Running Head: CASE STUDY ANALYSIS 1

Case Study Analysis

Carissann Modeste ID# 311102246

The University of the West Indies

Open Campus

Tobago
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Jamaica is a commonwealth nation under the British monarchy, even though it is in fact

an independent country. It is a beautiful Caribbean country approximately 100 miles west Haiti.

The term gender represents different meanings of what is acceptable behavior for males and

females. A favorite definition of gender comes from Barriteau (2005), who referred to gender as

that behavior that causes women to see themselves as powerless and men to perceive themselves

as powerful. In Jamaica, the issue of gender roles and gender stereotypes are ever present. Being

a country still under the influence of the British monarchy, where patriarchy is the norm, the

prevalence of gender inequality is therefore customary. Within the case “A Study of Women.

Politics, Parliaments and Equality in the CARICOM Countries- Jamaica case study,” there are

obvious gender issues. The presence of negative stereotypical gender roles, lack of

empowerment and gender inequality all in favour of women in politics.

Defining gender stereotypes and gender roles is an important foundation in understanding

the underrepresentation of women throughout the Caribbean, especially in Jamaica, with regard

to politics and parliament. Myers (2013) defines gender roles as “a set of expected behaviours for

males or for females” (p.158). What this speaks to, are the responsibilities, expectations as well

as relationships of women and men in society. Simply looking at the way in which I mentioned

the word “women” before “men” would be considered abnormal by many, as one may be gender

stereotyped to place the words in reverse order. This brings us to the definition of gender

stereotypes. A Dictionary of Sociology (1998) stated that “Gender stereotypes are one-sided and

exaggerated images of men and women which are deployed repeatedly in everyday life” (as cited

by UWIOC, 2020). One-sided images of men include them always being strong, insensitive and

protectors as opposed to women being gentle, sensitive and nurturing.

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The way in which women are stereotyped in Jamaican politics can be explained by the

way in which individuals are socialized. Sociological oriented theories emphasize how institution

systems (such as education or religion) determine social constructs. (Lorber, 1994). This theory

encompasses an individual’s entire lifespan from the moment they are born a specific color is

attached to their biological sex that depicts and determines what gender identity is established.

Within the case study we see that the number of women appointed to political posts was

increasing at a faster rate than the amount of women elected. Thus, the representation of women

at the Senate is twice that represented at the House, the Senate being the appointed posts and the

House being elected posts. According to Faieta, McDade and Arias (2015),

“This may suggest the possibility that the general public (the electorate) does

not wholeheartedly accept women as legislators or in decision-making positions,

given the impact of patriarchy and sexism in the country that has been noted in

documents such as the country reports to CEDAW” (p. 12).

This way of thinking, according to sociological oriented theories, stems from the fact that women

in Jamaica, and by extension the Caribbean, by virtue of their socialisation to caregiving and

nurturing roles are less suitable and accepted into political roles. Even today, when mention is

made about a politician it is a man that comes to mind. The initial stereotype of male and female

is fortified by societal patterns and behaviours with regard to gender, and as result, the cycle of

gender stereotyping continues from generation to generation.

The feminist theory is a sociological oriented theory that “aims to understand and

improve women’s position in society’ (UWIOC, 2020). The lack of equality within the political

society is what I believe propels the feminist theory or rather females, to fight to be placed in

policy making positions to implement a balanced narrative of what is expected from the female
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sex. I am reminded of a famous feminist mantra made in the late 1960s and 1970s: “The personal

is political” The dispute that drives this mantra is the fact that most of the issues and problems

women experience are not caused by their own ineptitude, lack or anything similar: they are

however caused by bigger and wider political forces and systems at work that make these

problematic outcomes inevitable. Herein lies an emotional difference between genders.

The fact that we usually think politics typically requires people who are strong and even

aggressive, speaks explicitly to the fact that gender is a social construct and legitimizes

sociological oriented theories.

In addition to sociological oriented theories, there is evidence of the Object-relations

theory as proposed by Nancy Chodorow (1978). Although she comes under the bridge of the

psychoanalytic theory, which speaks predominantly to Sigmund Freuds’ unconscious ideas, there

is some merit to her findings. Looking at the fact that political decision making has been a

tedious task for women in the Caribbean in general, the underlying reasons can be linked to the

object relations theory. According to UWIOC (2020):

“she stresses the importance of sexuality, but she believes the family structure

and the child’s early social experiences, rather than unconscious processes,

determine sexuality. She believes that the fact that women

are the primary caretakers of children is responsible for the development of

distinct gender roles.”

The “she” represents Nancy Chodorow. This theory in my opinion actually emphasises

sociological-oriented theories in that it speaks to social experiences shaping the development of

gender roles. When playing as children, generally girls are encouraged to play inside with tea

sets and dolls, mimicking their mother, while boys are encouraged to be outside getting dirty as
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well as cuts and bruises. Additionally, due to this way of socializing boys are essentially

emotionally bullied to not express themselves with statements like “boys don’t cry,” while girls

receive “ little girls must be seen and not heard.” This is the foundation that creates emotional

gender differences. As these children grow older the political space is seen as masculine. The

way in which males and females express their emotions as adults suggests that gender based

differences exist.

