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We are the Beast_ On Toxic Masculinity and Social Responsibility in Disney's Beauty and the Beast

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We are the Beast_ On Toxic Masculinity and Social Responsibility in Disney?s Beauty and the Beast

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What does seeing vulnerable and motivating stories like Errol Fabien's mean when it comes to showing positive role models? We can ask this question or recognize that seeing more relatable stories and representations of men choosing different paths than what's been portrayed in the past has also had its effect. As mentioned, things like the music industry and history can make a huge impact, especially the opportunity to get a wide platform to do so. Would you say Fabien's life story is part of what masculinity means? Why or why not? Would you say Fabien is a positive role model?

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What are young people being told about male behaviour? Everyone loves mainstream movie productions and rightfully so, they are part of a lot of people's childhood. But there are many messages about what gender roles are and who one should be. Of course, the intention is not to take fictitious movies and relate them to reality, as one would presume. However, to a child, the information they are absorbing is different from how things are.

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In this volume, it is revealed that well-known movies such as Beauty and the Beast aren't a great depiction of what masculinity is. However, we can educate young people on the realities of social responsibility. We can't rely on any kind of entertainment industry to do so, seeing as the message from them isn't always meant in a time and space for young children trying to understand the world.

How has fiction from the entertainment industry, literature and your environment influenced your views on gender roles or masculinity?

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TEDxUWI Caribbean Story-Errol Fabien- Learning How to Learning

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What is a men's role in the Caribbean? Examples of this are shown generationally. Seeing both men and women working within these communities gives young boys a visual representation of careers and gender identity (timestamp: 3:48, 5:55, 9:47). Scotland addresses the power of our voices and how many issues can be resolved by using our voices for different social issues, such as negative stereotypes and negative influences from our environment.

How do these mixtures of cultures affect us emotionally and socially?

Does this have a part to play in with gender identity or masculinity?

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Child of the Caribbean | Baroness Scotland | TEDxPortofSpain

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Baroness Scotland gives one of those rare talks that explores identity, inspiration, global politics and leadership. She teases out some of the lessons that the world can learn about living peacefully from one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse regions of the world, the Caribbean.

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Transforming Caribbean Masculinity: Dr. Peter Douglas Weller at TEDxPortofSpain

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Dr. Peter Weller is a Clinical Psychologist whose current work is dedicated to training clinical psychologists and also to engaging men in exploring their concerns and partnering with women to achieve gender equality and social justice.

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In this song by a popular dancehall artist, Vybz Kartel or Adidja Palmer, has made it clear what he thinks masculinity is about. The persona of the "badman" entails a dominate and aggressive character. One who does not fear authority and plays by their own rules. As his following continues to grow so does his message on masculinity. This influence on the vast majority, most of which are male, has it's impacts.

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Jamaican Masculinity: The Nexus of Testosterone and Culture Nicholas Smith Macaulay Honours College 225

As you read page 58 of this volume, Smith starts off by introducing science into the topic on masculinity. Here are two quotes I want you to consider:

"In the scientific community, researchers acknowledge that androgens affect physical, psychological and behavioral changes in individuals" (Smith 58).

"Common Jamaican wisdom holds that aggression, jealousy, lust, possessiveness, dominance, and competitiveness are “male-typical” behaviors driven largely by testosterone or as symptoms of its decrease (Low Testosterone, 2015). Since one of the main distinguishing biological factors between males and females is the ratio of sex hormones they produce, it is reasonable to imagine that these hormones must have influence on sexualized behaviours such as these" (Smith, 58).

What relevance does this have to masculinity? Would one say that science is a part of the reason we define masculinity as it is both scientifically and socially structured or is there more to it?

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Is this Conversation Still Worth Having?

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Is this Conversation Still Worth Having?

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I want to preface this by saying there are a plethora of issues that the Caribbean is facing. As of today, does how Jamaicans define masculinity have a role to play in this generation or later ones? Is this worth investigating?

After I present the collected data shown throughout this poster come back to this question. The goal is to try and figure out how this one word may or may not be impacting Jamaican men.

