Several (if not all) of the groups today mentioned an interesting difference between gender roles as alluded to in Olive Senior’s Hurricane Story, 1903 and Hurricane Story, 1944.
In a lecture/reading at the University of Miami in 1993, Senior herself notes that her series of “hurricane” poems are not really about the hurricanes at all, but rather, are about how the hurricanes impacted the lives of people. She draws specific reference to the sociological changes that took place in Jamaican society between each hurricane.
What changes in gender roles can you see taking place in the time periods between these two poems? Do you have any ideas as to why these changes may have taken place?
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hehehe nobody comment yet… wut to say?
hmm this involves slight thought fee
SLIGHT thought? SLIGHT???!!!
AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
seriously :/ I’m terrified to write anything
The first major change that we see taking place in gender roles between the time periods is that the man is not as dominant in the second poem as he is in the first poem,so of course this would mean that the woman is somewhat more independant.In the second poem,unlike in the first the female is now taking on the roles and responsibilities that the male previously took on along with her own roles and responsibilities as a woman.She is the breadwinner of the home,which previously more or less belonged to the male;she is the protecter of her children and her home as well (but who is there to protect her,right?)and,she is still the comforter and the nerturer.There is now a diversification of the male and female roles,with the female recieving the bulk of these.
These changes may have occurred for a number of different reasons,but those that come to me are:
the conditions in jamaica and to a larger extent the caribbean were such that they forced the males to sort of take a backseat,since with a scarcity of jobs and so on ,the woman being more skilled in terms of domestic work could take up little jobs washing,cleaning for other people and so on.Around those times conditions were diplorable,hence the reason why the moyne commission was sent here to investigate these problems in the 1930′s.
More men were leaving the caribbean to find work else where , so the women had to pick up the slack.World war 1occurred in1914 and world war 2 occurred in 1939 so men were also(maybe)taking part in these wars.
i am so not sure about this but i am going to try anyway. the changes in gender role that i see is that woman has taken over the role of the man in that not only were they responsible for nurturing and taking care of their family but they were now responsible for protecting and providing. in a sense they were the ones who had to hold everything together both pysically and emotionally.i kind of also agree with urshamma when she says that in the second poem woman were now in a sense independent. my evidence is in hurricane story 1903 where we see that grannys responsibility was keeping the family together, nurturing and loving them while grand father did the hard work, working in the fields, protecting and providing for them etc.theres a sense of working together but in hurricane story 1944 even before the hurricane and the father lost his job we see that the mother was already working and providing for her family. she was described as “constantly labouring. i think that these changes took place because as urshamma again stated because of the terrible condition in the island after hurricane 1903. maybe the countrys economic conditions made most of the men migrated in search of jobs.secondly i think that maybe class prejudice had something to do with this as stated in hurricane story 1944 along with fighting to obtain material things. the end .NB this question was so not fun.
Well so far I’m thinking is that its due to their difference in lifestyles. I mean, in 1903 the persona lived with her grandparents in a rural area and in 1944 the persona’s parents lived in the village. In those times while living in the rural area persons took on a more diligent role in meeting their standard of living. The grandparents obviosuly understood this and performed them as equals, each having their own duty to which they dedicated themselves to in order to keep things flowing regularly and ensure that they meet their basic standard of living and both of their tasks compliment each other and builds to making things work faster and at a smoother, settled pace. In 1944 the persona’s mother dedicates herself to doing something that would add to the family’s liability yet the father does npt appreciate her input because it makes him feel lesser than he is. (-_-”) He does not see the purpose of her working as a means of trying to be an equal with him, he does not appreciate her contribution and instead looks down on her because she decides to provide her subsidize to the family by farming which to him in not a real job. The mother is willing to aid in the family’s fund but his unwillingness to accept her as an equal partner and bread winner. The grandparents in 1903 had respect for each other and had already seemed accustom and comforted, well settled into their roles so they adpated easily after the hurricane but the couple in 1944 had that barrier from the beginning where the husband could not seem to settle into the routine of gender roles properly which affected him greatly after the hurricane. He felt faded behind the profession of his wife, which, although had been less than his own white collar job was now the family’s only means of finanical stability. The two cannot cope beyond the point of which he not willing to move pass. He will not work unless its something worthy of his abilities and he finds the muck, land laboring to be offensive to his character but his wife sees its efficiency.
The grandparents see the efficiency and obligate themselves to making it their main priority in their lives. I think these changes may have taken place because, you know they say, persons in the countryside know the value of argriculture and would make an extreme effort to toil the land to provide for themselves and the family. The father usually takes the feilding jobs while the mother works from the home. The husband in 1944 had predjudice toward the land. His pride and stubborness overruled him and he shunned it. Uhm, i finally lost where i was going wit this and if i get anything else that makes sense I’ll come back. *sigh
I’m seriously likin this Anna
Really agree with you especially on the last paragraph!
In the two poems we see that the adult women each have important roles to play in the lives of the personas.The major difference though is that while the woman in Hurricane story has the role of nurturer and caregiver and the man(grandfather)serves the role of protector and bread-winner,the woman in Hurricane story 1944 is the care giver and nurturer,but becomes the protector and bread-winner as well;the gender roles are reversed. here, the man is no longer “the man”,the woman/mother is. I think that this is because in this time period society was becoming less strict about the role of women in the home as well as society and was also allowing them to have more rights. I don’t really have much else to say yet, so this will have to do:).
In the time of ‘Hurricane ’03 I think society was still rather chauvanistic.The woman was the man’s ‘help meat’, a mother and comforter.Like when the children were amazed at Grandma showing skin, indicates the values that were upheld at the time, especially where women were concerned.
