Personal reflection: initially I wanted to talk about something that had to do with women I was redirected to this topic about men, Masculinity and family planning in Barbados since the 1950s. This topic has proved to be very informative and a study of masculinity is definitely needed as one author said you can’t do a study on women without also looking at masculinity. Feminism has been studied for over four decades while masculinity on the other hand is lagging far behind. During my time tenure at the University of the West Indies I have noticed the fact that men are not really concerned about their work as much as women are concerned about their work however there are the exceptional cases. In doing this research project on masculinity in Barbados I want to brings men’s attention on the need to focus on masculinity in the Caribbean especially due to the fact that black people are originally from Africa we have to be conscious that we are influenced by a hegemonic idea of masculinity. Caribbean men need to be conscious of the complexities of Caribbean masculinities so that they can shape they way that they want to be.
Thesis Statement. Masculinity is a social construct which has shaped men’s attitude towards family planning and safe sexual practices. Family Planning is seen as the responsibility of women.
Introduction
This research essay will look at how men have been socialized in Barbados and the various aspects of male privilege in Barbados from a historical prospective. We will look at how the education system the church and the family has been shaping the minds of men with regards to masculinity and also how over the years the law and society has been changing the construct of masculinity over the years. We will examine the ways that the social construct of masculinity has changed and also what has not changed. We will also look at how the social construct of masculinity has influenced
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