Tag Archives: Women

Difficult Conversations – Glass Ceilings

Posted on by
11

On 19 April 2022, the President of the Institution of Structural Engineers visited Barbados on official business. She completed her work and left Barbados without fanfare. To my knowledge, there were no news article in the Barbados media about her or her visit. Ms Jane Entwistle was elected to lead over 30,000 members in over 105 countries – in a profession where the majority are male.

Over my 30-year structural engineering career, I have employed, trained, and promoted engineers of both genders. I have not found a difference in the competence of either. Both adequately performed the mental and physical requirements of their assignments.

MEN AND WOMEN ARE DIFFERENT.

Men and women are obviously physiologically different. It is a fact that men are generally stronger and faster than women. To allow fair competition in strength and speed-based sports, men and women compete separately.

This reveals a glass ceiling that women are yet to break through. Namely, competitive sports where physical speed and strength are not measured. The prime example are chess and draughts games, where gender-segregated competitions are tolerated.

DIGGING DEEP.

When competing, a person must dig deep, and demand more from themselves than they thought that they had. In preparation for such competitions, wise athletes subject themselves to intense training intended to increase their reserve strength and endurance, from which they can draw during the competitive event.

If a person’s competitors are limited to a weaker group, then their training tends to be limited to the level of their expected competition. For example, an 18-year old secondary school athlete would be expected to train less strenuously, to run a race against 5-year old primary school students, then he would to run against 20-year old athletes.

STRANGENESS.

Women can compete intellectually with men. But limiting women to compete against each other, may reinforce a mental state of inferiority in women, and superiority in men, which should not be enabled. The psychological harm to both men and women, is not offset by the short-term perceived benefits of gender segregated mind-based competitions.

Rather than address the segregation of mind-based competitions, organisers are allowing men to compete in women’s strength and speed-based sports. As expected, the men are dominating. Surprisingly, many women in developed countries are promoting this strangeness.

INFORMED CONSENT.

I believe that women should be allowed to compete with men in strength and speed-based sports, but only if they want to. The obvious exception is contact sports (like boxing) where women risk suffering permanent injuries. I also believe that men should be allowed to compete with women in strength and speed-based sports, but only with the unanimous informed consent of the women in the competitive event.

If the competition is informal, and there are no financial benefits to be gained, then women may welcome the challenge of competing with men. However, if there are direct or indirect financial benefits to the winners, then the women should be informed about what they may lose, before giving their consent.

Grenville Phillips II is a Chartered Structural Engineer. He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com

Remembering Black Women Around the Globe

Posted on by
254

Screenshot 2018-12-28 at 19.26.37

Submitted by Melissa Martin, Ph.D., is an author, columnist, educator, and therapist. She lives in USA

The United States celebrates Black History Month annually. Let the world celebrate the history of all black women as well. Daughters of Africa (published in 1994) and the new volume New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of 20th and 21st Century Writing by Women of African Descent (published 2019) by editor Margaret Busby is an anthology about African women writers. Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom (2018) by Keisha N. Blain highlights black women leaders who demanded equal recognition and participation in global civil society.

Let us teach our black daughters and our white daughters about civil rights and activists for freedom. Let us care about black womanhood. Could the civil rights movement have happened without black women? No, indeed. Let It Shine, Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters (HMH Books for Young Readers, 2013) authored by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Stephen Alcorn is recommended.

Bold. Gutsy. Plucky. Scrappy. Determined. Spirited. Sojourner Truth, Biddy Mason, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Mary McLeod Bathune, Ella Josephine Baker, Dorothy Irene Height, Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Shirley Chisholm are featured.

Born into slavery as Isabella Baumfree in 1797, Sojourner Truth was an Afro-American women’s rights activist. Her famous “Ain’t I a Woman” speech was delivered in 1851 at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention. “…And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman?”

“Nobody’s free until everybody is free.” Fannie Lou Hamer dedicated her life to fighting racial injustice. In 1964 she co-founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and ran for Congress in Mississippi in 1965.

The first African-American woman elected to Congress, Shirley Chisholm of New York, won election to the House in 1968.

