The Concept of Marginalization
WHAT IS MARGINALIZATION?
Marginalization may be defined as the social process of becoming or being relegated to the fringe of society where Marginalization at the individual level results in an individual's exclusion from meaningful participation in society. This is predominantly a social phenomenon by which a minority or sub-group is excluded, and their needs or desires ignored.
Professor Errol Miller of Teacher Education at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica coined the term "male marginalization" and "men at risk" in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In his book "Men at Risk" he stated:
"The description of Caribbean societies points to lower-strata men's marginal positions in the family, role reversal in a small but increasingly number of households, boys' declining participation and performance in the educational system, the greater prospect of men inheriting their fathers' position in the social structure, the decline in the proportions of men in the highest-paying and most prestigious occupations and the decrease in men's earning power relative to women's especially in white collar occupations" (Miller, 1991:97).
ARE MALES MARGINALIZED?
Dr. Violet Eudine Barriteau, Professor of Gender and Public Policy, points out something very important in the male marginalization thesis. In Miller's theory of marginalization, there is the lack of conditions of justice. In a system that is unjust there is unequal access to and distribution of material resources and power. The male marginalization thesis then is implying that Caribbean gender systems are unjust for men. Dr. Barritaeu focuses on two dimension of the gender systems. Firstly the material dimension which exposes how men or women gain access to allocated material and non-material resources within a state system or society. Secondly, the ideological dimension, which indicates how Caribbean societies construct and maintain notions of masculinity and feminity. Her analysis of gender indicate that
Marginalization may be defined as the social process of becoming or being relegated to the fringe of society where Marginalization at the individual level results in an individual's exclusion from meaningful participation in society. This is predominantly a social phenomenon by which a minority or sub-group is excluded, and their needs or desires ignored.
Professor Errol Miller of Teacher Education at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica coined the term "male marginalization" and "men at risk" in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In his book "Men at Risk" he stated:
"The description of Caribbean societies points to lower-strata men's marginal positions in the family, role reversal in a small but increasingly number of households, boys' declining participation and performance in the educational system, the greater prospect of men inheriting their fathers' position in the social structure, the decline in the proportions of men in the highest-paying and most prestigious occupations and the decrease in men's earning power relative to women's especially in white collar occupations" (Miller, 1991:97).
ARE MALES MARGINALIZED?
Dr. Violet Eudine Barriteau, Professor of Gender and Public Policy, points out something very important in the male marginalization thesis. In Miller's theory of marginalization, there is the lack of conditions of justice. In a system that is unjust there is unequal access to and distribution of material resources and power. The male marginalization thesis then is implying that Caribbean gender systems are unjust for men. Dr. Barritaeu focuses on two dimension of the gender systems. Firstly the material dimension which exposes how men or women gain access to allocated material and non-material resources within a state system or society. Secondly, the ideological dimension, which indicates how Caribbean societies construct and maintain notions of masculinity and feminity. Her analysis of gender indicate that