orientation toward the community rather than as an expression of individual ability to achieve great things. For example, one middle aged woman fervently comments:

In Fiji, if you are too fat, you cannot do the work properly, you might get a heart attack or something like that, and if you are too skinny you also cannot do any heavy work. It is good to have the right figure, the right weight, so that you can be strong and do the work properly. You should have strong calf muscles. This way you will be able to do the work properly, and it will look good in the figure that you carry. It is important to be strong everywhere though. Every part of the body must be fit -- inside and outside. The heart and the lungs, and all the muscles must be fit. If one part of your body is sick, or in pain, then you can not do your work, and this affects your whole body, and you will not be able to do the work, to help out in the village. That is why I am telling you that every part of the body must be perfectly well. To keep your body well you must eat the right amount of food. You must wake up early in the morning, walk around, and go for a stroll in the morning or in the afternoon, so that you can complete your work that day.

Again, this woman's comments confirm Becker's suggestions about Fijians. She says, "Fijians specifically associate ideal shape with physical characteristics suggesting strength or the ability to work hard…" She goes on, "Fijians believe that hard physical labor necessitates eating large quantities of food, [and that one] can see it in the shape of a person… the ability to work hard… [and] the shape of a strong calf is associated with the woman's ability to work" (Becker 1995: 36). In Becker's research conducted several years ago, and in my research as well, the idea of having a body that will work for the community, as opposed to having a body which portrays an person's individual cultivation of their autonomous selves, is highly valued. The following chapters will try to explain why it was that this discourse of working for the community was so strikingly absent among younger women.

The fact that middle aged and older women focus on what the body can do for the community is reflective of how they define a good person. Middle-aged and older Fijian women judge a good person by how well they act with others in the village, and like the young Fijian women, middle-aged women deem it more important be a good person than to have the right look. As one woman said, "It is more important to be a good person, whether you are black or white, or any kind of look you've got, it is more important to be a good person in your community." However, what is the middle-aged Fijian view point of a good person? One sixty-two year old women says, "A good person is a caring one. Fijians will praise someone who is caring towards other members of the community. A good person tries to help." Here is one example of the idea of "a good person" from a woman in her fifties:

You can tell a good person by the way he or she talks, and how they interact with others. When you have an occasion in your village, you can see how they act in public towards others in the village. If you ask is someone is a good person, someone will tell you, "He does work in our village" or, "He is a good community worker." A good person will go around the village door to door and see if people need help.

Thus, middle ages women are less concerned with whether a person is good to them than if a person works well within the community. They look for someone who is looking to devote their time and energy to the community, as a whole, as opposed to one specific individual. To middle aged women, this is an attractive quality. As one Fijian woman said, "Someone who is attractive is loving, joking, and sharing. An attractive person is also a good person, someone who is respectful, helping others, helping the community. This is an attractive person as well."

Conclusion

This chapter has shown that both young and old Fijians are more concerned with the way individuals treat others than with individual achievements. This is reflected in a discourse of attractiveness where people comment that slim bodies are attractive but that they are more concerned that an individual treat others well. However, there were also clear differences according age and gender. While young women said that they like kind and considerate people, they did not talk about helping the community or respecting Fijian culture in the same way that older women and young men did. In the following chapters I will explore the reason for this, suggesting that younger women were likely to be dissatisfied with their position in the community and that they, therefore, did not subscribe in full to the conventional ideology of community. This partial alienation from Fijian values also led to the greater preoccupation with physical attractiveness that I have discussed in this chapter.

On to Chapter 5...