A narrative exploration of gender performances and gender relations in the Caribbean diaspora

Abstract

This essay uses a narrative inquiry approach to understand diasporas as gendered phenomena that manifest across multiple borders. Ethnographic exploration of a cricket and social club comprised mainly of older Caribbean men drew attention to the women in their lives. Most of their girlfriends and wives do not play the sport; nevertheless, women are essential to the use of a cricket subculture to remake a Caribbean diasporic consciousness. Women are linked to this predominantly male community through their nurturing, domestic and sexualised gender performances. The performances of masculinities exhibited by male club members also depend on women. This study shows that gender relations are an important aspect of fluid cultural circuits and identity-making in the Caribbean diaspora.

Keywords:

• gender relations
• diaspora
• Caribbean
• cricket
• narrative inquiry
• women

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada Graduate Scholarship. I would like to thank the following scholars for their helpful advice: Dr. D. Alissa Trotz, Dr. Kyoung-Yim Kim and Dr. Thomas Fletcher.

Notes

^1. I use the terms ‘Caribbean’ and ‘Black’ with an acknowledgement of the linguistic, cultural and racial diversity of the region and racial group. Specifically, this essay refers mainly to English-speaking Black Caribbean men and women now living in Canada.

^2. It should be noted that in certain parts of the Caribbean women are not only spectators, but also cricket players of repute. The regional West Indies team competes successfully at international tournaments and Stefanie Taylor, a Jamaican athlete, is ranked as the #1 all-rounder (in batting and bowling) in the world as of September 2013.

^3. A ‘rubber’ is a slang term for the rubber grip added to a cricket bat handle and ‘hat’ can refer to a cap, a sunhat, or a helmet. These colloquial comments were beyond the sexualised nature of official cricket terms, such as ‘breaking’ a bowler’s ‘maiden’. (see Lewis 2003).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Janelle Joseph

JANELLE JOSEPH is Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at the Faculty of Education at University of Ontario Institute of Technology.