Peter Espeut, Contributor
OVER THE last two weeks I have been trying to describe the present crisis in masculinity in Jamaica, but I see that I have not been entirely convincing. Writing a letter in last Saturday's Gleaner, Nicola Barker-Murphy of Greater Portmore, St. Catherine, asserted that "There is no crisis in masculinity," as she puts it, "just as the male marginalisation thesis is a myth."
Yet, male underachievement in education and across the economy cannot be denied, and needs to be explained. Ms. Barker-Murphy's explanation is to blame "the behaviour, attitude and outlook of most men who see fit to sit down and blame women, the education system, the economy, etc., for where they are at, rather than seek to take responsibility for improving their circumstances." In her letter, she blames me for "reinforcing what is wrong with masculinity". What a heavy burden of guilt she places on my shoulders!
POWER STRUGGLE
These last two weeks, I have been trying to argue maybe not well that the crisis in masculinity is caused by a power struggle within Jamaican society; not a struggle between men and women (the so-called 'Battle of the sexes' in which Ms. Barker-Murphy is engaged) but as a part of the ongoing struggle in Jamaica between races and classes. Last week, I touched on Errol Miller's thesis of the status hierarchy set up by the plantation: white man, white woman, black woman, black man. Jamaica's education system which is heavily skewed in favour of women, was not established to favour women but to keep men down not all men, but a particular class of men.
I have always been struck by the fact that there are twice the number of girls schools than boys. Why? I have always been struck by the historical locations of our high schools. Why do you think that a big sugar parish like St. Thomas didn't get a high school until 1961? A big banana parish like St. Mary had to wait until 1961 to get a high school which would admit boys? A big sugar parish like Trelawny had to wait even longer for a high school that would accept boys? There are two high schools for girls in Montego Bay and only one for boys? No serious analyst of the Jamaican scene could blame women for the sorry plight of most men in Jamaica today.
BLAME GAME
It is unfortunate that, so often, gender analysis has been reduced to sexual politics and a blame game. Healthy relationships between the genders will not become the norm until the members of both genders join together to deal with the forces which keep both sides from progress. To this extent, the 'Blame the men!' approach of the gender politicians has held everyone back.
On now to solutions. That also deserves a three-part series. I believe that an important place to start is to remove the gender bias in our education system, which starts in the primary school where the vast majority of our teachers are female. Preference is shown to girl pupils; boys are routinely seated at the back of the classroom where they receive less attention.
It is a well-known psychological fact that boys develop later than girls, but yet they are almost universally placed in classes with girls at an early age, and are constantly outperformed by them (from whence begins their marginalisation). The GSAT (formerly the Common Entrance Examination) is insidious because it pits boys against girls in an unequal battle which the girls are guaranteed to win.
A COLOSSAL FAILURE
I believe in separate gender education up to age 17, when (say the psychologists) the boys catch up to the girls in levels of conceptual development. I think it is time for us to admit that the great Jamaican experiment in coeducational secondary education has been a colossal failure, and the exam results clearly show it. Immediately, more male high schools should be built to redress the serious gender imbalance (at present there are 14 girls' high schools and only seven for boys). Coeducational schools should become single gender schools; as an alternative, boys and girls should be placed in separate streams.
Jamaica is suffering a crisis in masculinity, and we don't talk about it enough. So many of us are seriously affected by it, and we don't even realise it. The symptoms of the crisis are so damaging to our society and to many individuals, that I believe we are dealing with a national pathology that needs serious treatment. What do you think?
Peter Espeut is a sociologist and is executive director of an environment and development NGO.