More Brave Black Women

Of the 127 women serving in the United States 116th Congress, 22 are Black. In 1993, Carol Moseley Braun became the first African American female to serve as U.S. senator. Gloria Jean Watkins, known by her pen name bell hooks, is the author of Feminism is for Everybody. The bell hooks Institute in Berea, KY, celebrates, honors, and documents the life and work of this acclaimed intellectual, feminist theorist, cultural critic, artist, and writer. www.bellhooksinstitute.com. Known as the “Mother of the American Civil Rights Movement,” Septima Poinsette Clark was an activist, teacher, and advocate for education. www.biography.com/.

“In the 20th century, African American women formed the backbone of the modern Civil Rights Movement. They were the critical mass, the grassroots leaders challenging America to embrace justice and equality for all,” according to The National Women’s History Museum. www.womenshistory.org/.

There were countless unnamed black women who struggled for freedom and justice. Let us remember them as well. NASA’s employees Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan were black scientists featured in the film Hidden Figures. Astronaut Mae Jemison became the first African-American woman in space in 1992. Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, Condoleezza Rice, Joycelyn Elders, M.D., Maya Angelou and other black women stand as female icons for civil rights and equality.

The Civil Rights Movement was triumphant in 1964 and 1965, with the federal government’s passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

White women, let the named and unnamed black women of struggle, freedom, and equality nationally and internationally be nestled in our spirits and let their struggles be on our lips.

“There are still many causes worth sacrificing for, so much history yet to be made.—Michelle Obama

Notes From a Native Son: Taking Care of Home

Posted on by
88

Hal Austin

Hal Austin

Introduction:
Recently a friend of mine, a highly admired New York lawyer of Barbadian extraction, sent me a newspaper clipping about Anita Hill, the woman who accused Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, of sexual harassment. This month is also Women’s History Month in the UK and today the United Nations held its 58th Commission on the Status of Women, at which new development goals for women were discussed. So this is timely.

The reason for the newspaper report on Professor Hill was a documentary film recently made about the now Brandeis University law professor and reflecting on her worldwide public humiliation during the US Senate hearing following her allegations against the top judge. I remember quite clearly the allegations and the way they split the black British community broadly in two camps: those for Ms Hill and those for Justice Thomas. But there were, among them myself, those who felt a plague on both your houses. I believed the truth of her allegations, but felt that the immorality alleged should have been dealt with in other ways. The greater evil, to my mind, was Mr Thomas’ conservatism, which I felt was a betrayal of the collective politics of the 1960s and decades of political struggle, for which so many people had suffered. Further, I felt his conservatism was not at root ideological or cultural, unlike that of Professor Thomas Sowell and others of the black conservative movement or even of the typical Barbadian, but rather was contrived out of personal bitterness and resentment.

Continue reading →

Men From Mars, Women From Venus

Posted on by
Reply

Author’s name withheld – BU

When last you heard a male friend expressing his total disgust, in a member of the opposite sex, unable to understand why females thinks and acts the way they do.

I just returned from a visit to a friend who is a lawyer. While there I asked him why is it that members of the legal fraternity are seemingly more and more being bought before the Courts on money matters. He sharing jovially a matter of how he was wrongfully accused by a female, who believed he (the lawyer) was holding up funds, she believed was presented by her espoused husband in transit to her. She went as far as involving the police and even taking my friend to the disciplinary committee. As he explained, no moneys had passed his office but the husband in an effort to tease her left messages for her to think otherwise.

Why do we men and women always seem to be at each other? There are a whole lot of other examples of these differences I am sure.  You out there ponder even wonder as to why … here take a look at what the experts believe…

Continue reading →

Housework By Men Leads To Good Sex!

Posted on by
Reply
Submitted by islandgal246

Image courtesy: ©2009 Jupiterimages

A 2003 study by Scott Coltrane, a sociology professor at the University of California, Riverside, linked fathers’ housework to more feelings of warmth and affection in their wives. And a survey of 288 husbands, reported in Neil Chethik’s 2006 book “VoiceMale,” linked a wife’s satisfaction with the division of household duties with her husband’s satisfaction with their sex life.

One husband, Mr. Chethik says in an interview, reported that his wife enjoyed flowers or a candlelit dinner out; but “if he wants to be sure of a romantic evening, he goes for the vacuum cleaner.”

Other research supports the “work hard, play hard” thesis. Janet Hyde, a professor of psychology and women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, has found that it doesn’t lead to less intimacy in marriage when wives hold paid jobs.

