CARIBBEAN STUDIES

WORKSHOP
PREPARED BY :DENISE DENNIS
ESSAY OUTINE

 QUESTION:Discuss how the ideology

“Feminism perspectives” and the activities of
feminists have contributed to new ways of
looking on Caribbean development (30 Marks)
 Feminism
Equal
gender equality Opportunities
Act

Increased
Feminist Caribbean
educational
activities Feminism
Knowledge opportunities

(12 marks) Ideology

The women and
development
Intellectual
tradition
unit of the UWI

Patriarchy
Use of knowledge (12marks)

This is one of the

This type of feminism sees men as earliest ideologies
being the main agent of female developed by feminists
exploitation. This is so because the
– that the sexes were
patriarchal nature of society has given
men the upper hand over women equal, and should both
which leads to exploitation. Women enjoy political, social
experience various forms of and economic equality.
Feminism Radical Liberal
exploitation such as rape, sexual The idea is to
Perspective feminism harassment at wok, domestic Feminism
‘equalise’
violence, trafficking. Radical feminism opportunities for both
believes men exploit women in order genders as much as
to advance themselves in society. For
example, traditionally males would possible rather than
get education or work, but the woman maintaining the idea of
place was to be in the home. difference between
the genders..
Feminism Perspective (cont’d)
 Marist Feminists
Marxist feminists believe that the relationships between men
and women as set up by capitalism encourage the oppression
of women. The economic system (the‘substructure’) and the
legal system, politics, religion, education and the family (the
‘superstructure’) are all dominated by a patriarchal system
of beliefs. In a capitalist system the traditional work of
women (reproduction, caring, nurturing, homemaking) is
devalued and subordinated to men’s work outside the home.
 
 Black Feminist
They looked at the oppression and inequalities faced by
African, Asian and Latin American women. They believe
more attention should be given to the inequalities suffered by
women by virtue of the ethnic group they belong to. This is
because they believe that some women are discriminated
against as a result of colour and class. This is particularly
relevant to the Caribbean situation.
 CAFRA- One of the major inroads into Caribbean
feminism has been made by CAFRA (Caribbean
Feminist Association for Feminist Research and Action). Through
this group women are able to explore and celebrate their
activities and achievements. It provides a voice for women.

its CAFRA has also been monitoring the Caribbean Single

Market and Economy and has identified the areas of
contributions potential benefit to women. CAFRA intends to
intervene in the implementation of this regional
to Caribbean agreement on behalf of women.

development See women’s activism as the major avenues through

which equal opportunities canbe established for women.
Movement of socialjustice,
 promoting rural development through women’s development
and women’s development through rural development

contributed to new ways of looking on Caribbean

WAND development, by advocating that any form of development
planning must be informed by the experiences, knowledge
and reflections of community members. By extension,
women in rural areas are particularly empowered and
educated about how they can transform themselves.

Form women groups to related to domestic violence,

effective parenting, reproductive health, HIV and AIDS,
mobilising the community for action and conflict resolution.

Help build preschools,and projects in Rose Hall, St Vincent, and La Pointe in St

Lucia.Participation in these programmes helped to give women a voice in the
community and honed their advocacy skills.
  Feminism activities has caused has influenced
legislative changes that enhance women’s status
including laws relating to:
child maintenance
heritance
citizenship
FEMINIST matrimony
health choices
ACTVITIES Rape
contraceptives and abortion
 In addition, the work has influenced changes in state
policy with laws being enacted such as the Domestic
Violence Act, Sexual Offence and Equal
Opportunities Act. It has also challenges some of the
pre-existing laws that deals with equality
 Socially, Feminist and women’s group has advanced the cause of women by
facilitating public discussion and carrying out and disseminating research on the
improving the status of women in the Caribbean. Women have made other gains
for example they can seek a divorce and hold a bank account.

Economically, feminist has insisted on gender equity and so does certain international
lending agencies. As a result of empowering women, Caribbean countries would obtain
funding to sponsor projects to actively develop their societies.

FEMINISM AND
CARIBBEAN Through advocacy work done by the Feminist, women are now empowered to take
charge of their reproductive health.

DEVELOPMENT
WAND

seek to show that development cannot be successful if the reality of women’s lives,
particularly rural women, is left out of development planning