The roles are inversed in ‘Hurricane ’44′. Here the woman is the main breadwinner,she takes charge of the household while her husband has abandoned his duties to his family.
In the time between these hurricanes women have become more independent. There’s more eqality of the sexes, but in some ways I think she is still subject to the man(she receives her beatings but fulfills her duties to her husband anyway). There isn’t yet a complete move towards women’s rights.The male figure in ’44 refuses to work alongside his wife for the care of the family.The roles of each is confused as the society is now more liberal,he doesn’t have to be tied down to his family,society allows him this freedom, in a sense.’03, the man can’t be this carefree,society would look down on him and then the gender roles are more delineated,so each knows what duty they are to perform.
In hurricane story 1903, we see an old cople in a relatively simple time.The father is a patriarch and is adequately supported by his wife.The father is the clear leader of his household but their relationship is one of a dual effort as they each assume their respective roles for a cmmon purpose. They are therefore able to overcome their adversities. In hurricane story 1944 the parents’ relationship was not as strong initially,I the impression that he was ill-content with his wife.inspite of this they supported each other ,similarly to the other couple However there is an abrupt change in this partnership after the passage of the hurricane as the wife developed as the stronger of the two.She bbecame a single parent of sorts as she acted as a disciplinarian,provider,and nurturer while the father adopts a dormant role. this is significant since it represents atime of gender equality and women being sole prividers in certain jamaican households?
(JUST CONTINUING FROM WHERE I WAS CUT OFF.I TOOK LIKE FORTY FIVE MINUTES JUST TO TYPE THAT!!!)
These changes may have also occurred because of the ideological changes that took place during that time in these societies,before when women were strongly looked at as belonging in the home and when customs were more intact it was easier for the male to carry out his duties,but with people’s way of thinking changing, coupled with the mount in economic hardships around those periods it is difficult for the male to be as effective as he once was.This will no doubt bring about resentment on the part of the male,because,with him being raised with the idea that he is the head of the home will feel pushed aside.This is why in the second hurricane story we see the husband coming home and beating his wife on Saturday evenings.(i personally find that ‘routine’ to be sort of funny,i mean she gets her licks on Saturday and goes to church on Sunday and sing?)
In hurricane story 1903 we see the major distinctions between the grandmother and grandfather.Grandmother is more the nurturer and caregiver and helper, while we see grandfather as being more protective and in charge, and also seeming to know alot of how to make it in times of disaster and he seems to be quite a knowledgeable man.Grandmother is also much more comforting and seems to be a very reassuring person causing persons; her grandchildren to feel peace and hopefulness.While in hurricane story 1944 the roles seems somewhat unfair because the father seemed to be main breadwinner at once so he was somewhat bossy and arrogant while the mother seemed to just be there being taken for granted but then after the hurricane changes everything the mother is now the breadwinner and has gone up in rank while the father has gotten lazy and somewhat do care but still thinks he needs to be in charge because he is the man,so he beats her even though he is totally dependent on her. Also the mother has to take the role of caretaker and still protector to her children and family. This changes in role may have taken place because in H.S 1903 woman were totally dependent on men for everything while in 1944 women start gaining a little independence and realize that they too can help out and that they shouldnt have to be totally dependent on man for wellbeing.
Well,More or less i agree with what was said above.Some My Valid points were taken but oh well…ok,both these poems hurricane story 1903& 1944 are somewhat similar in context but differs in terms of gender roles.In hurricane story 1903,the grandfather took on the traditional role of the time as breadwinner and man of the home and the grandmother, the role of woman & mother.However,in Hurricane Story 1944, these roles take a turn, the man was not taking on his traditional role of being a ”man”-Ruler but was presented as a negligent character who disreguards his family and lazes around, depending on his wife who ‘wears the pants’ in this relationship it seems. What’s interesting though is that, i don’t believe he is unaware that it is his duty to be caretaker of his home and to initiate some form of masculinity,he beats her. These two poems exhibit several themes such as Gender Roles and Tradition and Strength Of A Woman….which could explain the change.
Ok I’m ready now :/ I pretty much have an essay here… sorry Mr Abbott I think this was a really deep question hope it makes sens ^^
sense*
Gender roles is an important theme in both ‘Hurricane story 1903′ and ‘Hurricane story 1944′. In 1903 they are clearly delineated and echoed plainly and consistently throughout the poem. Grandmother does simpler jobs such as ‘plucked bits of fowl coop from the pinguin fence.’ typical of females, while grandfather does the more difficult masculine tasks such as ‘drained his fields’ so that their lives could be ‘shored up against improvidence’. He is resoundingly portrayed as the protector for example the children ‘rode above it’ (the hurricane) with ‘grandfather’s bed’ as their symbolic protection. He had known ‘all the ways of orchestrating disaster’.
Granny was seen as the loving caretaker and nurturer as she provided food for comfort and ‘to give us courage’. She was the expected image of modesty as she raised her skirt to wade into the water in order to find her chickens, to the shock of the children who ‘had never seen so much skin.’ It is also evident to me that as traditional ways would have it Grandfather takes the lead and Grandmother follows with the children. Grandfather ‘opened the window’ which I think symbolises him leading the way into a new beginning.
In 1944, there is a tremendous shift in male and female niches. At first the father appears to be the average respectable male with a ‘white collar class job’ and on the path of what is expected of him. However even as early as the first stanza I can sense a significant difference in his role as the traditional man. Him being referred to as a ‘dandy’ though exerting some sort of male pride implies a serious lack of responsibility and profoundness in my opinion which is contrasting to the person of grandfather in 1903 who functions as the protector.