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Photo Location: The streets of St. Ann's Bay in Jamaica

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Photo Location: The streets of St. Ann's Bay in Jamaica

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Consider the comments underneath the article listed to the right.

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Here we have Dr. Herbert Gayle speaking on the expectations many men face when it comes to their emotions. In the section below, you will see how one man is using his platform to talk about why emotions are important. With Dr. Gayle, he is addressing them quite differently.

Compare the two approaches.

How do we get young men to become more open and how should we be addressing this within our own homes and publicly? Does Dr. Gayle use any insensitive language, how would you give the message he is giving?

Why is defining a stable male important and what do you think that looks like after reading this newspaper?

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WESTERN BUREAU:

Dr Herbert Gayle, social anthropology lecturer at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, says that boys should not be expected to act like girls in emotional expression or communication style and must be trained in how to show respect to others.

"Twenty-first-century humans actually expect men to develop a brain like females. What you want to do is to understand how a boy communicates his emotions, and embrace that while you are making him into a guided male, where he understands how to appreciate everybody," said Gayle, while addressing a students' town hall empowerment seminar virtually on Thursday.

The meeting, which was held under the theme 'Making It Against The Odds', was the second in a series hosted by the St James-based Anchovy High School and the Coalition of Principals (COPS) to examine the social issues affecting education and the development of students.

According to Gayle, boys need to receive balanced training when they are taught about masculinity in order for them to not become too aggressive or too passive.

"Do not encourage boys to become girls, nor encourage girls to become boys, because they are not the same. I have seen people pressure boys to behave like girls to the point where the boys become confused, and I have seen people pressure boys to be more masculine to the point where the boys become aggressive," explained Gayle.

Teach respect

"We must teach them how to respect everybody, and the more a boy learns respect, the more he is tolerant of everybody," added Gayle. "But neither of the two extremes is going to help you create a stable male."

Gayle also noted that only a small percentage of men are able to communicate on the same level and to the same degree as women.

"We are nowhere near comparable to women in communication. Women talk three and one-eighth times more than men per day, and only 13 per cent of men can talk on the average of women," said Gayle. "But 85 to 87 per cent of men do not like to talk too much. We are not good at communicating."

Cornwall College principal and COPS member Michael Ellis, who participated in the meeting, said that effective communication and conflict resolution are crucial to restricting the tide of societal violence.

"We should reject violence, and to me, that means we should operate in such a way that we seek to resolve conflicts through dialogue and negotiation. We cannot win everything, so we have to accept somebody else's point of view, adopt a win-win strategy, and we should listen to understand," said Ellis.

editorial@gleanerjm.com

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Gayle: Don't pressure boys to behave like girls

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WESTERN BUREAU: Dr Herbert Gayle, social anthropology lecturer at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, says that boys should not be expected to act like girls in emotional expression or communication style and must be trained in how to...

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"Jamaican boys have increasingly resisted schooling as "girlish"."

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"Jamaican boys have increasingly resisted schooling as "girlish"."

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I encourage you to read the whole article. This discussion on male behaviour in the classroom is being followed and page 6 of this discussion addresses some key points as to why this may be occurring as it opens up the conversation to male gender identity.

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"I asked as a warm up for participants to give me one word "off the top of their heads" which they associated with Jamaican girl child, Jamaican boy child, Jamaican mother, Jamaican father, and a couple of other associations. Of the 25 words associated with boy child 17 were negative (troublesome, challenging, rude, etc.); of

the 24 responses to girl child, 22 were positive (sweet, loving, more focused, etc.) and the other 2 more neutral than negative...I cannot say whether these seasoned and well-educated teachers ACT on these expectations or simply were reflecting what are strong cultural associations. But, (this is) still how they see very young boys and girls "off the top of their heads". Children generally live up (or down) to what others expect of them" (Jamaica Partners for Educational Progress 2011).

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In a situation where one person out of a population is a deviant, we would focus an explanation of his deviance on the formation of his personality. But in a situation where an entire section of a population is deviant, our focus inevitably must be directed to processes that shape the foundations of behaviour.

