Women from the Pacific Islands are often perceived by Europeans as passive beauties dancing the hula with a flower in their hair, as docile companions of European or local men or as naive personalities surrounded by an endangered environment. But far from that male Western reception of women's status, which can be found in documentaries, motion pictures as well as travel and adventure literature, women are active and resolute agents who self-confidently shape their societies through their courageous and determined acting in public as well as in their communities. The current volume of Novara - Contributions to Research on the Pacific wants to deliver insights into the lives of women from the Pacific Islands and shows how they deal with shifting gender relations in changing societies. Traditions and adjustment processes to changing living conditions of women and men in Papua New Guinea, Palau and New Zealand present fascinating research fields, which open up the view to new living models apart from Western gender concepts.