As early as the third stanza I think that it is subtly evident that women have already seized control. The father’s mother states what she wants him to become but there is absolutely no mention of the voice of a father who’s role it is primarily to offer leadership and guidance. I say it’s subtle because it’s also possible that her words are those of a puppet under unseen patriarchal control. (Do I make sense? :s)
In further support of this theory, women’s mastery is seen in various instances throughout the poem in the poet’s mother. It was ‘through her they got the house’. Her stating that ‘one body money can’t stretch’ suggests a proposition for male and female equality. However it is evident, that in addition to the hurricane causing the loss of the father’s job, that he had already reluctantly surrendered male dominance and even equality. It was now mother who took command for it was she who ‘ordered us children to give thanks to the lord’ and ‘grow straight’ etc, when being disciplinarian and leader was the task of the father. Mother’s sporting of the straw boater is a powerful image of the woman stealing the man’s thunder, who as a result ‘coasted downhill’. It was she who left him money on the dresser to which he made a feeble effort to subdue her power by exerting his battered manhood (battered like the strawboater) by beating her.
I think the cast change in gender roles is as a result of the changing in times and the advancing of human knowledge. Forty One years is a wide time span. Women are swiftly closing in on men who seem to have begun to grow complacent in their role as the lion. Women appear to dominate because somebody has to get things done.
All they want is equality but apparently it’s true what it is said ‘that anything with two heads is a monster.’ Men need to wake up…
Yes Jacinth i think you really made alot of sense….this was really well thought out….GOOD JOB!
thanks a lot Jai
rly glad it makes sense XD rly sat down and thought about it
I think that the age of the parents must also be considered.In hurricane story 1903 the caretakers are well,grandparents,so their generational values will be some what different,while in the second huuuricane story of 1944 the parents are younger and thier generational values have already been watered down.
LOL as funny as it sounds that makes sense Urshamma
Ok,well it is seen there are significant changes in gender roles in the poems ‘Hurricane story 1903′, and ‘Hurricane story 1944′.In 1903 the persona made clear distinctions between the grandfather’s role as the dominant leader and protector of the family before, during and after the hurricane,while the grandmother was described as the caretaker and nurturer to the children who comforted them during the hurricane .By contrast, in 1944 the persona’s father does not take on a dominant role in the family after the hurricane but leaves the burden of both providing and raising the children to the mother.Also, the grandparents in 1903 work together well as equals, unlike in 1944 where the father and mother do not work together to get through the hard times.
The reasons why there may be a change in these gender roles in both poems is because the settings and times have changed.In 1903 the setting is in a rural area where farming the most economical way of earning income available to them. Farming is very hard, tedious work which needs a dominant male figure.The time it was set in 1903 where most families were patriarchal in nature. By 1944 the setting had changed to a more modern society where other occupations were available besides agriculture.By that time women were becoming more independent to support their families.Additionally, another reason may be tradition in the home.In 1903 the grandfather came from a line of men who knew how to protect their families during and after hurricanes, ‘he was the seventh son of a seventh son’.In 1944 we do not get that sense of tradition given to the father in the event of a hurricane and how to cope after.We only get the presence of the father’s mother but no father.
Bearing in mind that the father traditionally is the protector(source of security and stability) and the mother traditionally is the nuturer(source of comfort and sanity),these a re present to some extent in both of poems.The overall impact of change on the gender roles through times of hardship is to the extreme with the consideration of both poems i would say that the patriarch through the years have become more prone to extreme change this is due to the generation gap and modernization in its self(where working hard for everything as in 1903 became not working at all because the money will make it work as in 1944).I think that it is safe to say that money indeed over the years have caused the patriarch to lose sight of his role and therefore the mother who is arguably the source of sanity insticntly steps in as does what is necessary to maintain functionality with in the family structure.In conclusion the male role throughout the years hae changed considerably because of money and modernization however the female is able to maitain and even transcend barriers in times of hardship to play all four roles the source of comfort,the source of sanity,the source of stability an the source of security.
messenger ruining my grammar sigh……….. lol
This took alot out of me and if it was left up to me to comment on it i wouldn’t :/ Most persons i think made some interesting and very long points however i am going to try and sum mines up…..
There are changes in gender roles in the time periods of 1903 and 1944 in these two Hurricane stories. Firstly, in Hurricane story 1903 the grandmother and grandfather seem to be a more mature couple who even after the Hurricane they was still a sense of hope among them. They have well defined roles. The persona is telling the story from their memory as a child. It is from this it can be seen that the couple work well together. The grandmother’s role is to comfort and nurture her grandchildren and she does this by ‘melting chocolate in hot milk….to give us courage’. However, the grandfather is the breadwinner and his duty is to protect the family. He fulfills his role by using his ancestral knowledge of being able to predict storms and using his physical strength in to get work done (“he drained the fields”, and went into the “forest to cut the thatch to patch the house”). Therefore, it can be said that the Hurricane Story 1903 shows that there is a well established gender roles being carried out efficiently.
On the other hand, in Hurricane Story 1944, there is a change in the role of a female and male. This poem shows that after the Hurricane there was sense of hopelessness among the family. In the first instance the society in poem seems to be more influenced by racism. This can be seen in the poem where the father dresses up to go to work in a shop(white collar class) and his mother does not like the fact that he likes a girl who is of a darker skin that him. But it was this girl (who became a mother) who worked the land alone (a job that was held to be more a male’s duty). The father looked down upon his upbringing in agriculture. Consequently, when he lost his job he did not have anything to fall back on and the mother became the sole breadwinner, the comforter and the organizer of the family. She told the children what to do and how to do it (‘nail the roof and to thank the Lord every night’). It is a pity that his role as the head of the house hold diminished totally after the hurricane and according to Delisia that he shows his authority by beating her even though he is totally dependent on her.
