Sex, Gender and Society - Essay Example

Sex, Gender and Society In a reflective analysis of sex and gender in relation to society, the prevalent conception is that women have been the single prey of widespread gender stereotyping in the contemporary world. However, there have been several illumining research findings which underscore that is not the female gender alone who become victim to gender stereotyping, but males of particular societies are affected by the general gender stereotyping. Thus, in an important research analysis, Kathleen Phillips-Lewis summarises that "gender stereotyping has not only put pressure on our women but also on our men, who equally did not conform or fit in to pre-defined European male stereotypes. It is not in keeping with the notion of 'machismo' to do lots of things considered to be rooted within the female domain, like cry, show emotion, tend to babies. The fact of gender stereotyping therefore has put the spotlight back on the Caribbean male. (Lewis, 1994, p 76). In other words, it has become one of the most perceptible gendered realities that the men in the Caribbean territory are in crisis in the modern world and the Jamaican realities of gender regarding the marginalisation of black male substantiate the argument. In fact, the marginalisation of black male in the Caribbean territory, especially in Jamaica, has emerged one of the pertinent discourses in the contemporary discourses of Sex, Gender and Society. "Central to this discourse is the notion that men are increasingly missing from the higher echelons of the family, the classroom and the labour force. The marginalization thesis prompts a variety of understandings. On the one hand, the increased presence of Jamaican women in education, the labour force and as household heads suggests that the nation's traditional patriarchy is being reordered to produce a new female-dominated gender hierarchy." (Lindsay, 2002, p 56). This paper undertakes a reflective analysis of the thesis, with reference to the territory of Jamaica, that Caribbean men are in crisis examining the relevance and accuracy of this argument and finding the most illumining recommendations as resolution. One of the salient recent developments in feminist and gender studies in the Caribbean region is the emergence of studies of masculinities and the most appealing argument, based on the marginalisation thesis, is that the Caribbean male is an endangered species. There have been convincing data evidences and empirical supports to this significant argument by Lindsay, and the evidences from the education sector best substantiate the point. Thus, "the Anglophone Caribbean is one of the few regions where secondary school enrolment of girls exceeds that of boys. Additionally, by the 1986-87 academic year, total female enrolment at the University of the West Indies slightly exceeded that of males. By the end of 1992, 70 per cent of all graduates from the University of the West Indies Mona campus were female." (Reddock, 2004, p ix-x). Therefore, it is obvious that there are stunning empirical evidences to prove the accuracy of the argument which states that Caribbean men are in crisis. According to Lindsay, a clear understanding of the data regarding Caribbean women's participation in different areas of the family, workplace and classroom rarely suggests the increasing female dominance and converse male marginality. To her, the marginality of males in the land results not from any concrete material reality, but from a gender based methodological frame which identifies some data source and ignores others. That is to say, there are arguments in favour as well as against the data evidences of male marginalisation. "While a number of scholars have been able to challenge the marginalization thesis successfully, it continues to have great impact, causing expressions of concern from the highest levels of government and from quasi-governmental institutions at national and regional levels." (Reddock, 2004, p ix-x). Therefore, it is all but easy to conclude that there is great accuracy of the marginalization thesis which states that Caribbean men are in crisis. In a close analysis of the marginalization thesis as proposed by Keisha Lindsay, it becomes lucid that the limitations of the argument reach beyond its narrow methodological approach to data and data collection. One of the most central drawbacks of the thesis is found in its epistemological frame which is grounded on the essential re-inscription of masculine and feminine gender constructs, rather than on the radical reordering of these. "Far from advancing any fundamental reordering of gender constructs, the marginalization thesis arguably perpetuates the age-old patriarchal construct - that of women as the 'lesser', inferior being. At the heart of the marginalization thesis is a presumption that women and women's advances are solely the by-product of men's endeavours." (Lindsay, 2002, p 56). Therefore, she resorts to the arguments by Miller who claims that the marginalization thesis is about men relaxing their patriarchal closure and allowing women education, employment and earnings in comparison with those of men. In defining the marginalization thesis, Lindsay argues that the evidence of black male marginalization is in men's diminished roles in the family, school system and workplace, whereas the reason for the marginalization thesis may be found in the universal order - that which oppresses men and women alike. It is based on this understanding that