User:Angeneil Martin/Edits for Gender Theory in Gardening in the Tropics

= Gender Theory In Gardening in the Tropics =

The stories being analyzed in this article are taken from Olive Senior's book entitled 'Gardening in the Tropics'. The dialect chosen can be examined, from a gendered perspective base on gender ideologies, as well as how the themes of each story such as heteronormativity and Caribbean family structure plays a part in the portrayal of Caribbean masculinity and femininity in Caribbean culture. It is important to look at Gardening in the Tropics through a gendered lens as it helps to better understand the harsh social realities faced by men and women in the Caribbean.

Brief Background of Author
''Why do I write?... I have finally accepted the fact that, yes,''

writing is what I am suppose to do with my life; it is the way I affirm myself.

— Olive Senior, Interview in Callaloo, 1988

Olive Senior was an acclaimed poet and author born in 1841, and Gardening in the Tropics and her other published short stories and poems were inspired by the socio-historical context of the Caribbean during this time. Senior started writing early, however she started quietly publishing her work in the 1970s, as for her, initially, writing was only a means of escape, from her own reality and to experience the realities of others in her society. As a native of Jamaica, Senior expressed the complex socio-cultural aspects of the island, and the wider Caribbean, which she saw as her inheritance. Senior was raised in the Cockpit Country located in Trelawny, Jamaica and lived in this rural area of Jamaica with her stay at home mother and her farmer father. She grew up with a detailed understanding of the ecology of the Cockpit Country and the Caribbean and displayed this understanding through her pieces in the Gardening in the Tropics collection. Senior grew up with a mixed heritage, which was as a result of her multiracial ethnicity. Though this is so, Senior was not born wealthy and was not treated differently by the villagers. In interviews, Senior stated that race is important, but social class is far more important in determining your place in the complicated web of the social hierarchy of Jamaica. She stated that she became cognizant of racial discrimination after she left her childhood home, through how she was treated in an interview with the Jamaican Gleaner in 2004. Senior also recalled of childhood memories of her being shuffled between her isolated down to earth in the mountains, and the material wealth of her maternal great uncle and aunt who had no problem flaunting their affluence and class. It was through the consistent periods of travel between these two realities and her subsequent travels and migrations that Senior began to understand the realities and plight of migrant minorities. With the research she engaged in throughout her career on the many socio-cultural realities faced by her people, Senior published her last piece of extensive literary work (Gardening in the Tropics) which gives way for a complex discussion of these class, race and gender issues, with varying representations of the related concepts.

Prominent Themes

Caribbean family structure and Heteronormativity
We are apart of a society where we are segregated because of our gender identity, and are prescribed with roles that we are expected to play out. It is important to note that while a person’s appearance makes it easy to identify their gender, there or other factors that are not so visible. Mary Talbot mentions how important speech and diction is to gender identity as well as the impact of complexity of language and other social barriers on worldwide gender segregation. Gender socialization according to Lindsay tells us the "expected cultural behaviors related to masculinity and femininity." In simpler terms, gender socialization is what society deems as acceptable based on our assumed gender. These "acceptable" behaviors are normally based on a heteronormative perspective. Caribbean masculinity is taught based on a heteronormative view. Heteronormativity is the belief that heterosexuality is the norm and as such all relationships, behaviors and attitudes are fitting in the scope between the opposite sex. For example, in Jamaica the accepted relation is that which consists of persons who’s biological make up makes them man and woman. This ideology adds to the oppression on dehumanization of persons who fall outside of the scope of heteronormativity. Society can be a very harmful place for Gay Men, and Trans men who are constantly being pressured into the stereotypical views of masculinity but masculinity is not constant. It’s As Lewis states ‘if one accepts that masculinity is not a fixed notion but one that is constantly changing and adjusting to new circumstances, then clearly there exists a space within which men can navigate these new challenges that face them in the changing social environment of the Caribbean'. Beckles states that ‘By fixing reality through language and fantasy, slave owners denied that enslaved black men were “men” in the sense of their ascribed normative characterization of manhood.’ And we see how society as created and stuck with a certain type of masculinity that men in the LGBT community are not able to live up to thus “stripping them of their manliness”. In the Caribbean we are taught that the family is made up of parents who are men and women as it co-relates to the notion of heteronormativity. in each story, we see evidence of families that are consistent of men and women being parents. In the text, the families that Senior introduced were mainly broken families which are prevalent throughout the Caribbean. in these families such as the one described in All Clear 1928, the man or father is usually absent and the role of both parents rests on the shoulders of the women and mothers. it is also to be noted that there was no mention of a family which had both parents being of the same gender or sex, and this is because of the heteronormative principles that have been taught.

Caribbean Femininity
Femininity is a socially constructed term that alludes to a set of characteristics, attributes, behaviors, and roles which are usually associated with women and girls. Throughout the text, Senior introduces various types of women who undermine the traditional ideologies of what it means to be woman. Some of the women in the text, display an alertness and took on dominant attributes which shy away from the subordinate nature that women are expected to have. A prime example would be the Amazon women who, took on the protective and domineering roles when their spouses went on voyages. These women displayed an urgency to help themselves and bonded together to defend and protect their livelihood. Senior attempts to provide an alternative historical narrative to the traditional view of Caribbean femininity thus, the women displayed in Senior’s text actively challenge the patriarchal system which exists in the Caribbean.