According to Chaplin (2015), a combination of biological, social development and social

constructionist theories all explain the development of gender differences (as cited in UWIOC,

2020). Chaplin (2015) also found the fact that the Gender schema theory is one social-

developmental theory that proposes that boys and girls develop cognitive schemas for gender

based on observing their environments (para. 6). Having a patriarchal environment in Jamaica

therefore will breed adults that subscribe to that norm, which can be seen in the lack of female

representation in politics.

Slaughter (2012) says:

“ If women are ever to achieve real equality as leaders, then we have to stop

accepting male behaviour and male choices as the default and the ideal. We must

insist on changing social policies and bending career tracks to accommodate our

choices, too. We have the power to do it if we decide to, and we have many men

standing beside us.”

This excerpt suggests that both men and women should confront gender stereotypical behavior.

In abandoning masculinism (assumption of male superiority) and patriarchal values and beliefs

as a measure for members of society. This should be addressed so as to stop the way in which

women, as well as men view themselves regarding their expectations in society.

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It is important for individuals within the public environment to understand the value of

gender differences. All males came from a female and all females can attribute their life to a

male. I believe the sexes compliment each other in the areas that the other is lacking. After

working in campaigns or in the field during election in Jamaica, Faieta, McDade and Arias

(2015) shared that “Once elections are over, it would seem that ‘Business As Usual’ (BAU) is

normally declared, with gender inequity continuing to go unaddressed’ (p.26). This shows a

reinforcement in both positive and negative gender roles in the society, with greater emphasis on

the negatives. It is because of a lack of understanding that women are still experiencing sexism.

Women are not encouraged to pursue politics as a career because it is dominated by males,

women may not be considered for upper management positions because of the chance that she

may go off on maternity leave or already have children to take care of. Not forgetting that

women are still being paid less than males in the same positions.

Even though gender equality remains an unachieved goal, it is important to not only

recognise the male and female gender but also the Gender and Sexually Diverse (GSD)

community. This might be easy to say on paper when Jamaica has been characterized as one of

the most homophobic and transphobic societies globally (Smith, 2017). However, having

policies in place with regard to equality in wages for all genders is a great way to begin closing

the gap between genders at the workplace. Additionally, educating the masses on the effects of

gender biases will be beneficial in changing the social norms. If what the sociological-oriented

theories say is in fact evidenced, then a conclusion can be made that targeting adolescents before

they reproduce can change an entire generation’s perception on gender stereotypes as well as

gender biases.
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Encouraging boys at an early age to express themselves without fear of ridicule, allowing

girls to climb trees and play with trucks, are all ways to challenge and eventually change the

norms. With regard to women in politics, the implementation of projects such as the Promoting

A Culture of Equal Representation (PACER) for example in Sierra Leone where women are also

underrepresented in politics, is an excellent way to improve on gender biases. The PACER

project include “Activities include providing tailored training to would-be candidates in public

speaking, campaigning, communication, leadership, and fundraising, and encouraging and

mobilizing people to support the right of women to stand for office” (Hoare, 2015, p.58).

Projects such as these not only help change the attitudes about gender roles and gender

discrimination by making more women visible as leaders, thereby they will be seen as roles

models, but it will also improve the quality of government and thus will contribute to the

country’s development.

Much like PACER, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) has developed an action plan

with regard to gender sensitive parliaments, that include strategies such as increasing the number

of women in parliament, strengthening gender equality legislation as well as mainstreaming

gender equality throughout all parliamentary work. (Faieta, McDade and Arias, 2015, p. 31). It is

known that politics requires a hefty investment of finances, effort as well as time. If anything, a

woman in politics on her own is a role model, as she would still have the gender stereotypical

responsibilities to cook, clean, wash, and take care of the children and husband on her personal

manifesto. Overall, education of the issues surrounding gender can change societal norms for

when one knows better, they should do better.

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References:

Barriteau, E. (2005). Chapter 7: Gender Stereotypes: Masculinity and Femininity Retrieved

From http://www.feminish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Brannon_ch07.pdf

Chaplin T. M. (2015). Gender and Emotion Expression: A Developmental Contextual

Perspective. Emotion review : journal of the International Society for Research on

Emotion, 7(1), 14–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073914544408

Faieta, J., McDade, S., and Arias, R. (2015). Where Are The Women? A Study of Women,
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Politics, Parliaments and Equality in the CARICOM, United Nations Development

Programme. Retrieved from

https://www.undp.org/content/dam/jamaica/docs/gender/JM%20Where%20Are%20The

%20Women%20Jamaica%20%20(1).pdf

Hoare, J. and Gell, F. (2009), Women’s Leadership and Participation: Case Studies on Learning

for Action. Retrieved from

https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/115530/bk-

womensleadership-091109-

en.pdf;jsessionid=F3B998257D0F05830717EBADB435063B?sequence=5

Lorber, J. (1994). Paradoxes of gender. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Myers, D. G. (2013). Psychology. New York: Worth Publishers.

Slaughter, A. (2012). Why women still can’t have it all. The Atlantic. July/August

Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-

cant-have-it-all/309020/2/

Smith, D. E. (2017). Homophobic and transphobic violence against youth: The

Jamaican context. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 23(2), 250-258.

doi:10.1080/02673843.2017.1336106

UWIOC. (2020). Gender and Psychology. [PDF Document]. Retrieved from Lecture Notes

Online Website https://2019.tle.courses.open.uwi.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=97175