Cheap Confronting Power, Theorizing Gender: Interdisciplinary Perspectives in the Caribbean (Book) (Eudine Barriteau) Price

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Caribbean masculinities
This book results from a conference sponsored by the Gender Studies Program at the University of the West Indies. Most of the authors are faculty members of that system. The book tries to flesh out what gender studies in and of the Caribbean would look like. It divides into four sections: cultural theory, education, history, and literature. <
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>I had some concerns that this would just be a repeat of Rafael Ramirez's text "Caribbean Masculinities." Though Dr. Ramirez provides a prologue, only one chapter exists in both books. Still, other chapter are included or part of book length works (Parry's and Crichlow's chapters, for example). The contributors are both male and female. With the exception of one person, all of them either work in or come from the Caribbean. <
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>Though Jamaica does receive the most attention, the contributors try to be diverse in their coverage of the Caribbean landscape. A chapter on Dominicans illustrates lingual diversity. However, there is no chapter about Haitians, Caribbean Francophones are not mentioned in this book. There is a chapter on an ethnic group in Belize. I suppose the editors think of the Caribbean as any nation that touches about the Mexican Gulf. <
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>I thought the section on education and history were the strongest. The theory section in the beginning would be informative for readers who know little about gender studies. However, it may bore those who know a lot on the topic. By far, the worst section is the literature section. Perhaps that is why it is placed last. It is uneven: the penultimate chapter is 80 pages while the ultimate chapter, not a conclusion I might add, was only 17. It was the real yawner section of the book. <
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>This book tries hard not to equate the Caribbean solely with people of African descent. Still, its discussion of East Indians in the region is scant. What is amazing is how so many topics that concern African Americans seems to concern Caribbean nations. Preparation for the changing economy, the superior educational performance of girls and women compared to boys and men, the effect of "gansta" personas on musicians and their male audiences, and much more must be controversies both within and outside of American borders. One thing that annoyed me is that one writer quotes bell hooks as not having a "z" in the word "socializing." Hello, bell hooks is American and writes in American English. The two writing styles are not so different that one should edit out the specifics. Worse, they do not even admit that they are doing it. It's practically like a misquote and misrepresentation. Both Black Americanists and pan-Africanists should find this text useful. <
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>On the cover and at the beginning of each chapter, there is a drawing of a skeleton in a man's suit. I think he's a skeleton and not a living man in order to erase racial specificity. However, the skeleton brings up issues of voodoo. Thus, readers will still code him as black. Further, this voodoo/zombie image is somewhat a stereotypical image of Caribbean men. I am not sure why they use it. I doubt that it's helpful to their project.