Analysis of Caribbean Gender - Essay Sample

Introduction

Both race and class have superseded gender as the major organizing force for change and resistance in the Caribbean dominance systems. The dominance of class, color, and race in the Caribbean colonial society is known historically to have made the gender issue superficial to an understanding of power, change, and dominance (University of the West Indies (Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago), Mohammed, & Shepherd, 1999). The dominance of race and class also provide the central constraints around which the symbolic, cultural, economic, and political dominance are ordered. It is worth noting that since time in memorial, Caribbean societies have been characterized powerlessness, implying that society was ruled by white metropolitan rulers. Thus, class and race reinforce each other with the superior being at the top of the social order and the oppressed at the base (Barriteau, 2001). Based on this information, I agree to a large extent that an analysis of gender in the Caribbean is incomplete without consideration of the race and class.

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Gender Analysis

One of the subjects that have been eminence over the most recent couple of decades are the gender issues and discrimination, which has influenced most of the time people both gender and their role in the public arena. Imbalance, monolithic groups, riches, education, power, religion and human rights are just to mention, a portion of the things that are associated with gender issues. Presently, it is important to clarify that not only the females suffer from gender problems, but now we are surely the populace most influenced in general. Regarding this, the general public comprises of people of different races and social classes.

To start discussing the origin of gender problems is important to comprehend the idea of human rights because a great deal of the verbal confrontations originates from it. This idea began in Greece with the founders of democracy, who trusted each choice made by the administration needed to experience a race and votes. For this situation, the group of "Stoics" (Greek philosophers), suggested that human rights should exist as an all-inclusive constant because people exist.

Once the law created as an idea and began spreading through the world, human rights were fused as a major aspect of the local constitutions and are to be regarded in the entire world. The second viewpoint to mull over is the culture and conventions. Since each culture has distinctive convictions about how a general public ought to be overseen and dealt with, at that point, the contentions emerged between nations, societies, customs, and genders. The Caribbean, for instance, is an incredible case of men relocation. They leave to other close nations like the Latin America and the United States, to provide to their families, so the role of the female gender comes to play matriarchal families (Carpenter, 2017). While men are away for some time, females deal with youngsters and make due meanwhile with private companies in the region offering products, or being part of small industrial facilities. In the other hand, women from different parts of the world, are known for relocating towards wealthier societies and work in areas like manufacturing plants, tourism, training, human services and some other local occupations.

Many people don't fit the roles society credits to them, and this is destructive, particularly when a role is pushed onto the person who can't successfully do it. This is brought the differences in race and social classes. This gives insight into the idea of social connections. In spite of the fact that, being the 21st century where many people are freed, in the Caribbean, it is as yet bound to happen and we have a far way (Heuman, 2003). Several homes are still of the conviction that the ideal family is an atomic one with daddy being the provider and defender while mother oversees family unit operations and sustaining of the youngsters. A woman's accomplishments are as still tied to what number of children she has, or if she's wedded, regardless of how high up the corporate ladder she has climbed, because it is trusted that it's intrinsic for ladies too long for a family to be parental figures and nurturers. While despite what might be expected it appears as the standard for men to be continually working, stoic and having very little respect for the kids or running of the family unit. However, different social classes and gender influence how a particular family operates and delegates duties to persons of each gender.

The roles of gender are cut clear characterized by society based on who ought to do what, along these lines influencing Caribbean individuals experiencing considerable difficulties with the nature of roles in regards to family. The present makeup of the Caribbean indicates families being progressively driven and headed by females, as most people will tell in Jamaican language; 'mi mother develop mi,' or 'mi granny develop mi. This prompted the idea advanced by Edith Clarke where she investigated the subjection roused familial structures in Jamaica portrayed by fatherly nonattendance, parental recklessness and the ascent of the maternal family. Her discoveries do give insight into why maternal families are expanding and a portion of the impacts of this, with the 2005 UNICEF production Situation Analysis of Jamaican Children demonstrated that more than 45 for every penny of Jamaica's homes are female-headed we see this even in our present state (Hetrick, 2018). But does this happen in other races with various cultures? Definitely no.

Despite these issues, youngsters do require the influence of both male and female in their lives to guarantee a balanced childhood. The roles credited to moms and the different ones attributed to fathers are sufficient reason concerning why a mother can't 'father' a kid in Caribbean culture. This perspective is exemplified by Linzie Lazarus Black, as her paper laid out how the differential embellishment and desires are so stark conversely that it is relatively outlandish for either to do each other's tasks. Many might consider women to be the head in Caribbean families with a lacking presence of men in the home and may interpret this to the mother also 'fathering.' However, the mother still just completes her credited role of sustaining with the additional factor of sole provider, but she doesn't go up against wholeheartedly the role of fathering as many of the actions would be in insubordination of society's expectation of her efforts (Stubbs, 2003).

Conclusion

Based on the gender roles in the Caribbean society which are different from other races and various social classes, I agree to a large extent that an analysis of gender in the Caribbean is incomplete without consideration of the race and class. Both race and class have superseded gender as the major organizing force for change and resistance in the Caribbean dominance systems. The dominance of class, color, and race in the Caribbean colonial society is known historically to have made the gender issue superficial to an understanding of power, change, and dominance.

References

Barriteau, E. (2001). Constructing Gender Containing Women: Promoting Gender Equity in Caribbean States. The Political Economy of Gender in the Twentieth-Century Caribbean, 74-94. doi:10.1057/9780230508163_4

Carpenter, K. (2017). Situating Sexuality in the Caribbean. Interweaving Tapestries of Culture and Sexuality in the Caribbean, 1-13. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-58816-2_1

Gordon, D. (1989). Class, status and social mobility in Jamaica. Mona, Jamaica: Institute of Social and Economic Research.

Hetrick, J. (2018). African Lace-Bark in the Caribbean: The Construction of Race, Class and Gender. Dress, 1-3. doi:10.1080/03612112.2018.1430713

Heuman, G. (2003). The social structure of the slave societies in the Caribbean. General History of the Caribbean, 138-168. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-73770-3_5

Stubbs, J. (2003). Gender in Caribbean history. General History of the Caribbean, 95-135. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-73776-5_6

University of the West Indies (Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago), Mohammed, P., & Shepherd, C. (1999). Gender in Caribbean development: Papers presented at the Inaugural Seminar of the University of the West Indies, Women and Development Studies Project. Kingston, Jamaica: Canoe Press University of the West Indies.