Gender Roles

Although, the chapter was significantly an analysis of Marcus Garvey and his role in the UNIA, the aspect of the chapter that I found most interesting was the discussion of women. Beginning with the role of Amy Jacques Garvey, Marcus Garvey’s wife, Hill presented an aspect of the movement and association that is not typically as publicized and analyzed. The gender divide was very prevalent throughout this section of the chapter and Hill continued by mentioning that there were also class division within the female groups of the UNIA and the parade. Although Hill acknowledged that the parade was a “celebration of black manhood” and the UNIA mostly restricted women from publically taking an active role in the “business of politics,” he made clear the role that women played in legitimizing male dominance. (p 192-193) However, with indoor UNIA ceremonies, women played a more prevalent role, which was indicative of the domestication of women and further legitimized the theory of “the primacy of black manhood as the dominant ideal of the UNIA.” (p 193) Without more in-depth research of the African cultures in which Garvey and the UNIA were attempting to portray, it is not evident why this deliberate degradation of, yet utilization of females was utilized to create the continuity particular between males and females in the UNIA and continuously legitimize male dominance. I’m curious to further research exactly where the connotations of domesticity of the female gender originated for this particular association. Additionally, by not only allowing themselves to be subjected to the supporting roles in the movement, but also seemingly voluntarily performing these roles, can it be assumed that the women in the procession and movement were proponents of the dominance of males or were they simply accepting the only way they were allowed to participate in the movement?