Suddenly, after all the hard-fought battles for women’s rights, we must now ensure that a balance is maintained and that our men do not find themselves at a disadvantage. Faith Webster, head of the Bureau of Women’s Affairs, has just launched a Male Desk, acknowledging that our men and boys also need help with the myriad challenges that they are facing.

“This is not just a Jamaican problem,” says Webster. “In other Caribbean countries and the UK they also have fewer young men enrolling in universities.” Interestingly, some young men launch into their own businesses because of the pressure to be breadwinners. “So we have cases of young women in university being supported by men who are doing well at blue-collar jobs like garage work,” says Webster.

She says that many an ambitious young man who is taking the long-term approach to life is being ignored by girls who are looking for the man with a flashy car. “These expectations may push boys into illegal activities, so we have to be very careful about the messages that we are sending,” she says.

We noted that there are different sets of rules in the home for boys vs girls. The boys were allowed to lead less structured lives with fewer responsibilities at home, while the girls were given chores and kept protected. Such boys may begin early sexual activity and some even land up in jail because they are unaware of the law which states that having sex with a 15-year-old “girlfriend” is a crime; a girl under 16 cannot legally consent to having sex. It is important for every parent to sit their boy child down and tell him about this law.

Webster says there is talk of a type of affirmative action being put into place to make it easier for men to register at UWI and Mico College. Earlier this year, Webster supported the amendment to the Maintenance Act to ensure that whichever partner is at a disadvantage, male or female, the other would pay maintenance based on availability of funds.

She warns that couples must also now prepare for the fact that in the current global economic crisis and with the spate of layoffs, it may be the man who may lose his job, while the woman continues to work. This is very hard on the male, who is expected to bring home the bacon. If his partner is the one going out to work, he needs to have the requisite self-esteem to do domestic chores without worrying about what the neighbours will think.

In 2003, this column discussed Prof Errol Miller’s book Men At Risk. I wrote: “Jamaican men have suffered under their male “owners” (bosses) during slavery and after emancipation. After a few decades of equal opportunity for education in post-emancipation Jamaica, the system was “reformed” in 1900, resulting in the closure of all-male teachers’ colleges except Mico, and the reduction of academic subjects taught in schools.

“In modern corporate Jamaica, Prof Miller observes, there are still male power brokers who mentor female managers in order to block the ascent of aspiring young males. …Our men become so desperate and frustrated that they turn to violence. The sad truth, states Prof Miller, is that ‘the most frequent and numerous victims of naked violence by marginalised men are other marginalised people’. He calls for ‘personarchy’, coining a term that he hopes will ‘assert that the earth is the common heritage of all humans’.”

Psychologists have identified the “father wound”, the uncalled-for harsh punishment meted out to son by father, as the boy becomes man and is viewed as a threat to the father’s place in the home. Such sobering information makes us glad that Dave Noel Williams, a trained social worker, now presides over the Male Desk at the Women’s Centre.

As we look at the see-sawing scale of gender balance, we realise that Prof’s call for a new “personarchy” can be the only answer if we want to rebuild the nation’s foundation of a stable family life. Our children need mother and father fully engaged in their upbringing and fully respectful of the role that circumstances may dictate.

Parenting initiatives are crucial so that boys will no longer be damaged by irate mothers – “Yu wutless like yu fada!”; and angry fathers – “yu t’ink yu a man!” Involvement in sporting activities will help our young men to develop discipline and the tolerance that is learned from teamwork.

In various international fora, Jamaica has been congratulated for her gender initiatives. We are at a very vulnerable time in our history, battered by a recession that in turn can batter the psyche of those who may face employment challenges. Our Women’s Bureau and other women’s organisations should call for a new understanding, the embrace of our fathers, brothers, sons, assuring them of our love and support, and daring them to higher expectations of themselves.

This will go a far way in addressing the ever-increasing incidents of violence against women and children – 5,750 offences last year compared to 4,720 in 2005. Webster hopes that the much debated and discussed Sexual Offences Act 2008 will deter would-be offenders. “The Act deals with grievous sexual assault and marital rape,” she says. “It also addresses incest, sexual exploitation and sexual grooming of a child.”

The Bureau, which is celebrating its 35th year, is seeing new challenges from globalisation and new technology. “Even guidance counsellors are now under stress,” says Webster. “We held a forum for them and they shared the new behaviours they were seeing in school children. Some of them wept!” Faith Webster says that even primary school children now have to be carefully monitored, as they are being exposed to pornographic content on cable television and on the internet.

We really should not wonder how “Gully-Gaza” became a national issue. These misguided performers became headliners and influencers because nature abhors a vacuum. We in home, church and civil society have certainly not excited our young people enough to be as passionate about family, God and country as they are about Kartel and Mavado. There are four fingers pointing right back at ourselves!

lowriechin@aim.com

www.lowrie-chin.blogspot.com