Miller describes the Caribbean men's increasingly diminished role "in the family, role reversal in a small but increasing number of households, boys' declining participation and performance in the education system, the greater prospect of men inheriting the fathers' position in the social structure, the decline in the proportion of men in the highest-paying and most prestigious occupations and the decrease in men's earning power relative to women's, especially in white-collar occupations." (Miller, 1991, p 93). Thus, the proponents of the theory admit that women, through history, have been subordinate to men in the general hierarchical order of patriarchy. In other words, the hierarchical sexual division of women's life-giving and men's life-taking powers underlie the subordination of women and the men's role has been more decisive in social order than that of women. One of the most relevant arguments by the marginalisation theorists has been relating to the 'alien men' and to those logicians, patriarchy is not only about men dominating women, but also about men dominating 'other men'. "Today, while the units to which men belong and have primary allegiance may have changed from lineage, family or kin group to city, nation, class, religion, party or race, patriarchy's implicit problem - its inability to deal humanely with men of rival lineages - stands unchanged. As a result, those deemed "alien" men continue to be marginalized and subjugated, not through physically barbarous means, but via the 'remote manipulation' of their 'access to commodities, services, capital and symbols of material progress.'" (Lindsay, 2002, p 58). Therefore, marginalization theorists, in the due course, conclude that the context of men's own fight with other men for dominance of power, wealth and status summarises the consequential subordination and emasculation of the men who fall short in their ascendancy to power. And, it is within this same context that one needs to comprehend the contemporary emasculation of the black male in the Caribbean region, particularly in Jamaica. Another major concern of the marginalisation theorists is the role of the patriarchal order in the liberation of females within the social setting and women are the real champions of this order within the Caribbean region, particularly in Jamaica. Men have struggled for power in the social order and this provided scope for women's liberation, which in turn deepened the marginalisation process of the black men. "If 'alien' men have been the historical and contemporary losers in the patriarchal order, marginalization theorists assert, women have emerged the clear victors. While the patriarchal order has been clearly responsible for female subordination, marginalization theorists contend, the same patriarchal order has also created a significant 'space' for female liberation... Evidence of this 'relaxation' in the Caribbean...is clear... Women's liberation, in short, is the ultimate consequence of men's power struggles." (Lindsay, 2002, p 59). According to the proponents of the marginalisation theory, there are striking empirical evidences to prove their argument and they make reference to very concrete and easily recognisable empirical realities of black male marginalisation. Thus, they place evidences from within the family, education, and employment to prove the systematic marginalisation of the black male in the general social setting. In a reconsideration of the so called empirical realities, which highlight the Caribbean women's superiority over men in education, employment and family, it becomes lucid that there are several inconsistencies within the given empirical evidences. For example, the proponents of the marginalisation thesis failed to address the true nature of the statistical data provided. The major challenges to the relevance and accuracy of the arguments by the marginalisation theorists mount from a reflective analysis of the statistical data concerning the superiority of the Caribbean women within education, employment and family. To understand the status of women within family, it is important to deconstruct Caribbean matrifocality, as several researchers in the area understand the Caribbean family as matrifocal. "The Caribbean family has long been characterized by various researchers as matrifocal, as manifest in the number of female-headed households within the region. In pointing to the notion of a matrifocal Caribbean family, however, scholars often fail to recognize that there is no implicit correlation between female household headship and actual social and economic power within the family structure or in the wider society." (Lindsay, 2002, p 62). It is important to realise that headship status has never been economically empowering for Caribbean women and it has significantly affected the economic progress of these women. Lindsay provides compelling evidence to prove her point and ultimately argues that the marginalization theorists' failure to fully conceptualize matrifocality itself undermines their attempted reconstruction of a matrifocal Caribbean family. The same argument is explained by Patricia Mohammed in her critique of conventional matrifocal analyses of the Caribbean family. "Matrifocality may imply that the women in a society have a 'rather' good status generally, or that they have more control over income and expenditure; in another context it may refer to a situation where women are the primary earners in the household. Elsewhere it may refer to those