Learning to Be a Man: Culture, Socialization, and Gender Identity in Five Caribbean Communities

This is a timely study of the processes by which male children are socialized, against the backdrop of growing concern among educators, social workers and the general public that Caribbean males are becoming increasingly marginalized.

The work is based on qualitative research in urban and rural communities in Dominica, Guyana and Jamaica. The people in the research communities who are the subjects of the study are allowed to speak for themselves, and their voices emerge from the pages with poignant clarity. Readers will, in turn, nod their heads in recognition and shake their heads in disbelief as issues of gender identity, male socialization, male-female relations and parenting skills are discussed.

Differences between Afro-Caribbean and Indo-Caribbean communities with regard to gender identification and socialization are also analysed.