“Some people are high-energy people, and others are not very high-energy,” she says. Those who like juggling a lot of roles are often energized by the process, she says. “Work hard, play hard” may not work for everybody, but there is certainly a group for whom it does work.”

Continue reading →

Barbados Country Assessment of Living Conditions Report: Poverty On The Rise and The Need to Protect Our Women

Posted on by
Reply

RIP Nicole Harrison-Watson

The death of 37 year old Nicole Harrison-Watson remains top of the mind for many Barbadians a couple days after she was found murdered at her Ferniehurst, Black Rock, St Michael home. While it does no good to speculate about what motivated her assailant (a suspect is being questioned by Police), it affords the living the opportunity to critically and dispassionately analyse the poor conditions which many Barbadians live under in Barbados and in particular our young women.

BU subscribes to the view that a woman with her unique nurturing quality was created to complement a man. When the two – man and woman – function in harmony, they are able to optimize on their mental, physical, and emotional state. The result is that the society we cohabit becomes a good place in which we can live quality lifes. The challenge of the government, NGOs and civil society at large is how do we manage to achieve the societal equilibrium required with all the competing ideologies at play.

Without fuelling the puerile debate about building a society instead of an economy, how can we pontificate about the success of the Barbados society, if according to the most recent  Barbados Country Assessment of Living Conditions Report (CALC)  “persons living below the poverty line in Barbados has double, since the last study on living conditions and poverty was undertaken over a decade ago”? Pertinent in the report is that 19.3% of Barbadian individuals in 15% of  households earn income below the poverty line – 9.1% of individuals 7% of households were living below the indigence line at the time the survey was carried out. An easy conclusion to make, anecdotally though it is, these numbers with the prevailing economic hardships must be trending upward.

Continue reading →

For Blacks The Job Is Far From Over, Don’t You Dare Give Up The Fight!

Posted on by
42

The Beauty of a Black Woman

Last week a psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa from the London School of Economics was highlighted in   Psychology Today where he concluded ‘that African American women were “objectively” less attractive than European American, Asian American, and Native American women’. After some probing it was revealed Kanazawa stretched the boundary of academic license by using the results of a study which listed thousands of variables contained in multiple datasets. To satisfy his conclusion Kanazawa was found to be professionally dishonest when the data was reviewed by Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman.

As you would expect Kanazawa met a hailstorm of criticism from Blacks, especially women. Why is it the Black race seems to be the biggest target for every pseudo-intellectual in town to prove some hypothesis?  Whatever self doubt we may have as a Black race stories (PowerPoint Presentation) like that of  Hamilton Naki – a labourer who became a self-taught surgeon at the height of Apartheid in South Africa – should inspire us to ‘don’t give up the fight’.

Female Abuse

Posted on by
Reply

Submitted by Charles S. Cadogan

I would like to touch on a very important subject, which I must confess I too was a part of; female abuse. My parents broke somewhere between the ages of 8 and 10 years old.  My mother after some years separated from my father got into another relationship. This guy was very quick with his hands.  I can remember the first time he hit my mother I cried and wanted to do something really bad to him. On one occasion when they were going at it, I hit him in the back with a plant pot. One thing for sure that got him his attention from my mother.

As the years went on the fights continued but not as frequently.  However I realised I had built up this hate to punish all women for what my mother had to suffer.  I felt if I did the same to other women I got involved with it would be repayment for what my mother had to endure.  When I turned 14 my mother told him he had to go. Guess he thought that he was so tough for all the years he told my mother it wasn’t going to happen. My mother grabbed him by his neck and the back of his pants and threw him out the door along with his clothes;  My mother told him that it was over and she had enough of his mess.

Later on I asked my mother how come all these years why she allowed him to beat her up like he did and never did much of anything to defend herself.  My mother told me, son I always thought that if I did what was in my heart to do to him, I would be in jail. I didn’t want to go to jail not knowing what would happen to you. But now you are everything to me, and all that matters. So I no longer need anyone else in my life.  My mother was in her late forties early fifties and she never got involved with another man.  She died at age 80 GOD rest her soul. I Love my mother with all my heart and she will remain with me for as long as breath remains in my body.