- Barry Chevannes

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Jamaican masculinity: construction and consequences Published:Sunday | March 21, 2010 | 12:00 AM

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The Gleaner: Problematic Jamaican Masculinity,  The Construction of Jamaican Masculinity & Consequences of Jamaican Masculinity

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The Gleaner: Problematic Jamaican Masculinity,  The Construction of Jamaican Masculinity & Consequences of Jamaican Masculinity

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What can one conclude from this article?

In short, we see an image of Vybz Kartel being shown (claims to his influence on manhood), a lack of encouragement for men in education, constant depictions of violence within the male identity, plus more.

The claim here is that Jamaican masculinity has a part to people in violent forms of heterosexuality, homophobia, and defining masculinity partially through anti-femininity.

These are all consequences described by how many parts of society and within the country itself have portrayed manhood. How do these claims reign true? Where exactly is this connection being made? Are we saying that all depictions from dancehall artists and more are our only source of defining Jamaican masculinity?

How is it that these controversial portrayals of masculinity hold such a strong foundation on Jamaican masculinity? Who is contributing to this and who is normalizing it without realizing it?

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In a situation where one person out of a population is a deviant, we would focus an explanation of his deviance on the formation of his personality. But in a situation where an entire section of a population is deviant, our focus inevitably must be directed to processes that shape the foundations of behaviour.

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Now, how do male expectations affect the schooling of young boys? If not, where exactly are these negative expectations of words described above rooted?  Do you agree with the statement that children generally live up to expectations?  In this case, how have we seen this in our own lives? If we see it on an individual level how do we individually contribute to these cultural associations?

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Is defining masculinity important? Do we subliminally define it more and more every day? How do we go about defining it culturally in a way that reflects a more forward-looing outlook? Is it a little easier or harder than we think?

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My job is to not prove whether masculinity needs to be redefined. We know masculinity has varying definitions and we know that toxic masculinity is also a relevant term in how, culturally, toxic male behaviours are spotted. We are looking at a close case here with Jamaica. As well as what aspects point to this word's definition.

I will be discussing different angles from the entertainment industry to psychology and more on the nature of this inquiry. My title, What Does Masculinity Mean in Jamaica? is the investigation.

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Pick out three things you think have to do with this definition as you continue on

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Pick out three things you think have to do with this definition as you continue on

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One young boy and girl dealing with gang violence and social pressures

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One young boy and girl dealing with gang violence and social pressures

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Mother Wants To Save Her Teens From A Life Of Gangs & Violence | KARAMO

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I decided to involve this video as we can see a mother's distress from what's happening to her children. There are many influences on how men choose to identify themselves. Some wish to identify within gangs or other times choose a path of violence. Why is this and is there a tie to toxic masculinity still surfacing in young men today?

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Janaira's younger brother reveals he doesn't know what he wants to do. This begs the question of whether a limited view of future prospects for young boys leads them to a path of resistance or whether there is a lack of community support/unity, does this also have a part to play? Does fatherhood become a significant part of this conversation?  Is it true that the internal struggle of figuring out what one wishes to do leads young men to default to the pressures of society?

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Mental health is also brought into question, as to counteract masculinity, within toxic masculinity, there is a stigma against men being able to talk about one's emotions. In this case, Karamo, the host, is using his platform as a chance to mend relationships and reconcile things by showing being emotive is okay when we try to work them out and get to the root of the problem.  What impact does this have on us and masculinity especially using such a well-known social media platform such as Youtube and entertainment with television?

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What about this language is inclusive or exclusive? What about the definition is clarifying? Or is it clouded?

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What does it mean to transform one ever-changing rooted word in society? Do the people involved have to change or how do we define the word daily? Dr. Peter Douglas Weller clinical psychologist and Caribbean therapist is introducing new ideas on masculinity in the Caribbean.  I recommend watching the whole video but also 16:09 is a good start to the conversation.

