The Culture Of Gender And Sexuality In The Caribbean

The Culture of Gender and Sexuality in the Caribbean   edited by Linden Lewis Florida A&M University, Tallahassee Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers Florida International University, Miami Florida State University, Tallahassee University of Central Florida, Orlando University of Florida, Gainesville University of North Florida, Jacksonville University of South Florida, Tampa University of West Florida, Pensacola The Culture of Gender and Sexuality in the Caribbean edited by Linden Lewis University Press of Florida Gainesville/Tallahassee/Tampa/Boca Raton Pensacola/Orlando/Miami/Jacksonville/Ft. Myers Copyright 2003 by Linden Lewis Printed in the United States of America on recycled, acid-free paper All rights reserved 08 07 06 05 04 03 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The culture of gender and sexuality in the Caribbean / edited by Linden Lewis. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8130-2677-6 (c: acid-free paper) 1. Sex role—Caribbean Area. 2. Sex customs—Caribbean Area. I. Lewis, Linden, 1953– HQ1075.5.C27C88 2003 305.3'09729—dc22 2003061692 The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the State University System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida State University, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of North Florida, University of South Florida, and University of West Florida. University Press of Florida 15 Northwest 15th Street Gainesville, FL 32611-2079 http://www.upf.com For all the men and women of the Caribbean whose lived experiences have in one way or another informed the contents of this volume, and for Rosemarie Mallett, with whom the idea for such an anthology first germinated Contents Exploring the Intersections of Gender, Sexuality, and Culture in the Caribbean: An Introduction 1 Theoretical Mediations on Gender in the Caribbean 1. Theorizing Ruptures in Gender Systems and the Project of Modernity in the Twentieth-Century Caribbean 25 Violet Eudine Barriteau 2. The Globalization of the Discourse on Gender and Its Impact on the Caribbean 53 Hilbourne Watson 3. Caribbean Masculinity: Unpacking the Narrative 94 Linden Lewis The Political Terrain of Gender and Sexuality 4. A Blueprint for Gender in Creole Trinidad: Exploring Gender Mythology through Calypsos of the 1920s and 1930s 129 Patricia Mohammed 5. Popular Imageries of Gender and Sexuality: Poor and Working-Class Haitian Women’s Discourses on the Use of Their Bodies 169 Carolle Charles 6. “The Infamous Crime against Nature”: Constructions of Heterosexuality and Lesbian Subversions in Puerto Rico 190 Elizabeth Crespo-Kebler Sexual Orientation and Male Socialization in the Caribbean 7. The Role of the Street in the Socialization of Caribbean Males 215 Barry Chevannes 8. Masculinity and Power in Puerto Rico 234 Rafael L. Ramírez 9. Queering Cuba: Male Homosexuality in the Short Fiction of Manuel Granados 251 Conrad James Gender, Sexuality, and Historical Considerations 10. Struggling with a Structure: Gender, Agency, and Discourse 275 Glyne Griffith 11. “It Hurt Very Much at the Time”: Patriarchy, Rape Culture, and the Slave Body-Semiotic 294 Joseph C. Dorsey List of Contributors 323 Index 325 Exploring the Intersections of Gender, Sexuality, and Culture in the Caribbean An Introduction Linden Lewis Caribbean Cultural Configurations and the Emerging Discourses on Gender and Sexuality What constitutes the Caribbean has long been a contested issue but has nevertheless masqueraded as settled and unproblematic. Different colonial powers laid claim to different parts of the region, leaving a legacy of nat