Meditation on Red
This poem contains the story of a daughter visiting her mother's grave and reminiscing on the life her mother had lived. the colour red which is mentioned in the title represents the mother's fiery approach to life, even though it was not kind towards her. Meditation on Red poses as the first poem that actively challenged representations of femininity. The poem addressed to Dominican-born writer Jean Rhys (1890-1979) by an unknown narrator (most likely the author) (Senior,23). The poem describes the life of Rhys and highlights the positives and negatives of being a migrant woman. The poem describes Rhys as a literary foremother which Senior herself has confirmed in interviews. One of Rhys’ greatest contributions to Caribbean literature was the poem ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’ is referenced several times in the poem ‘Mediation Red’. The poem speaks to Rhys exposure to racial prejudice with the analogy of dark voyager while referencing her critical contributions to Caribbean literature: with Senior writing

you launched

is so seaworthy

. ..

dark voyagers

like me

can feel free

to sail. (lines 241-243; 246-248). The poem also speaks to the tenacity of Rhys, particularly in the more difficult parts of her life and introduces Rhys to the difficulties of the reality of black migrant women.

All Clear 1928
Similarly, the poem ‘All clear 1928’ speaks of migration and alludes to the migration of black Jamaican men to Panama to work on the Panama Canal many of which did not return. The poem critically examines the repercussions of such actions from the perspective of the women and children left behind. The poem’s persona Esmie who found herself in a position where her husband had left to work on the canal in an attempt to better the lives of their family. Esmie expressed her feelings in the poem in the lines 46-47 “All, all the men went with our dreams, our hopes, our prayers”. . Several of the men, including Emsie’s husband, never returned and consequently, abandoned their families. The poem uniquely explores this aspect of the Jamaican socio-economic history from the perspective of a woman who was left behind with her children by her spouse. women like Esmie, had to become creative in finding a way to protect and feed their children. As our Caribbean tradition stands, one of the ways in which women generally do this is by entering relationships with other men in hopes that they will provide a secure and safe helping hand for her children as well as her self. Esmie played into this old narrative when she entered a marital arrangement with a carpenter. At the beginning of the 19th century in the Caribbean women entered monogamous unions and marriages to counteract the harsh economic reality that they were subjected to the worst and lowest-paid jobs in the workforce. These unions provided the stability and protection they could no longer provide for themselves. These unions contributed to the cultural practice of Caribbean women staying home and receiving income from their significant other. The writer highlights that the reality that for Esmie, her decision was practical and functional for her and her children given the socio-economic context of the Caribbean at the time.

Amazon Women

“Amazon Women” is a feminist poem with a tongue in cheek sense of humor. It portrays a group of women who, in the absence of their male partners, bonded together to protect their homes and resources from preying eyes. These women challenged the stereotypical norms and perspective of femininity as they were far from being submissive and weak. The poem opens with the persona narrating her version of the origins of the Amazons. The Narrator highlights the popular folktale of the Amazons being an all-female community. The Amazonians in the poem are reminiscent of Greek mythological figures who were a society of warlike women who were known for their courage, pride, and riding skills. These women were known to live on the outskirts of unknown territories. Senior utilizes the representations of these women as a vehicle to explore history through the perspective of Caribbean women who challenge traditional ideas of western femininity. Examples of such are observed throughout the poem such as “Nanny the Maroon queen mother” (line, 73), “the fair Anacaona: Taino chieftainess” (line,74-76), And finally, “the Carib women whom the said Colón relied on for navigation through the islands” (lines,76-79). Senior uses these examples of powerful Amazonian like Caribbean women to establish historical continuities between these powerful South African amazons and modern Caribbean women who display a tremendous amount of strength and tenacity in the face of adversity. Senior achieves this by constantly drawing attention to the more sensational aspects of the myths of the South American Amazonian women then recalibrating and re-examining these said aspects. In addition to discussing the importance of these alternative versions of femininity by displaying examples of Caribbean women like this.

Caribbean Masculinity
Senior's portrayal of men and masculinity in Gardening in the Tropics varies greatly from her portrayal of women. The men portrayed in the body of work are presented as irresponsible, unreliable, selfish, and in extreme instances violent. Multiple poems in the collection portray women taking care of their children and households while highlighting male absenteeism due to a myriad of socio-economic factors. This matrifocality is a central theme in Caribbean history, as the plantation society's slavery system did not facilitate fathers playing active roles in the lives of their families. Consequently, this matrifocality contributed to the belief by traditional Caribbean men that their presence was unwanted and unnecessary in the family. Documentation of the behavior of men in the slavery system revealed that men were stuck in a state of perpetual infant hood. Therefore, due to this behavior men were not prepared to participate in parting as infants are not fit to manage families. Senior demonstrates this male absenteeism in several poems such as ‘Hurricane Story 1988' were the female persona attempts to raise her children without male presence or assistance and to a lesser extent, the poem "All Clear 1928" similarly highlights a matrifocal household paired with male absenteeism. Other poems such as "Amazon Women" view and describe male presence as problematic and often results in violence such as Toeyza, whose affair with her lover, Walyarima, incited her husband to kill him as a lesson to all wives.

Immovable Tennant
The poem, the immovable tenant can be interpreted as a cautionary tale of Neo-colonial relationships. Additionally, the poem examines male-female relationships. It focuses on ‘the old woman who is spirited and determined to warn others of the man who exploited her. She is powerless, and her exploitation was viewed as a consequence of her lack of economic independence. Contrastingly, the antagonist is an arrogant man, who does not show any concerns for the victims of his exploitation and is content with amassing his fortune.