I believe that these changes may have taken place because of what was happening in the society at the time. In 1903 the society was not influenced as much as by the migration of thousands of men in the Caribbean to fight wars (World War 1, 1914-1918 and World War 11, 1939-1945) as Urshamma commented. According to Christine Barrow, many anthropologists such as Edith Clarke and Michael G. Smith studied Jamaica and were involved in the Mass Marriage Movement in Jamaica in the 1994-5 due to the marginal role of the males. They claimed that later on the original view that men are the breadwinners were overturned and emphasis was placed on women’s familial authority.
Both poems i think, in a sense, explores the transience of life and the myth of security. I say this because the changes in gender roles are significantly different in both the poems (Hurricane Story 1903 and Hurricane Story 1944). As we can see, in Hurricane Story 1903, the grandfather did his job by taking on the father-like responsibilities even though the times were hard, even through the hurricane. Whilst the woman did the very same, taking on her responsibility as being the nurturer of the family. On the contrary, in Hurricane Story 1944, the man here gived up when all went wrong in the hurricane. Thus, switching his role over to his wife. The wife in this case became the ‘breadwinner’ of the family, which is initially the role of the man in the household as we all know.
I however think that such a change occured because of the hardship felt by the man. Maybe he was not accustom to such a situation and thought he was too good to be in such a position, and decided to sit back and watch his wife take over the role of the ‘breadwinner’. Also i think that the change in gender roles was different in each poem because of the class/status of both men. The one who stuck to being a ‘man’ had a ‘poor’ background whilst the one who decided to give up was once ‘well-off’. Thus, this may have affected the change in gender roles, in this case.
There is a major difference in both poems concerning gender roles. In hurricane story 1903 the grand father is seen as the protector and the provider, who is always there for his family.For example he always knew when to board the last window up and braced the door. In addition his bed was used to protect them from the choas the storm created. While the grand mother was the nurturer and the source of sanity.Both grand parents understood their roles and did not shun away from them.
Whereas in Hurricane story 1944 their is a complete reversal of roles. The father in the earlier stanzas of the poem seems to be in control and he is somewhat idiolized by his brothers.He is compared to a dandy and a white collar class and the readers can sense a pompous air emanating fom him.By contrast the mother seems to be humble because she never said much even though she was ridiculed by the father’s mother. In addition even though the father had a good job the mother still went to the market to provide for the family.Even though he was ashamed of this it would ironically become their main source of income.
Therefore when the hurricane destroyed his source of income the dependency was transferred to the mother.It is quite amazing to note that she never fussed because of the added pressure. She was now the person wearing the pants in the house because she was the one issuing the orders to the children and it is also quite evident that she had taken over because she had took that straw boater that the father flaunted.
Diamonds are made under pressure while pipes burst and the father could be compared to a pipe because he crashes downhill after his job and manhood is gone. The only way he could retrieve some measure of dominancy was by beating the mother after she gave him money and she still said nothing but sang for comfort.
Conditions in 1903 was much different to that of 1944, whereby in 1903 blacks were still somewhat restriced economically and politically in their own countries. While in 1944 in Jamaica politicians like Bustamante and Manley fought for equality and nationalism thus resulting in the Moyne Comission to better their conditions.These issues might have contributed to the difference in gender roles in both poems.
oh yeah, the fact that there is forty one years between the two poems shows that ways of thinking would also be different.
sufferin from Major writers block>> too much on my mind right now..RIP
yip RIP
I am going to try my best to answer although I was sick the day it was done!! There is definitely a change in the gender roles in the time periods which both poems were written. In Hurricane story 1903 we see the grandfather playing out the traditional role of breadwinner and the grandmother the care taker. However in Hurricane story 1944 we can see that the roles have sort of switch in that the female does her job but that of the male to, while the male becomes complaicant!! The changes in the gender role could be as a result of the changes within the societies’ climate. In Hurricane story 1944 the male can be identified with the male of our time in that they are no longer the sole breadwinner of the home. Through economic hardship it can be seen that the male flees from his responsibility because he is not strong enough to cope with it unlike the female who will brace herself and continue her work of keeping the family together in strenght, love and unity. In all that I gathered from both hurricane story is that WOMEN are sufficently STRONGER than MEN in the times back then and now because in hurricane story 1903 the female kept her role and in 1944 still kept her role but with improvement that of the male. Anyways I’m going off in a tangent so I would now conclude and say as the world changes so does people, WHY ?? because we are the ones who make up the world!!
all I can say is amen sista
The changes in gender roles I can see taking place in the time periods of 1903-1944 I think is specified because of the environment. In Hurricane Story 1903, Grandmother is more of a domestic woman, which could have been resulted form them living in a rural community.She acts the woman role where she is the comforter and nutura, this is shown when she takes care of her husband and the childern in preparation before the storm: she gather the food and animals, and sang to the children to comfort them from the storm. Grandfather who is seen as the provider and protector, where his more manly role is expressed when he read the signs of the coming hurricane and the things that he did to secure their home from the hurricane “Grandfather knew just when to board the last window up and brace the door.” In Hurricane Story 1944, there was a reversal of gender roles. Before the Hurricane the father played the part of being the provider of household, because he was employed “where he was assistant (white-collar class)” but also we can see that the mother may not have been the main provider, but she was contributing with the bringing in of money “a higgler for a wife”. After the hurricane the, the mother took the title of the main provider and took control of the household, because it was suggested that the father stopped working.