societies where male absenteeism leads to a predominance of households headed by women. Which aspect of matrifocality can we assume exists in the Caribbean (Mohammed, 1988, 171). Lindsay's arguments about the gender ideology and education in the Caribbean context also challenge the relevance and accuracy of the arguments by the marginalisation theorists who argue that the Caribbean women have considerable educational pace in the contemporary era. In fact, the fundamental aspect of this progress in female education in the Caribbean region is their greater presence in all levels of educational system. Thus, the marginalisation theorists fail to recognise the maintenance of patriarchal sex role stereotyping in every sphere of the region's educational system, when they focus entirely on enrolment levels of females in comparison to males. According to Mark Figueroa, academic underperformance may be realised as an important aspect of maleness in Jamaica. In fact, academic underperformance of the Caribbean males needs to be comprehended in relation to the historical privileging of males. To quote Mark Figueroa, "The decline of male, compared with female, academic performance in the Caribbean and a number of other areas globally has captured the attention of professionals as well as lay persons. This decline has sometimes been portrayed within a conceptual framework of male marginalization/victimization. What I provide here is an alternative way of viewing the phenomenon. Instead of seeing the current 'underperformance' as a result of male marginalization or victimization, I demonstrate how it might be conceptualized as an ironic consequence of historical male privileging." (Figueroa, 2004, p 137). This also suggests that there have been significant flaws in the arguments by the marginalisation theorists and the accuracy of the marginalisation thesis is questionable. As the relevance and accuracy of the arguments by the marginalisation theorists can be challenged from the epistemological point of view, it is important now realise the realities concerning male marginalisation in the Caribbean region of Jamaica. "The solution lies in understanding that the thesis of marginalization of the black male is fundamentally flawed at an epistemological level - its limitations lie not just in an inadequate use and analysis of existing data, but in an epistemology or theory of knowledge which systematically invalidates women and women's experiences." (Lindsay, 2002, p 69). However, the basic reality remains the same - the role of men in the Caribbean region of Jamaica is in crisis and it is important to undertake some essential strategies to improve the situation of men in the region. In conclusion, the most essential strategy to improve the situation of men in the Caribbean region of Jamaica is to understand the specific realities of Jamaican males concerning their historical privileges. To Mark Figueroa, "the male gender has been privileged historically in Jamaican society. The male gender has had access to a broader social space; it has had greater control over a wider range of resources and has been more able to enjoy the resources that it has controlled; it has maintained a more prestigious position in society as a whole, and has exercised greater power in practice, regardless of the respective power potentialities of the genders in history." (Figueroa, 2004, p 138). A profound understanding of these ground realities of the land is important in adopting any specific strategy. Secondly, it is important that the males in the Caribbean region of Jamaica are more exposed to education. The education system in Jamaica is primarily occupied by the females from the elementary level to the higher level of education and it has resulted in the empowerment of women as against the marginalisation of men. Therefore, an illumining strategy is to improve the educational status of men in Jamaica. Finally, a restructuring of the patriarchal hierarchy within the Jamaican society is recommended, as the gender stereotyping is mainly the result of the existing patriarchal hierarchy. In short, strategies to improve the constructive development of the society from the point of view of both the sexes is fundamental to deal with the specific issues in the relationship among sex, gender and society in the Caribbean region of Jamaica. References Figueroa, Mark. (2004). "Male Privileging and Male "Academic Underperformance" in Jamaica." Interrogating Caribbean masculinities: theoretical and empirical analyses. Rhoda Reddock. (Ed). University of the West Indies Press. p 137. Lewis, Kathleen Phillips. (1994). "European Stereotypes and the Position of Women in the Caribbean: An Historical Overview." Crossroads of empire: the European-Caribbean connection, 1492-1992. Alan Gregor Cobley. (Ed). Dept. of History, University of the West Indies. p 76. Lindsay, Keisha. (2002). "Is the Caribbean Male an Endangered Species" Gendered realities: essays in Caribbean feminist thought. Patricia Mohammed. (Ed). University of the West Indies Press. p 56. Miller, Errol. (1991). Men at Risk. Kingston, Jamaica: Jamaica Publishing House. p 93. Mohammed, Patricia. (1988). "The Caribbean Family Revisited." Gender in Caribbean Development. P. Mohammed and C. Shepherd. St Augustine. (Ed). Trinidad: Women and Development Studies Project, University of the West indies. Reddock, Rhoda. (2004). Interrogating Caribbean masculinities: theoretical and empirical analyses. University of the West Indies Press. p ix-x. Read More