TOO MUCH of what Barbadians associate with masculinity is rooted in violence.
Minister of Labour Dr Esther Byer-Suckoo made this complaint yesterday as the United Nations launched the Caribbean part of its international programme to end violence against women.
“Our construction of masculinity appears to be all tied up in an enormous validation of that which is violent,” she told the opening session of the two-day meeting at Hilton Barbados.
“We hail the risk-takers. There is a celebration of the ones who do not back down, the bad boy who will fight and display the scars as boasting rights.
“We ridicule the man who claims his loyalty and fidelity to one woman, and sometimes we scourge the man who faithfully supports his child and even his ex-spouse in an attempt to ensure that his child is well cared for.”
According to the former Minister of Family, Youth and Sports, masculinity appeared to be tied up with “the notion of hyper-heterosexuality, multiple partners and homophobia”.
This “construction of masculinity” causes an increased male vulnerability and provides the opportunity to deliver violence and to receive violence, she charged.
“This masculinity is sometimes fuelled by a further notion of a guaranteed male dominance, supported by a feminine subordination that belies the state’s investment in educating all of its citizens, boys and girls, men and women from birth until death as they say,” she said.
The UNITE against violence meeting has attracted a number of attorneys general and other government ministers from the Caribbean and the Americas.
The meeting’s theme is Strengthening Accountability And Changing Culture To End Violence Against Women In The Caribbean”. (TY)
