A Common Reality

                                 A COMPARISON OF WOMEN IN TRINIDAD AND JAMAICA




 It would only make sense that we do a comparison of women in Trinidad and women in Jamaica seeing both islands are geographically related. Additionally, seeing they both were birthed from a colonial past and synonymous legacy women in Trinidad are treated in no way different from women in Jamaica for the most part. There is still that veil of discrimination irrespective of how well educated and competent a woman may be. She is often undermined and demeaned in comparison to her male counterpart despite having the same and sometimes more qualifications than he does. Society often stereotype the role of the woman to be in the home and take care of the children while the man works and serve as the head and provider for the family. Understandably, as a religious nation this is something inspired by the doctrines of the different religious teachings.

This role however differs in comparison as it speaks to the dynamic of Jamaica. Gender discrimination and the role of women in Trinidad is more culturally deterministic. In Jamaica however this is dependent more so on class. Indeed for the most part, the role of women and how they have changed is dependent on the social class that it is viewed from. For example, the role of the woman in an upper middle class to upper class versus the woman from the lower class may be different. This difference defines their goals and how they operate in terms of seeking liberation and economic freedom through advancement in technology and equality in education. This is not to say that women in Trinidad don't experience this however in Jamaica gender roles based on classicism is more pronounced. The educated woman may be of the opinion that the presence of a man is no longer necessary being she can economically provide for herself. Also, in some cases in Jamaica women stand as the head of the household in the upper class stratum while the role of the man is marginalized. This many account for the rising divorce rate that has been occurring in the past 5 years in the country. This in comparison to the lower class is antithetical. The woman for the most part is at the head of the household which gives which gives further rise to the increasingly high rate of single parent households. Some account this for like the case with Afro-Trinidadians, cultural retention which has been perpetuated through our Jamaican culture. The question is, with this much talk of women being the head of households and earning more money than men thus a catalyst for the rise in divorce rates how are they being mistreated ? Answer is, they still are. Despite the many laps and bounds of women there is still a high rate of female discrimination. This can be accounted for the rising cases of domestic violence discrimination in the laws that governs the working woman. See although there are more women entering the labor force and occupy a higher percentage of scholars in the secondary and tertiary sectors, at the upper echelon of the workplace a man is still in charge. Simplistically, for a lot of women who are in the workforce her boss remains a man. This gives men the power to control the level at which she may reach and the salary she receives. So women, their role and how their change have changed society are similar in both islands but differs when it comes to what pronounces them whether Trinidad being primarily culturally deterministic or Jamaica on class.