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Gender and Society in Trinidad and Tobago

Gender roles in Trinidad and Tobago are influenced primarily by legacies of patriarchy and colonialism. Baptiste asserts that historical views of race and colonialism impact Trinidadian culture in such a way that are often excluded from Western feminist studies. "Caribbean gender theory has to wrangle with the boundedness of patriarchy at the same time as it tussles with the barnacles of colonialism and imperialism." Gender performances in Trinidad and Tobago occupy three distinct spaces: physical, social, and cultural. Baptiste argues that the physical, public spaces represent a "postcolonial essentialist collage" in which performances are gendered by the socialization of gender roles according to very essentialist views of men and women. Many public spaces display African imagery, primarily from Nigeria and Ghana because these nations are still Trinidad and Tobago's closest political allies and cultural beacons. These social spaces provide an outlet in the face of a country struggling with increasing crime rates targeted toward women.

Cultural Spaces and Islam

As far as cultural spaces are produced, Trinidad and Tobago has a large interconnected Muslim population that showcases the duality of public/private spaces. Scholars point to the contrast in which Muslim women within the country perform gender in order to express self-empowerment. Many of these women do not identify as feminist due to the conflicting nature of Western feminism in relation to the historic patriarchal influence of Islam. Baptiste and other scholars point to expressions of piety from Muslim women to expose the monolithic narrative that all Muslim women--even those living within the Western world-- experience oppression due to Islam. In fact, Baptiste argues that "an uncritical adoption of hegemonic feminist theory leads to the reproduction of somatic norms" within the culture. Public education within Muslim communities in Trinidadian culture does not require Islamic schools to adhere to any state curriculum; these cultural spaces operate in a unique, interconnected space. Here women can remain devout in their Islamic faith while simultaneously maintaining their social membership to a larger Trinidadian culture. Baptiste explores how Muslim women in Trinidad and Tobago "possess as much or as little spatial autonomy as any other woman in Trinidad. If there are constraints on the woman’s mobility, it is more gender than religiosity."

Wage Gap

Research shows that there are substantial wage differences between men and women in Trinidad and Tobago. While women account for the largest entry into both the workforce and education, a 2015 study shows that their wages are still less than men. According to CONSAD Research Corporation, there are six key factors that influence this wage gap: occupation, human capital, work experience, career interruption, motherhood and industry sector. Even with these in mind, Mahabir & Ramrattan assert that discrimination based on sex is apparent when critically examining similar scenarios affecting both men and women. The greatest disparity comes from the fact that married women or those in common law marriages still earn disproportiante wages compared to men in the same scenario. While Trinidad and Tobago is ranked 50 out of 148 countries by the Gender Inequality Index, the major factors that influence workplace disparities are inherently gendered.

Role of Music in Gender Performance

In an analysis of music and its influence in Trinidad and Tobago, Hope Munro Smith investigated the nuances of calypso music with respect to gender performance. She discovered that representation in calypso music was gendered by a large margin that favored male performers over females. Smith presents the historical context of public ordinances that forced the female influences on the culture underground. This resulted in public performances of calypso being co-opted by "middle-class businessmen who charged a set admission price." Public performances by women were seen as uncivilized and Smith asserts social workers saw it as their duty to subdue the performances of these lower class women. While male calypso performers were revered, the female performers were mocked and given names not unlike Jezebel that roused suspicion of the female's character. Calypso scholars point to the fact that the genre "became increasingly and almost exclusively a forum for the fiercely competing [male] egos"

By the end of the twentieth century, female performers in Trinidad and Tobago had been socialized to be inferior and ultimately invisible. Smith believes they had all but disappeared entirely. This was a means of social control over women who saw the male performers of calypso as idea caricatures of men; "the ultimate sweet man" who has sex with anyone woman he wants because he is so desirable. Possession of women is seen as the ultimate reward both in bed and in society. Smith presents this "I'll do what the hell I like" as an attitude that is gendered to favour males and sexist against females. The performances are socialized in such a way that woman will faun over male singers and present him with sexual favors and anything else that will keep him around. Smith's final assessment is that "music in Trinidadian context takes a very significant place alongside larger political projects and concerns." The performances of male dominate the culture creating a narrative that man's rightful place is to dominate this and other arenas. Just like in calypso music, man's domination of women is a cultural experience that socially controls woman's position in bed, in family, and ultimately within Trinidadian society.

Sources

Alexandre, Michelle. (2006). Dance halls, masquerades, body protest and the law: The female body as a redemptive tool against trinidad's gender-biased laws. Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy, 13. Retrieved from http://www.law.duke.edu.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/

Baptiste, Jeanne. P. (2016). Gender practices and relations at the jamaat al muslimeen in trinidad. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, 1780310091. Retrieved from http://www.proquest.com/docview/1780310091

Mahabir, Reshma & Ramrattan, Dindial. (2015). Influences on the gender wage gap of trinidad and tobago. World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, 11(2). Retrieved from http://www.proquest.com/docview/1674910155

Smith, Hope Munro. (2004). Performing gender in the trinidad calypso. Latin American Music Review/Revista De Música Latinoamericana, 25(1) Retrieved from http://www.proquest.com/docview/748695410