In Pursuit of a Culture of Consent

“Black men struggle with masculinity so much. The idea that we must always be strong really presses us all down.”- Donald Glover. We have been here before; the Jamaica society is outraged and rightly so. The disgust and outcry over the murder of Khanice Jackson has been making the rounds, from social media to the taxi stand to Parliament. But we have been here before as a society. Jamaica has a serious problem. The issue we face is rooted in a culture void of consent and the manner in which we construct and affirm masculinity. The society takes its cue from popular culture regarding who is a real man. The music of the day defines who a real man is. One, who is promiscuous, smokes and who pays little or no attention to education. Our boys learn their lessons quite early and well in their lives and this is evident as male educational achievement is now a pandemic not only in Jamaica but worldwide. Consent culture a culture which normalizes the action of asking for consent and respecting whatever responses are given. It asserts that each individual has bodily autonomy and maintains that boundaries (an individual’s right to choose what is comfortable to them) should be respected unconditionally. The lack of a consent culture goes beyond sex and sexual relations; this manifests itself in our daily lives. A farmer toils and plants his or her crop and another person reaps that which was planted. This lack of a consent culture is most pronounced on social media platforms where individuals share pictures of someone without first asking or receiving consent. There are some folks who have no respect for the concept of personal space; they invade your personal space without even realizing it. The lack of respect for personal space has become commonplace. No wonder the Jamaican government has had a challenging time getting us to observe COVID-19 protocols; especially physical distancing. The idea of physical distancing is alien for a significant number of the citizenry. There are those of us who have an inclination to hug others without first asking permission. The constant invading of personal space is alarming. We have normalized the culture of entitlement and this is problematic. Patriarchy has made it easier for men to define and maintain their boundaries than it is for women and other genders. Patriarchy empowers and emboldens men as it gives males the privilege to take without asking. It is this privileging of males which oftentimes fosters a culture of rape. Rape is ultimately about power and in many instances patriarchy provides the framework for men to exert power over women. Women are often not viewed on the same platform as men; women are seen as second class citizens subjected to the rules of men often clothed in religious edits. Black Boys Education Professor Clinton Hutton speaking at a recent conference on Black Boys Education: Currency, Practices and Social Intervention in Jamaica, stated the society does not use male and female stereotypes to deal with conflicts. As a result of this, conflict resentment is inevitable. Boys internalize that school is not for them. Additionally, Professor Hutton mentioned that there is a lot of hypocrisy regarding expectations of boys and girls. He calls for the interrogation of stereotypical expectations as this according to him socialize people into silence. Hutton added that in the society boys are socialized not to cry. This tough image added to the construction of Jamaican masculinity becomes problematic as boys become men. Dr. Herbert Gayle, a senior lecturer at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, called for a change from patriarchy to partnership and equality to ease the pain that so many in the society are experiencing. Dr. Gayle called for a move towards gender flexibility. There will be opposition to the notion of gender flexibility, especially regarding the masculine gender. Undoubtedly there are those in the society who will argue that this is a route to accept homosexuality as part of the package of gender flexibility. Already there exits a backlash in the society against those males who do not subscribe to the hegemonic ideal of masculinity. Unfortunately, those males are often riducled and even physcially attacked. Masculinity and what it means to be a man does impact on the education of our boys. Many boys view the school experience as feminine. Our boys’ life choices are severely circumscribed by the dominant notions of masculinity competing with “multiple masculinities” in the society. One glaring example of boys removing themselves from perceived feminine curriculum is the continuous poor performance of our boys in English Language in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination. Boys who speak or attempt to speak Standard English are called derogatory names and ridiculed almost daily by their peers. The dominant notion of masculinity in the wider Jamaican society is one in which to speak Standard English is tantamount of being isolated by one’s peers and the accompanying question marks which undoubtedly will follow surrounding one’s sexual orientation. Not surprisingly a significant number of our boys do not readily code switch between the languages, instead they prefer to use and remain with the language of what defines a man to be a man. The school experience for many boys is already traumatic and therefore who can that boy for just fitting in and face the hostile treatment and name calling from his friends. Interestingly, even boys from a background of privilege and from homes where Standard English is spoken are now struggling with the English Language as we continue to see the intersection of class and gender and how this impacts the school experience for our boys. Our boys learn from quite early that having an education is not vital to be successful in life. In fact if we assess success in terms of material possessions in the Jamaican context we will see that an overwhelming majority of those men who are successful are those who did not excel at scholastic pursuits. Values and Attitudes The fabric of the Jamaican society is hanging by a thread; unfortunately with each passing day the thread becomes thinner. We have lost those historical and cultural values which have been a bedrock of stability over the years. Values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitudes or actions. They help us to determine what is important to us. Values describe the personal qualities we choose to exemplify to guide our actions; the type of person we want to be; the manner in which we treat ourselves and others, and our relations with the world around us. They provide the general guidelines for conduct for society as well as for the individual. Sadly, values such as determination, a spirit of community and family, honesty, hard work have been replaced. The glorification of violence has overtaken us as a people. With the advent of and the proliferation of social media everyone is now a journalist. People are more concerned with the taking of photographs and receiving likes than to look out for their neighbour. Kendra Cherry, in an online article entitled Attitudes and Behaviour in Psychology states an attitude refers to a set of emotions, beliefs, and behaviors toward a particular object, person, thing, or event. Attitudes are often the result of experience or upbringing, and they can have a powerful influence over behavior. While attitudes are enduring, they can also change. Psychologists define attitudes as a learned tendency to evaluate things in a certain way. This can include evaluations of people, issues, objects, or events. Such evaluations are often positive or negative, but they can also be uncertain at times. The Way Forward The Jamaican family for the most part is dysfunctional, added to that the educational system is not able to transmit the positive values and attitudes needed in society. The impact on instructional loss due to COVID-19 disruptions has been significant. It is debatable if and when students will be able to close this learning loss gap. The time has come for the Jamaican society to interrogate the strand of masculinity which many of our males have ascribed to. We need to build a society in which there is a mutual respect for personal space. There must be a partnership involving our religious, business and civic communities to renew their call to protect women and girls from crime and violence. Males must respect that no means no. A female has the right to say no at anytime as it relates to sexual activity. There is an urgent need for us to build and maintain a culture of consent in order to strengthen the fabric of the society. We must look to ways to break the cycle of crime and violence in the Jamaican society and in so doing rescue our boys. According to Professor Hutton the way we educate is very important. He calls for the development of mentor programmes for our boys who lack positive male role models. He added that the pursuit of education should be about dreams, character, identity and vision. He concluded that the pedagogy of the philosophy of education needs to be repaired. In the words of Marcus Mosiah Garvey, rise up black men, and take your stand. Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo ©