gender inequality

Introduction:

Gender refers to those social, cultural, and psychological traits linked to males and females through particular social context1. Too often in society, males and females does not conform to the expectations, behaviours and images that are considered appropriate in society and are likely to face gender discrimination. Gender discrimination refers to prejudice or discrimination based on gender, as well as conditions that foster stereotypes of gender roles2. Gender discrimination occurs throughout the world and is largely promoted in the Caribbean society through the mass media. ‘‘Rolly Polly’’ sung by Mr Killa and ‘‘Big Belly Man’’ sung by Mac Fingall were two songs, promoted by the mass media that highlighted gender discrimination in the Caribbean. The song “Rolly Polly’’ was released on the wake of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago and publicized the acceptance of obese women in society. The song Big Belly man was released in 2000 and promoted discrimination among the obese men in the Caribbean society. Obesity is defined as the state of being well above one’s normal weight3. A person is considered to be obese if they are more than 20% over their ideal weight. In the past, the obese women in Trinidad and Tobago were shunned in public, social gatherings and music videos because of the view by many, that the slim women were more attractive and better dancers than the obese women.

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1 VERENE A.SHEPHERD. ‘‘ENGENDERING CARIBBEAN HISTORY" (accessed March 21st 2014)

2‘‘Gender discrimination ’’ Boundless-https://www.boundless.com (accessed March 23rd 2014)

3 " Obesity" Medicine Net-https://www.medterm.com (accessed March 23rd 2014)

However, since the release of the song "Rolly Polly" obese women h...

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...s aspect was "Big Belly Man" which was sung by Mac Fingall. This song told a story about a female shunning an obese male in a social gathering. She then opted for a skinny male.

In terms of the Conflict theory point of view we agree that the obese women struggle to attain maximum benefit. The obese women were exhausted of living in the shadows and expectations of the society for them to be a particular size. Hence, they sought the same attention that the slim female attracted. The introduction of the song " Rolly Polly" served as a medium for the obese women to attain the same attention as that of the slim female. In some cases, they even commanded more attention than the slim females. These women were highlighted in many ads across various types of media. Men on the other hand still struggle to obtain the same benefit as slim or muscular men.