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In this documentary, we will be focusing on sexuality and its part to play in masculinity. In the timestamp 6:24-8:24, we are brought into 4 different perspectives. Two of which are from females in academia. This is referenced to the fact that sexual partners are a big part of masculinity that can be dangerous and have more influence on the culture.

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MAN AH GYALIS ( The Dancehall Documentary)

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Capella Grey - "Gyalis" [Official Music Video]                                          The Womanizer, philanderer, playboy, player

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Today, this same cultural influence is still portraying the same message internationally. Capella Grey an up-and-coming male artist of this generation has similarities to this normalization of multiple partners. As well as how men controversially view females within those relationships.

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Capella Grey - "Gyalis" [Official Music Video]

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One of my master's dissertations looked at male victims of domestic abuse. Its focus was Jamaican men. It was a qualitative study that explored, through in-depth interviews, the experiences of men who suffered abuse at the hands of their female spouses. As I recall, the literature had no explanations for female abusers as we are seeing for these men who murder their intimate partners. Also, there were no explanations of women not being able to control their emotions or that it was their fathers' fault why they abused men.
I did the research because I came from an abusive household with my father as the perpetrator and my mother and us children as the victims of severe physical abuse. I witnessed my father holding a knife to my mother's neck on one occasion. She left, taking us with her, but he found us. On this occasion a machete was brought into the altercation as she attempted to fight back. Neighbours got involved and chased him off. She moved. He found us again. This time my brother was of age, and he and some men in the community chased him off. I believed that was the last time he came back.

He would snap for the least infraction - like us children making noise. He would attack my mother for defending us from his abuse, for daring to ask for money to support us or to buy our back-to-school items. We went to school without books. We had little food. But, my mother was very resourceful. She would remake our uniforms turning them inside out. She would cut up old clothes and make school bags for us. Most of my meals were porridge, as that could 'stretch'. She was a housewife and did not work outside the 'home'. She lived the myth of the male breadwinner; she being the married woman in the church subjecting herself to her husband.

When I did the research, I was in the midst of helping a female friend who was being psychologically abused by her husband. I took her to the Women's Crisis Centre. I began to learn about men, power, and control more than I had learnt before, as I was now an adult and it had raised its head again in my life. That case and others I was reading about sent me back to my childhood; to my father who physically abused me and the men who attempted to molest me. To my early adult years and the men whom I thought were role models, who offered me help but only did so because they wanted something in return. I quickly learned how to tell them to fly off and leave me alone. I was learning to be afraid of men. So I did the research.

I was attempting to understand men, perhaps to cure my fear. I knew a few men who were having difficulties at home and I decided to explore domestic abuse from their perspective in order to develop an understanding of that type of intimate partner abuse.

I crafted my response to domestic abuse as a human rights issue. I knew good men. I have more nephews than I have nieces. I was seeking understanding so that I could engage men in a balanced way. But I also found in the literature - which no research needed to have shown - that men were the main perpetrators, and their abuse tended to be more deadly, as we see playing out in this country.

A prominent explanation in the literature on domestic abuse was power and control linked to patriarchy. Power and control stemming from historical notions of women and children and their place in relation to men is still relevant. Men have crafted a discourse of superiority and entitlement, power and ownership over that which they possess. As a Christian country, this religion has taught men and women that their wives must subject themselves to their husbands. Wedding vows would teach women to love, honour, and obey their husbands; that was the era in which my mother got married. I don't know how many still subscribe to this, but this is a religion, like others with historical roots, that took its cues from powerful men - men like Henry VIII, who manipulated Christianity to allow him the freedom to dispense with his wives at the drop of a hat (or head, in his case).

The bottom line is there are deep-seated issues impacting intimate relationships that people do not understand or wish to acknowledge. We tend to be very superficial and, indeed, irresponsible in our commentary on domestic abuse in Jamaica and the crisis of interpersonal relationships. Something is drastically wrong with Jamaican masculinity. It is a toxic masculinity that thinks it is okay to catcall women and verbally abuse them when they don't respond, or when they respond in a manner that is not pleasing to the catcaller. A masculinity that is angry at any thought of creating a gentler, more inclusive society; one that is afraid of laws that will limit what they think is their right and methods of 'looking' women. A society where some people believe even little girls can tempt a man into sexually abusing her. A society that still believes having sex with a virgin can cure diseases. And then we have resistant and resentful men in powerful positions who we ask to make laws to protect children from sexual abuse.