I think that the changes may have taken place because, there was no real power in his man role because all he did was work for some of the money, he did not think about preparing for the hurricane “thought nothing for insurance” in order to protect his family, and because of his pride he refused to continue, thus leaving the mother alone to do his job.Also I think that the change occured due to lack of feel of responsibility on the father’s part and the strength of a mother’s love for her family and to survive, which made the mother take control, because she knows how and will do anything to protect and provide for her family
The gender roles changed immensely from Hurricane Story, 1903 to Hurricane Story, 1944. The grandfather takes on his role as the protector of the family in Hurricane Story, 1903. He makes all the necessary preparations before the hurricane hits and it seems he has learnt this through tradition or it has been passed down through the generations from father to son ( he’s the 7th son of the 7th son). Also, he seems to be schooled on what his priorities in a disaster as the hurricane are as he seems to put the importance of food over his good clothes. The children feel protected and they also learn from observing their grandfather and can therefore also make use of this knowledge. The granny takes on the traditional role of nurturer as she prepares food and she gives everyone courage and comfort. However, in Hurricane Story, 1944 it seems the male no longer takes on his traditional role. He places great importance on appearance and social class. He is no longer the protector of the family and no longer is he the sole breadwinner of the family. He did not make any necessary preparations for the hurricane and he did not even insure his home. In addition, it seems he is no father figure to his children as they don’t seem to learn anything from him. It also seems as throughout the poem there is only made mention of his mother he himself did not really grow up with a father figure and was therefore perhaps unable to learn any important values that a father would usually pass on to his son. The woman, on the other hand, now takes on the roles of man and woman almost alone. It is made mention of her “constant labouring” which could have a double meaning as labouring in the sense of childbirth and fulfilling the female role and labouring as in working in the field etc. and also fulfilling the traditional role of the male. Thus, the mother is now not only the nurturer but also the protector. Before the hurricane the man had a job which seemed to be higher class. However, it was still the woman who had to pay for the house, feed the children and send them to school. The woman after the hurricane not only ensures that the house is rebuilt but she also supports the man now that he has lost his job. She doesn’t need him or is in anyway relying on his support, however, she still takes the beating and goes the church the next day and sings. Because the man now has no form of authority in any other parts of his life he must result to beating his wife in order to feel masculine or to feel that he has at least some form of control over some person. He feels he is too good to go back to manual labour and getting his hands dirty but the money of the woman who works in the field and goes to the market is still good enough for him to spend. This change in gender roles may have occurred as from the 1920s unemployed persons from the rural areas moved to the more urban areas in search of work. Therefore, possibly the standards people had might have changed. As we can see the first poem is in a rural and the second poem is in an urban area.
In Hurricane Story 1903 we see the grandparents working together as a team. Their roles are played with out question and seem natural to them both, the male as the protector and workman, and the female as the care giver and nurturer. In Hurricane Story 1944 we see that both the male and the female are expected to play the roles in which the grandparents in Hurricane Story 1903 play, however due to the change in the society and the difference in partners the female plays a more dominant role in the family than the male. She becomes breadwinner, workwoman and care giver.
In Hurricane Story 1903 the couple is older and more mature, lives a rural and subsistent life away from the city and money, before a time of development and they held family as an important aspect of life. In Hurricane Story 1903, the couple is younger, live more of a town life where money and social status are important. I believe that the main reason for this change in gender roles is: Modernization: money, development, town life. In Jamaica (1944) Universal Adult Suffrage was introduced and rural dwellers flooded the cities, the bustling center of commerce due to the boom in the tourism and mining market. This allowed for parents, in particular fathers to spend more time away from home at work as opposed to rural, subsistent life where the family tends to be more close knit and work together on a farm. Due to fathers leaving the home for work, women tended to pick up the slack by adopting the roles of the father in the house, such as; disciplinarian, protector, workwoman. Also, due to the fact that the privilege of voting was given to both male and females, there was now equality and women after this may have felt more independent and more powerful.
Gender roles is an important issue throughout both poems, we see that there are certain social expectations which men and women have. In hurricane story 03 we see that the male (Grand father) is the instrumentalist. The law giver, the one to protect, the provider. Grand mother on the other hand is the expressivenist, she comforts the children and do all that is necessary to make the children happy. Although in H.story 03 the grand mother displays some characteristic which may not have been the most graceful or feminine, in the end the identity of Grandpa was the bread winner. Similarly in H.story 44 the father initially acts as the bred winner he shows pride in that role. However he becomes depressed after the hurricane and he looses his job. The house hold now becomes matrifocal. The mother becomes the bred winner while the father does little to nothing.
The reason for the shift in gender role is as an adaptation to society. In H.story 03 the society was agrarian, farming was the custom thus the man became a bread winner by farming, the female did the cooking and child raring. Each gender had separate identities. In H.story 44 on the other hand society has fat forward 40 years. Society has evolved, this makes a shift in occupation but gender roles are almost the same. The father has a white collar job as but his identity is tied into being the bread winner. With his unemployment he cannot fulfill his role, or at least his pride prevents him from taking a job that is not blue collar. The mother then takes on the role of bread winner thus becoming the breadwinner and care giver. In the end gender roles or the preconceived gender roles remain however the mother in h.story 44 takes the role as bread winner to survive. The hurricane becomes an instrument of change.
Well is a good ting I does have me dictionary handy when I readin stuff on de internet.
The theme of gender roles plays a huge part in both poems, In The Hurrricane story 1903, The grandfather played the dominant role of provider and protector while the grandmother was more the caregiver/ house wife while in Hurricane story 1944 the woman now has to take on the responsibilities of her husband as he is now uncapable of providing for the family as he is unemployed, in contrast to the first hurricane story we see here that the woman takes on the roles of both a woman and a man, as she is now the caregiver,housewife, provider and she is the breadwinner….. and it was due to the hurricane why she had to take on extra roles. The difference between both poems and the switching of gender roles is due to the change of history and the environment in which people lived between the years of 1903 and 1944 this may be that the roles might have been shared and not seen as one having to be dominant over the other. Women are capable of taking on and accomplishing anything they set there minds to no matter how tough it may be.
