Tag Archives: gender issues

It takes a lot of balls to wade into this issue all willy-nilly. But I miss Carnival and I feel for a challenge. Hopefully I won’t offend and the feminists won’t skin me alive. But if I do unintentionally lapse into ‘mansplaining’ when offering my perspective, I apologize in advance. …

We may be having a progressive cultural shift. I am referring to the proposed need for “permission slips” to take a wine on a woman in a fete or on the road on Carnival days. The probability of that shift is to be measured by Machel Montano’s quick reverse from …

“[…] Five male Presidents later, the next President of Trinidad and Tobago should be a woman. Such an appointment would be a significant indicator of gender equality and an expression of the democratic value of inclusion. “We should widen the scope of persons to be considered and Trinidad and Tobago …

If ever there was an under-performing country, it is Trinidad and Tobago. We have under-performed in every area of development and the PNM and the UNC are equally responsible. Both parties have demonstrated an astounding reluctance to collaborate. Even on the occasion of the achievement of Independence, so great was …

When there is no law against sexual harassment, those engaged in such activities are in fact fully protected to continue their wrongdoing. This is the stark reality in Trinidad and Tobago today. There are few policies and no legislation to provide redress to the victims of sexual harassment. Harassers can …

In a recent TV6 interview entitled “All Things Considered” and meant to be a mid-term review of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s administration, there was a brief exchange between the Prime Minister and reporter Faine Richards. Faine Richards: Prime Minister, I’d like to move the conversation to a more social climate; …

“This cry for action is not new. Recall ‘Die with my Dignity’ by Singing Sandra. She was singing about sexual harassment in its worst form, yet, as a society, we did nothing. We took no action.” The following letter to the Editor which calls for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to take …

“In conversations with a couple of Christian girlfriends about my situation, I discovered that their Christian husbands were also physically and emotionally abusive. And in October of this year, I met another young woman at a Christmas event who admitted that her Christian husband was also guilty of abuse but …

For many years I have described the low self-esteem plaguing many of our youngsters and its relationship to violent crime and anti-social behaviour.  The now widespread fighting in schools is a related phenomenon. Much of my personal knowledge of the self-esteem crisis comes directly from dialogue with some youngsters to …

“Now, when these men are “old and strong” and the society is reaping the results of generations of domestic and communal dysfunction on a large scale, we are conveniently pointing accusatory fingers at a veritable forest of old, hard, crooked trees that we as a national collective did nothing to …

“It is my firm belief that until we find a way to make an intervention in the homes, and until the overwhelming majority of Trinbagonian homes are wholesome, functional, nurturing places for children, we are engaging in mass self-deceit if we believe anything will change significantly anytime in the future.” …

The recent murder in MovieTowne is the second to take place at that location. It has had several reverberations, which are as great as those that accompanied the first one, fourteen years ago. On both occasions our Prime Ministers made insensitive remarks in the aftermath of the murder. On the …