THE EDITOR, Sir:
I READ with interest the letter of 'Downtrodden' of Kingston 8.
If Jamaican women are still regarded as chattels it is because they wish to be regarded this way.
Jamaica and its Justices will afford women the respect and equality they deserve when our women respect themselves and teach the equality of both genders to their male children. The judicial system perpetuates the typical Jamaican mentality of many women is better than one because our women tolerate this behaviour in our men.
Jamaican women slave day and night cooking, washing and cleaning for men who take them for granted and cheat on them. Why tolerate the disrespect just to have a man? What does this teach our children? Girls will grow up expecting this behaviour from their future husbands, and boys will grow up thinking this behaviour is normal for men. The treatment Jamaican women receive is a result of what they allow.
I grew up in a home with a stepfather who is a prolific womaniser and serial cheater. My mother is still with him and the cheating continues and has even produced a child. She continues to stay even though the man has lost his job and continues to cheat. Even an educated woman like my mother subscribes to the mentality that she 'needs' a man; even she has become the sole provider.
Why do Jamaican women think they cannot survive without a man? 'Downtrodden' claims that, "to survive after the fact, Jamaican women have to prostitute themselves by seeking out other men to provide for their children and themselves." How about trying to depend on themselves before relying on a man, and teaching this idea of self-dependence to their children as they get older?
After being involved with a Jamaican man for a period of 10 years I finally came to the realisation that he was looking for a substitute mother to continue slaving for him. His mother cooked, washed and cleaned for him and he expected this 'kingly' treatment to continue. Yes, I was being regarded as a chattel because he had one at home the same gender as I am. Jamaican men look for another mother when they choose their wives, and then they look outside the matrimonial home for a partner.
Jamaican women, it is time to let your voices be heard by these men and your children and then it will resonate in our country and the judicial system. This is the 21st century. Stop slaving for these men and your sons and teaching your daughters, by example, that they should do the same and be dependent on these men. The problem does not lie in the judicial system but in your own homes.
I am, etc.,
ENLIGHTENED AFTER LEAVING JAMAICA
New York
Via Go-Jamaica
