Are our Males in Crisis and are They Being Marginalised?

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What is male marginalisation? This may be termed as placing men on “back burner” within society, and viewing them as no longer masculine but as a figure taking up space in society with no specific role or responsibility. The structural functionalist see marginalisation of men as “those who associates relatively infrequently with other members of the group and is on the fringe of the effective ties which binds the group together” (Barrow & Reddock, 2001).

There are scholars who believe that men are being marginalised and that it is a growing issue within the Caribbean context. Men are said to be treated insignificantly in Caribbean societies and are losing their dominant roles within the educational, social, political and economic spheres of life. The idea of male marginalisation was coined by Errol Miller who states that Caribbean men are indeed being marginalised. “In an unjust gender system there is unequal access to and distribution of material resources and power” (Barriteau, 2000). In the Caribbean, legislations were created to remove aspects of institutionalized discrimination against women which resulted in an expansion of educational opportunities for women. The emergence of the women’s movement which advocated for equal rights is what is said to be responsible for the marginalisation of men. This movement increased participation of Caribbean women in the labour force in larger numbers as women began to penetrate professions that were once male dominated. Miller describes Caribbean societies as a “lower-strata men’s marginal positions in the family, role reversal in a small but increasing number of households, boys’ declining participation and performance in the educational system, the greater prospect of men inheriti...

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.... Ian Randles

Publisher. Kingston.

Bartley, E. M. (September 14, 2003). Reconstructing Black Masculinity. Sunday Jamaica

Gleaner. Retrieved from http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20030914/focus/focus4.html

Chevannes, Barry. (1997). What We Sow and What We Reap. Problems in the Cultivation of

Male Identity in Jamaica. The Grace Kennedy Foundation Lecture Series. Kingston.

Figueroa, M. (2004). Male Privileging and Male Academic Underperformance in Jamaica. In

Redddock, Rhoda (ed.) Interrogating Caribbean Masculinity. The UWI Press. Kingston.

Macionis, J. & Plummer, K. (1997). Sociology a Global Introduction. Printice Hall Inc. New

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Miller, Errol. (1991). Men at Risk. Jamaica Publishing House. Kingston.

Miller, Errol. (1986). The Marginalisation of the Black Male: Insights from the Development of

the Teaching Profession. ISER.Kingston.

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