A NEW element was added to the ongoing debate on gender issues in the
Caribbean when the University of the West Indies (UWI) Press yesterday
launched a book, Learning To Be A Man: Culture Socialisation and Gender
Identity in Five Caribbean Communities.
The book, written by Professor Barry Chevannes, is a qualitative study of the
way male children are socialised in the Caribbean, and focuses on urban and
rural communities in Dominica, Guyana and Jamaica.
Prof. Chevannes, who is Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the UWI
Mona, noted during the launch that male socialisation cannot be seen simply
as men passing on values to other males, but the passing on of values to men
from a variety of sources in society. He said his research found many areas
of similarity in male socialisation processes across the region and seeks to
understand why these similarities exist.
"I know there are difficulties with generalising the results of qualitative
studies. Qualitative studies tend to be very specific and oriented to a
particular context," he told the gathering. "But there are remarkable
consistencies to be found across the region as to the kinds of values that
are inculcated in our males."