In the peom “Hurricane story 1903″ we see that the gender roles compliment each other.Both grandparents know exactly what role they have in the family and what must be done to carry them out correctly.We see the grandfather has the role of being the protecter,teacher and provider for the family.While the gandmother is the naturer and the restorer,they both have an equal share of responsibilties.This can be because it was the early 1900′s where a woman was seen more as an equal partener.The reason can also be because they lived in tha rural area and it was custom for the man to share the workload of reaping a life from the land with his wife.In the other poem “Hurricane story of 1944″ we see a clear distinction in the gender roles of this poem.The male role was taken up by the father who was very well dressed and could also speak very well.He had a “white collar” job and therefore was paid very well also. He began as the provider while the mother was the “other” parent who juss happen to take up that role.I say this because in the begining we learn very little about her other than she was the wife and was a farmer.We see that she never gave up on her farming even when she was looked down upon because of it.The gender roles change after the father “figure” looses his job and because of his pride prefers to until a that is more up to his level is available .The mother takes on the role of being the provider for the family,she becomes the man of the house.Although she becomes the bread winner she still gives her husband money of which he wastes on alcohol and continuously beats her.I tink we can say that beacause of the time(where there is a high value placed on money and marterial things) she believes that she owes it to her husband to give him money because she was never good enough for him .She also allows him to beat her because she thinks that its the only way for him to keep his manhood.In both poems we see a difference in gender roles because of the time.In the first peom the grandfather was seen as the provider because he actually provided;he built the house from the land.While in the second peom the father was seen as the provider because of the material things that he was able to afford.The difference in time has a large significance towards the types of things that are valued and this has an affect on the gender roles .The male chacacter of the first poem was self suffienct and did whatever was needed to give his family a good life which did not necessarily mean expenisive life .While the male in the second peom prefered to settle with umemployment because he was too good for the jobs offered.The male in the first poem did not rely on anything “main-stream” and enjoyed living on just the necessities ,it is because of the time.He valued his life without having very much money while the male from the more modern time wanted to flaunt his good life to everyone in the village.When he could not get the best he just gave up. The both females share the quality of wanting to restore normality .The mother of the more modern time took it upon herself to become the provider when the man of the house gave up.She however takes too much from her husband just because she feels that she has to.She feels she has taken some of his manhood.The wife in the modern time seems to take alot more from her husband and sacrifices even more.
In Hurricane Story 1903 both genders worked together as a team.The male was responsible for manual work and the female was the nurturing figure in the household.However in Hurricane Story 1944 we see the male being unable to take up his role as the breadwinner for his family.After the male in this poem lost his job he was unable to cope with his reality.The reason for the transition may be a way for Senior to show how females are able to adapt to an situation for the sake of her family and that females are physically and mentally stronger than males.
Hope this makes sense really hard to think right now.r.i.p. In Huriccane o3 the garandfather takes the role of provider. He goes out into the forest while the grandmother is at home . She is the comforter and nurturer. This is in contrast to hurricane 44 which deviates from this pattern. The woman is actually the one who is in the field, essentially providing for the family.The husband in this case who is expected to be the provider is no help. It is important to note that he once fufilled his role. Him losing his job is what is partly responsible in him not being able to fulfill this role.The other reason is that of jis pride.This now leads to possible reasons as to why the changes in gender role occurs. A reason can be one where the values and also the level of strength in the family decreases over the years. The strong bond is not so strong anymore. Maybe over the years the event where the passing down of information dropped as the time progresses hence the reason the father in hurricane 44 couldnt fufuill his duties when faced with difficulties and the roles switched in this period.
in this poem we see that the female figure is the more dominat figure seeing that she takes on both the male and female role unlike in hurricane story 1903 one can see both female and male figure has important roles to play ,we see that the female does the nuturing and the male does the protectingand also the providing too. In hurricane story 1944 we see that the male figure starts off being the dominant figure but gradually his role decreases ,where he lost his job.The male persona in this poem seems to have worked hard to get out of poverty and doesnot want to go back in,its like he is ashamed of his roots by not wanting to go back to the soil ,so if does not get back a job like his previous job or better he prefers to stay with out.
We have to keep in mind that as the years pass we evolve to meet our needs and wants in life… Men traditionally are seen as the protector and bread winner of a home but as the years passed women has risen and are taking a more independent role today no longer depending fully for men to take care of them and their families. And naturally after a disaster, we pick up the bits and pieces of our lives and start again whether it is a fresh start or a dreadful one.
As noted above by Olive senior herself these poems don’t really speak about hurricanes but more about the evolution of man over the years. In Hurricane Story 1903 the grandfather is portraying the traditional role, which being the protector and provider of the household and evidence of this is found where he works in the field to provide food and provides safety when he senses the hurricane coming… Also he was responsible and wise in the way he made sure that the hurricane did not leave them in the devastated by providing a surety of a good way of living can still be encountered after the disaster. Unlike in Hurricane Story 1944 where the breadwinner was at first Mr. Solomon, playing the traditional role in the family but carelessly undermining his responsibilities because of his class, the hurricane has left him devastated and hopeless leaving the wife to take over his role as the provider of the family and still taking part of her role and as the caretaker.
The difference in time can also shows that people in earlier times were more responsible than the later generations… And the changes in gender roles can also be seen as a way to adapt to later circumstances… and I say this because in reality the world may have change but sometimes not for the better for there is still a lot of problems to deal with and you’ll think that so far the road we should have had a better world by now but that seems to be too hard for people to do even with years of practice.
