In Fijian ceremonies men are the ones who sit in the respected areas. Male domination runs more deeply than the physical aspect of where men sit. It is a controlling force in many of the areas that surrounding gender relationships. It is an underlying theme that pervades the way that men and women perceive themselves and their situations. It has effected why women get married, engage in sexual intercourse, and their premarital relationships.
Women often feel pressured to accept marriage proposals from men.
They also feel pressured to engage in intercourse when a man asks them, and many premarital relationships start because the man is interested in the woman. These ideas will be explored throughout this paper. The final aspect of Fijian society that must be understood is the amount of exposure that they have had to other cultures. Around two hundred years ago British missionaries came to Fiji and colonized. It was under the British Commonwealth for many years and is now again a part of it.