Post-Colonial Female Gender Roles and Feminism in Haiti

Households were strictly patriarchal in which the man of the house made all the important decisions. Women's jobs at the time were mostly relegated to domestic service and occasional work at harvest time. The jobs were always of low pay, low status, and required little training. In addition to this females were not legally permitted to inherit land or property. This was the bleak life of a woman, with little hope or power, and always the subordinate of men.

“All of these societies gave women considerable influence within a matrilineal culture, even if men usually had the decision making power.” During these societies, it can be said that the “Golden Age of Matriarchy”4 occurred during this period of time where simple farming and hunting and gathering was a major role. All of the societies that engaged in simple farming and hunting and gathering had more powerful and authoritative roles in society because they were not fully focused on reproduction. Instead, these societies wanted to limit their population due to inefficient amounts of resources.

Haiti is a prime example of how human needs in one area of the world are interdependent with social conditions elsewhere in the world. Haiti, for most of its history has been overwhelmed with economic

There is a lot to know about Haiti when it comes to the conditions as well as the events witnessed in Haiti during the regime of the Duvaliers. However, little is know about this country because despite its proximity to the United States. The Duvaliers caused a lot of injustice that Haitian were subjected to. In Edwidge Danticat’s Krik? Krak!, originally published in 1991, she brings out the suffering and violence that were witnessed in Haiti through the resilience of strong women. Josephine’s mother in “ Nineteen Thirty-Seven” and Marie in “Between the Pool and the Gardenias” represent the strength of women, playing a significant part in most stories in her book; yet, their

“Strength lies in differences, not in similarities “- Stephen R Covery. Living in two different countries is an experience that is likely to open anyone mind. One raised in a smaller country, then moved to a larger country mixed with multiple culture is an experience not to be taking for granted. Full of hardships. Yet, despite lacking in the modern luxuries that are readily available in the United States, they also live a vibrant life full of flavorful food, music, dance, ritual and celebration. There are many differences in the way Haitians live in Haiti versus in America, including school, work, transportation, and environment and while not all of these differences are negative, it is obvious that the great disparity of wealth between the

In Edwidge Danticat’s article “We are Ugly, but We Are Here”, she describes the injustices of how women are treated in Haiti. She uses her grandmother, Haiti’s former queen, and examples of other women as reasons as to how and why she realizes the seriousness and realness of the topic. Women are treated as if they were nothing. Their souls cry out. Danticat’s argument is that even though women are treated the way that they are, they will not back down. A know saying is “We are ugly, but we are here,” (Danticat). Even though women have died, they will never be forgotten because of the strength they displayed while suffering.

Unlike in the United States women in Haiti suffer from the lack of rights and privileges available to women in most western countries. Gender inequality seems to continue to be a

“Most women had little control over the direction their lives took. Once widowed, they had autonomy over considerable financial resources” (Bovey). Women were weak and men had control over their whole lives unless they were widowed. “Women didn’t have political rights, and they didn’t get to choose if they got married or had children. Women didn’t have an education and only if they inherited land they would have the same rights as men” (C N). This was the only case where women had the same rights as men. This rarely occurred because not very many women inherited land, men usually inherited it. Women generally didn’t have an education, so there was little chance for them to be better than men or in a higher power. They were not allowed to know what men did so they were always at A disadvantage. “Women had to obey men but a lot of times they were treated well. Women were treated by their social rank” (Women During the Middle Ages). Not only did men control women, but women were also defined by their social rank. How much money they had determined when they got married, there clothes, there husbands, and where they lived. “Poor women lived in small houses. Wealthy women had servants to do everything for them” (Women in the Middle

In order to understand Haiti we must first put ourselves in their shoes. At one stage or another, every man, woman, or child will be faced with at least one issue that is now happening in Haiti. The issues involving Haiti has been a popular topic for the past two years. Since January twelfth two-thousand and ten. There are many factors which influenced the development of Haiti. Many people have abandoned Haiti over the past years. They have also given up hope for Haiti. Haiti is heralded by economic issues both political and social, foreign issues, military issues (minustah), presidential issues, and the recent earthquake. I plan to explain each of these factors in detail and give

The culture of Haiti is a various mix of African and European elements due to the French colonization of Saint Dominguez. I chose to research this culture for two reason one reason being that I have a friend who is Haitian and I never understood why she did what she did, or even her mother. The second reason is because many people in Haiti is associated with voodoo, and that’s something I personally wouldn’t get to involved with due to my religious views. Throughout this essay we will see in detail the differences in culture from ours to theirs. We will learn about their primary language, religion, their different values and beliefs and last but not least their social practices. While reading on Haiti I started to appreciate their culture more due to the fact that know.

For the most part, the interaction between the colonizers of Haiti—the Spanish and the French—was negative, and lastingly so. Haiti has remained a turbulent and impoverished landscape. Social and economic indicators remain doggedly low, year after year. Haiti, although technically independent as of 1804, has never been able to support itself. There is a lot of heartfelt sympathy for Haiti, and the hope is that the legacy of colonization is not unending fate. But it will take a lot of work to get Haiti to a place of true freedom and independence, and sometimes outside help, however well intentioned, only unwittingly fuels the legacy.

Haiti has long been known for its major export of Haitian migrants in search of a better way of life. It is an exodus that goes back several decades, however with recent times the numbers have increased dramatically. In fact, that numbers of Haitians fleeing Haiti in the early 1990's far exceeds the numbers recorded in earlier years. Between 1972- 1979, some 8,000- 10,000 Haitians arrived in the United States. Compare this number with the 14,443 Haitians interdicted between September 30, 1991 - January 1, 1992. By early 1994, this number totaled over 41,000 (Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Haiti, 1994). Economic deprivation has always been the predominant influence for the migrating of Haitians, yet in the

Poverty, corruption, and poor access to education are the most serious disadvantages that Haiti faces. Two-thirds of the country depends on agriculture, consisting of mainly small-scale subsistence farming. This sector is high vulnerable to damage from natural disasters and the country’s widespread deforestation (which have caused periodic flooding). Additionally, Haiti suffers from high inflation, lack of investment,

Small rural communities were run in a semi-socialist manner. Inhabitants all had their homes or land, and some were wealthier than others but because of the community spirit within these small enclaves the children of your neighbor may as well be your children, and one would never consider withholding food or aid from a poorer neighbor. Women in these communities could choose their path and remain single and independent or marry and have children. A woman was also virtually unlimited in the number of children she could have. More children meant more hands to contribute to chores and farm work, which in turn meant there was more food for the family to eat. Extended family was also a large part of this lifestyle and as such there were always grandparents, and perhaps even great grandparents who would help to raise the communities’ children and allow the mothers to contribute more fully to community life.

The country that this author chose to research about is Haiti, which has some major health concerns that are present in the country. Haiti is currently working on improving these health concerns. The topics that were chosen to examine Haiti’s health more in depth was women’s health, sanitation and hygiene, and nutrition. This paper will look further into the health of women in Haiti, as well as the sanitation and water supply and nutrition of the population. This paper will also address the steps that have been taken to help improve the health of women, nutrition, water, sanitation, and hygiene in Haiti. The population of Haiti as of 2015 is 10,711,000 (World Health Organization (WHO), 2017). Haiti experienced a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in