Continue reading →

Men Are Letting Down The Side

Posted on by
87

Hartley Henry - DLP Political Strategist

There is an aspect of last Sunday’s presentation of keys to new home owners at Marchfield in St. Philip that impressed as well as depressed me. First, however, permit me a moment to put the observation in perspective.

Two weeks ago I visited the showroom of a car dealership in Warrens, St. Michael. It was one of those days when the urge to see what was new and available simply could not be denied. I was forced to wait about 25 minutes for personalized attention because there were quite a few persons in the display area enquiring about terms and conditions of sale agreements.

I did not recognize many of the faces but there were mostly young men, holding what is culturally referred to as both white and blue collar jobs. It was astounding to hear the price of some vehicles and observe the determination of some of these guys to purchase new sport utility vehicles, in particular, irrespective of the cost.

Some guys were willing to sign on the dotted line there and then and by the time I left the showroom I am certain the Sales Executive with whom I spoke had herself chalked up a minimum of three “relatively safe and secure” sale commitments. I was happy for these young men and admired their tastes and their determination to “move up” in life.

Political animal that I am, I thought to myself ‘well things in the country cannot be that bad if demand for $200 000 vehicles is so high’.

That episode streamed completely out of my mind, until last Sunday while attending the handing over of keys ceremony at the new Marchfield Housing Development. What struck me most as the names of new homeowners were being revealed, was that the vast majority was either single women or pairs of women; perhaps sisters, relatives or mere platonic friends. I cannot recall any new owner being a single male and certainly less than 40 per cent were couples in the traditional sense of a man and a woman.

I do not wish here to personalize the observation to those particular homeowners, but to speak generally now in the context of that barometer reading.

Continue reading →

Obesity Decreases The Odds

Posted on by

McClinton/Getty Extra weight in middle age can have a dramatic effect on women's health as they grow older, according to new research.

McClinton/Getty Extra weight in middle age can have a dramatic effect on women's health as they grow older, according to new research.

There is the saying the health of a nation is the wealth of a nation. According to reports from the experts, non-communicable diseases (CNCDs) are on the rise globally, of more concern to Barbadians is the more significant rise occurring in developing countries. It is not our approach to this subject to be judgemental, we all have our challenges with balancing our lifestyles and healthy living.

What cannot be denied is the rising number of CNCDs in Barbados  according to the periodic reports we get from our officials. Concern by the former government forced the establishment of the National Task Force on CNCDs which was established to produced a policy document for the prevention and control of CNCDs. Among the recommendations were:

  • The establishment of a Health Promotion Unit.
  • The establishment of the post of Senior Medical Officer of Health (CNCDs).
  • The establishment of a National Commission on CNCDs.

Despite the task force initiative our country continues to struggle with perpetuating a culture of healthy living. We understand Barbados currently occupies the highest category for incidence of diabetes and obesity.

To arrest the problem calls for a lifestyle adjustment which maybe a cry in the wilderness based on how our society continues to develop i.e. proclivity for fast food, foods infected with preservatives, driving instead of walking etc. The greatest irony for the BU household continues to be the rising number of CNCDs as we boast of achieving first world status in 2025. What yardstick are we using to measure success?

Yet another study has been released by the medical fraternity which predicts a sorry outcome for people who surrender to the battle of the bulge. The study used females to feed its research, we hope our resident medical expert Dr. GP can validate whether we can extrapolate the findings to include men.

Continue reading →

Domestic Violence: The Silent Voices Of Anguish

Posted on by
41
Submitted by Yardbroom

domestic_abuseMy attention was drawn to a report in the Nation News by Julia Rawlins-Bentham 8-18-2009; in which she stated that a survey on Domestic Violence by the Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES) will be made known later this week.  Perhaps it is unwise to write a submission before statistics are available, as the opinions formed could be undermined by the survey.  However, I have taken the view that domestic violence is not country specific and have used statistics available in England as necessary.  With or without a survey domestic violence is always topical, and regardless of any information gained from the survey or decisions taken as a result…domestic violence is likely to be with us for a long time.

It has been said that: “one in four women will suffer domestic violence and one in six men.” (National Centre for domestic violence:UK) I would add a note of caution in interpreting these figures as no indication was given of the degree of violence which had to be used before the violence became part of the statistics…although some might say that is not a necessary pre-requisite.