Something is wrong, and this recent spate of men killing women is a continuation of the symptoms of a sick society.

The response of Minister of Gender Olivia "Babsy" Grange was lacklustre and disappointing, to say the least. Someone else has commented on that. A stronger position by the Government is needed. Although there is a gap in the literature on the prevalence and dynamics of interpersonal violence and violence against women in Jamaica, enough evidence exists to guide policy. For example, Smith (2016) has outlined the prevalence of intimate partner violence in Jamaica. She pointed to the fact that rates of abuse are higher among women whose husbands were abused as children or who witnessed their mothers being abused. This is contrary to the singular narrative blaming women for abusing boys. It points to the complexity of the issue versus the narratives of convenience that permeate our national discourse. Smith also noted that Jamaica lags behind many countries in taking action against violence against women. She also highlighted a 2010 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development study that indicated that Jamaica has no laws addressing sexual harassment, despite its prevalence in our workplaces. And, while there are laws on discrimination for some characteristics, none exists on gender discrimination.

Likewise, Jamaica was not found among the countries currently taking steps to address the matter. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 2018 Global Study on Homicide - Gender-Related Killing of Women and Girls showed that women worldwide were more likely to be killed by those closest to them. For Jamaica, homicide rates among women are 9.3 in 100,000 and 0.9 in 100,000 for those who were exclusively killed by an intimate partner.

It is time we create a society in which people are comfortable to speak out about their abuse. We need to develop the kind of mindset that the victims are not the ones to be shamed and blamed, and so crawl away to lick her wounds and leave the perpetrator to continue his abuse. We need to show national support and take steps to say to those victimised, and to potential victims, that we are here for you, the country will support you. We have to put laws, policies, and institutions in place and train our responders to be more knowledgeable and sensitive to the plight of victims so that they are treated with dignity and not retraumatised. We must listen and act appropriately.

Carolyn A E Graham, PhD, is Sasakawa Fellow, Nippon Foundation Fellow, Seafarers International Research Centre Associate Fellow, Cardiff University, Wales, UK. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or carolynaeg@gmail.com.

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Patriachy, religion, and Ja's toxic masculinity - Jamaica Observer

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One of my master's dissertations looked at male victims of domestic abuse. Its focus was Jamaican men. It was a qualitative study that explored, through in-depth interviews, the experiences of men who suffered abuse at the hands of their female spouses.

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" A prominent explanation in the literature on domestic abuse was power and control linked to patriarchy. Power and control stemming from historical notions of women and children and their place in relation to men is still relevant. Men have crafted a discourse of superiority and entitlement, power and ownership over that which they possess. As a Christian country, this religion has taught men and women that their wives must subject themselves to their husbands. Wedding vows would teach women to love, honour, and obey their husbands; that was the era in which my mother got married. I don't know how many still subscribe to this, but this is a religion, like others with historical roots, that took its cues from powerful men — men like Henry VIII, who manipulated Christianity to allow him the freedom to dispense with his wives at the drop of a hat (or head, in his case)" (Graham 2020).

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Carolyn Graham gets vulnerable and honest about domestic abuse within her household. She believes there are deeply systemic and religious roots that are partially affecting Jamaican masculinity. One may conclude that those religious beliefs are taken out of context to excuse domestic abuse. Anger and violence, traits Graham is attributing to masculinity, are being argued.

In this case, the Church seems to be brought into question by how gender roles are viewed within a relationship. What congruency is brought into question here on masculine behaviour within a relationship and religious beliefs?

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It is also important to note heteronormative outlooks on relationships and masculinity in general. Is the language used in this news report inclusive or exclusive? Why or why not, and where might this stem from?

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What do you define masculinity as?

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How does the uniqueness of a person described in the video alter the narrative that gender identity is definitive?