In Hurricane Story 1903 the roles of parents or in this case grandparents are clearly outline. The grandfather being the provider and the grandmother being the caregiver/nurturer. Both grand mother and father worked together in harmony to put their life back together after the Hurricane had passed and in so doing thought the younger generation what to do when they got older. Some where along the lines such values were altered. This is shown in Hurricane Story 1944, in this scenario the roles of parents are not clearly defined but it seems as though during the major generation gap the role of women seems to have been placed on an equal level as the role of men. Both mother and father provide for the family and the sense of family togetherness is missing likely due to the fact that parents are missing from the home and household duties are left for the children to take care of. Because the unity is missing the family separates even further after the hurricane and the mother is then the sole bread winner. They are unable to survive any major disaster because they are not united unlike the family in 1903 and the roles of individuals are not outlined clearly and have been changed with time. The major difference in gender roles can be clearly seen in both poems which occurs mainly because of loss or change of values. Values which are drastically altered hence changing the structure of families over the years.
Well… I wasn’t in class on Monday but I’ll state what little information I gathered from reading it on my own… Both poems are similar in that they both highlight gender specific roles of the personas. However, because the time period of the poems are different this leads to a difference in the gender roles also. In Hurricane Story 1903, it can be seen that there were traditional gender roles i.e families were patriarchal with the man as the head of the household and the woman playing a secondary, supporting role. Contrastly, in Hurricane Story 1944 the gender roles have evolved in the society of a new generation of people. The society is now matriarchal with the woman as the head of the household and being the main breadwinner while the man is unemployed and is now subjective to the woman. Women are now independant and have responsibilities that were previously seen as “masculine”. The change in gender roles is due to the difference in the society of 1903 and 1944. The 1903 society were socialised as to the traditional gender roles while the 1944 society was socialised with more modern values and ideologies. That’s all I could come up with…
Evidently, the theme of gender roles is an important theme in both poems. In Hurricane 1903, the grandfather’s role was the protecter and the provider, as seen where he emptied his good clothes out of the tin trunk inorder to store food; the grandmother on the other hand, is more of the caregiver and the nurturer in preparation for the hurricane, by storing the food for during and after the hurricane. The grandmother has a more feminine personality, and the family is more united in times of a storm.
By contrast, in Hurricane 1944, the mother instantly became the ‘breadwinner’ of the family after the hurricane, while the father was seen as redundant because he was unable to work. The mother had to do everything to take care of the family- work in the fields, and vending at the market. I think that the shift in gender roles occured mainly because the father never knew how to work in the fields maybe because his mother never thought him how to; and I think it is a fact that his mother never wanted him to toil in the dirt as she did, she wanted him to have a better life. Being unable to work makes him frustrated and he deals with this frustration by beating his wife.
The narrator’s mother in Hurricane Story 1944 integrates modern and traditional styles of caring for her family. She relies on agriculture for her income which supplements her husband’s income, (which cannot support the family on its own) making her essential to the well-being of her family. As she says, “one body money can’t stretch”.
Grandmother, in ‘Hurricane Story 1903’ is completely different in her approach. She leaves the providing to Grandfather, who is head of the household, protector and leader. Grandmother is more of an assistant to Grandfather: while he “shored up [the fields] against improvidence] and “knew just when to board the last window up and brace the door”, she stays in the background, nurturing the children, passive. The narrator’s mother in ‘1944’, not only assumes the role of mother and wife, but eventually acts as the sole provider and organiser, like Grandfather in ‘1903’.
I don’t think she did so deliberately, though. The mother in ‘1944’ only takes up the role conventionally assumed by the man because her husband can no longer do it. She had to take over for her family to survive.
Hmmmmmmm…lemme see eh….disasters have a way erasing lines of distinctions, such a race, class, creed and most definitely gender. Roles, otherwise strictly assigned, are displaced. In these cases, women tend to become empowered, their maternal instincts kick in and they become primary-caregiver/taker for all those affected. In ‘Hurricane Story 1944′, the woman is the sole protector and provider for her family after the hurricane struck, while the husband, seemingly unable to cope with the magnitude of their changed life circumstances > namely, the loss of his job exposing so much of her skin to her grandchildren poetic license
<, which was the major factor which caused the role reversal.
Anyway, I feel like I might never stop so yes, that's my 2 cents
…umm sir…75% of my comment aint showing up eh…it was pretty long, and i dunno how to get it back
…
Okay. Well I think you’re onto a good thing here, so speak to me after class and we’ll work something out.
In the two poems by Olive Senior (Hurricane Story 1903 and 1944) there is a reversal in gender roles. In “Hurricane Story 1903″ we see the grandmother at home and around the house doing the motherly chores of nuturing and making sure that everything is safe and sound while the grandfather toil the feilds and bring home the food to the rest of the family. On the other hand in “Hurricane Story 1944″ we see the woman fulfilling both roles as nuturer and as the bread winnner of the home. She is the one going out in the feilds, leaving money for him and stilll raring the children. I think that the point that Senior is trying to put across is that with time women has stop seeing themselves as the “lesser” gender. They begin to see themselves as an equal to or even better than the men. It also shows the fact that over the years women have begin to become independent as a gender and not depending on the man to make them survive. They have gained the ability to stand on their own two feet without tumbling over on the men. Also we see the fact that in teh first hurricane story the couple saw themselves as equal and did duty out of love and unity and therefore they made it in the end through the storm of life. On the other hand we see in the second poem the fact that the man was ashamed of what he had become and made no effort what so ever to try and get themselves out of the muck. Therefore together they stood and divided they fell.