Continue reading →

Brother, Where Art Thou?

Posted on by
Reply

Hartley Henry - DLP Political Strategist

Hartley Henry - DLP Political Strategist

Men are truly in crisis! Ralph Boyce and his MESA group are giving promotion of the interest of men their best shot, but I am not sure the extent to which they are succeeding. I see some very alarming trends on the horizon.

I am not speaking here of the disproportionate number of females enrolling at tertiary institutions. Neither am I concerned, on this occasion, about the virtual takeover of the leadership of the public service by members of the fairer sex.  Indeed, there is also the matter of every other driver on the road being female.

None of these issues, though deserving of evaluation, is as striking to me as driving around Barbados on weekends and viewing the social scene. Take for example my “passing time” in the lobby of the Barbados Hilton last Saturday evening and observing as literally hundreds of persons arrived for what was clearly a dapper social event. I was not invited and I did not care to enquire of the occasion. What, however, was striking was the near 70 percent to 30 percent ratio of women to men. For every “male and female” couple that waltzed into that hotel, there were two and probably three of females only, comprising two, three or four individuals. I was in the company of a visiting associate from overseas and it was he who asked the alarming question “but where are the Bajan men?”

Continue reading →

Rihanna To Turn Spotlight On Domestic Violence

Posted on by
Reply

rihanna_pictmz_274449605

The recent incident which has attracted international coverage between international performing artistes Rihanna and Chris Brown has given a prominent face to the scourge of domestic violence (DV). While we agree that DV is endemic in all countries and carves across race, colour, creed and even sex, sometimes it helps when famous people fall victim because of the attention it attracts.

Reports we have read suggest that both Rihanna and Chris Brown were members of households where they witnessed domestic violence. Psychiatrists often share the view that DV begets DV and it requires a strong will and sometimes professional help for victims to break the cycle. Rumours have been rife since last year that this is not the first time Rihanna and Brown would have resorted to embarrassing displays of behaviour in public when attempting to reconcile disagreements.

Yesterday’s press has reported that Rihanna will be making a public statement soon. There was a hint in the report that Rihanna will be speaking directly to the issue of DV. If she does BU believes that this is a big positive that would have come out of the sordid episode. Rihanna as a poster girl or should we say spokesperson for DV would go a long way towards raising the awareness level to this malady which afflicts all communities. Continue reading →

Rihanna, Barbados Still Loves You!

Posted on by
Reply

AP Photo/ Evan Agostini, AP Photo

AP Photo/ Evan Agostini, AP Photo

Last night the news broke that Rihanna would not be able to honour her contract to perform as the opening act at the Grammy Awards ceremony. Almost immediately similar news followed that her American boy friend Chris Brown of about one year cancelled his appearance as well. Then early this morning the international news wires started to sizzle with the news of a possible domestic dispute between the two young international pop stars.

A tribute to the handlers of both stars is the fact that information about the reported incident in California last night has been kept under tight secrecy. Despite the blackout on information reports are starting to emerge of a bloodied and bruised Rihanna. The one fact known to the world which has been confirmed by American police is that Chris Brown “was booked by police on suspicion of making a felony criminal threat.”

Barbados is a small island driven to rumour easily. Last year many Barbadians heard the whispers that boy friend Chris Brown had demonstrated anger on many occasions when some of Rihanna’s male friends would visit. There is the biggest rumour of all that on one occasion the windows of her new SUV were smashed. Maybe the signs have always been there that Rihanna needed to step back. Continue reading →

Women Grabbing The Upper Hand

Posted on by
71
Submitted by ROK

womenI have to agree with Mr. Boyce. BANGO’s perspective on this is that it takes two. Women unleash their strength on men and cry fowl when men unleash theirs. What is the woman’s strength, words and emotion. They unleash it and when you hear the feminists, you see what I mean. It is unbridled.

If relations are to get any better, then women must learn to control themselves in as much as they are asking men to exercise the same control.

Women must learn to stop telling men that they “never” did anything for them”. They must also stop bashing men if they expect to seriously address this problem and as Ralph said, seek to deal with the real problem rather than the symptoms.

Furthermore, men must deal with the unfair situation where the courts of law remove them from their homes and place them in great hardship and straining their ability to support their children. You place them at a disadvantage and then heap them with burdens.