Women have come a long way since slavery where they were depressed and supressed and therfore their eyes have finally open to see that they as good as any man and can be better if they want to be and they have begun that movement up that hill ever since.
in the first poem Hurricane story 1903 the gender roles are much more easily distinguished because we can see the grandmother as much more caring with the roles of caregiver and helper and also the person who inspires hope in everybody even in times of disaster while the grandfather is more protector and planner and organizer.In hurricane 1944 the roles are bit more stereotypical at one point because the father has the high job is the main bread winner while the mother waits at home having to take care of the children but then the roles are switched after the disaster and the mother is the main breadwinner because the father is unemployed but she is still caretaker and helper too. These differences can be due to the face that the society has changed quite alot from 1903 since it is now 1944.
These changes may have now taken place due to women’s rights being established and fought for. Withing Hurricane 1904 the woman is working in the field, she is farming and doing what she needs to do to provide regardless of how it looks to the husband and his mother. There is a lacking of uniformity that exsited in the first Hurricane poem to the second one which I just stated had the woman who worked regardless to do what she had to do. I get a sense that there was no togetherness with their relationship maybe due to the tensions between the genders at the time. The male is somewhat insecure bout their station and masculinity. We could see that in the poem through it ending with him coming home and beating her.
As i stated there is a lack of togetherness somewhat withing the first hurricane poem we see this togetherness this knowledge of duty, that doesnt come off competitive but as caring and a responsibilty done out of love. This is a big difference between the two. Maybe at that time women were naive and had a somewhat clear understanding of their particular duty accepted it and let the men take care of the harder tasks. I think it was a mutual understanding up until men abused their power and felt threatened when any woman went against the “norm”. This to some extent would have caused a change in the gender relations in the second hurricane poem.
uh ohhh… um i ran through that and hit post before i cud read it over… plz excuse my typos… 1944 is what I mean for second hurricane poem. And I made a mistake by typing 1904 I meant 1944… :S sorry
Hmmmmmmm…lemme see eh….disasters have a way erasing lines of distinctions, such a race, class, creed and most definitely gender. Roles, otherwise strictly assigned, are displaced. In these cases, women tend to become empowered, their maternal instincts kick in and they become primary-caregiver/taker for all those affected. In ‘Hurricane Story 1944′, the woman is the sole protector and provider for her family after the hurricane struck, while the husband, seemingly unable to cope with the magnitude of their changed life circumstances, *namely the loss of his job* sank into depression, became abusive and uninvolved in the affairs of the household. The mother was forced to become a yeoman of sorts and bore the entire burden of the disaster and it’s aftermath. In ‘Hurricane Story 1903′ the traditional gender roles were followed. The work was shared and they both played their part. The Grandfather did the more physical, strenuous work while the Grandmother was mainly the comforter and nurturer. They functioned as a family unit. The reason for this cohesiveness, is most likely due to the fact that in those times, moral and religous values and mores were strictly adhered to and upheld. The man was always supposed to look after the woman and children. I also feel too, that because they were so far removed from civilisation, they had little else choice but to depend on one another in the name of self-preservation. Also, and this is just an aside, the lack of mention of the children’s parents is significant and suggests the era in Jamaica where the importance of the extended family was very prominent especially with regards to the taking care of second and third generation children. However, there is a striking contrast in ‘Hurricane Story 1944′. We see the father shirking his responsibilities and duties stipulated within the ambits of his matrimonial agreement. Taking into consideration that this was a time when women were beginning to join the workforce and earn salaries. They were beginning to receive the same rights and priveleges as men. In short, they were beginning to become more of a force with which to reckon as it was a time very close to the Adult Suffrage movement (1953), which would allow women the power to vote and effect change within the country. It is little wonder he lost the motivation to provide for his family, they were no longer dependent on him. I also feel he was threatened by this, hence his aggression towards the mother.
* which played a major factor in the role reversal.
I feel too that the “hurricane” metaphor is layered. The hurricane without, which devastated the physical landscape, became the hurricane within that impacted and brought devastation on the mindscape which led to the father’s depression and also on the familialscape *poetic license
There again is my 1.5 cents, as best as I could remember the points!
Changes in gender roles being, in “Hurricane story 1903″, the family was dependent on agriculture and animal raring for sustainability and self-sufficiency. Therefore it was a patriarcal society where the grandfather was the “bread-winner”, who did the labour-intensive work in the fields and was seen as the protecter, while granny did more of the domestic work and nurtured the children. In “hurricane story 1944″ we see a shift where the mother literally labours to provide for her children in the fields to go to the market and sell while also nurturing them and taking on the domestic role. The father however does not take an active part in his children’s lives. The reason why the father is not active in his family’s lives is because he was dependent on his “white-collar” job to attain a certain social ranking and rid him of agricultural work. However, with the passing of the hurricane and him loosing his job, his priority was set so much on attaing such a social ranking that he totally disregarded his family and his responsibility to them. In contrast, in “Hurricane Story, 1903″ we see that family is the main prioriety,they do not seek to attain wealth as they lead a simple life, well sustained. Therefore the grand-parents work the land and try to instill morals in the only true possesion they have and could hold unto, family and family life.
In Hurricane story 1903 the roles of male and female seem to be much more established than in hurricane story 1944. The grandparents take on their responsibilities (grandmother in the home, grandfather outside the home as well as protection). While in Hurrican 1944 family togetherness seemed to take a ‘back seat’ in the home with the mother holding the home together on her own and the father take on less important that may be important to him but neglecting his family. The reason for this drastic change in gender roles could be that in Hurricane story 1944 the idea of a woman’s role had changed and are now becoming more independant and strong which is why the mother could hold the home together, work the land while pregant and bring up children on her own.