To mark the observance of men’s week, we asked the man and the woman in the street if they thought men are living up to their responsibility in the home and in society.

Interviews by Tiffny Rhodius
and photos by Jules Gibson

Stanley Boodie, Pastor

I would make a distinction from men who know God and men who don’t know God and say for the men who know God, like me, yes, they are they are living up to their responsibilities because they live their lives according to the Bible and that would help them to be good fathers and husbands.

On the other hand, men in the world they would have different values and standards and I would say that a majority of them do not live up to those responsibilities.

What we are having on Sunday afternoon (yesterday) in observance of the men’s week will help these men. This men’s week is an effort to reach out to these kinds of men and the churches could follow up on this week and continue to help men to rise up to their responsibilities.

Shannon Chung, private sector employee

Some of us live up to them and some of us do not. If all of us can live up to our responsibilities, that would be nice.

Collette Aaron, public sector employee
Some of them are living up to it some of them are not. Most of them are young men that are now being fathers and don’t know about their responsibilities.

They need to be educated. I think that the government should get into this. Some of them do not have jobs so maybe they can help with jobs too.
Collin Jacobs, vendor

On behalf of all of the men…well of course not all of them do. Some men are not getting work and some of the young men go and get their exam and when they get educated they do not get work in the country. They have to go in the islands to work.

If the people in the society take them seriously with the job, they have to get money to take care of their family. I try my best but I do what I have to do.

Adunni Bascom, teacher
I think most men are not living up to their responsibility. Some of them because they’re not employed, some of them due to, especially with family issues like cheating on their wife, they become more reserved with their money.

Basically too, it is how they grow up in the home and some of them may not know their responsibilities and we take it for granted that men know their responsibility when some of them come from a broken home.

We need forums and workshops for them. We find that these days women work for more money so they feel women have to take more of the responsibility and they take the minor things and they hold on to their money. Almost 100% of women are doing things on their own these days and they are married.

Leonard Baksh, self employed

Some men, they live up to their responsibility and some just don’t care, they live as they please.

I think it would be the way that they were brought up. They live like their parents live, mimicking them. Well you see everything starts at home, the foundation is everything. It is the most important thing. The child may bring something to the home but the parents need to take their job seriously so their children later on can take their job seriously.

Selwyn McAllister, private sector employee

I think most men are living up to their responsibilities but I think women are more dominant. The men are there but they give the role to the woman for her to play.

And the men’s week should have been played up more. There should have been more awareness about this.

Men need to stay in school a little longer, edify themselves become more self dependent and show more compassion.
Rameshwar Singh, taxi driver

Some men live up to the expectation while some would not. That is one of the reasons for so many single parent families. In today’s society you find that the economic situation is not doing well for people and women are going out of the home.

Cost of living is another thing and more so when you can’t give money the women leave. Men are not honest to their life partners they not sticking to them. I don’t think is men, women see better can be done so they go.

Pam, housewife

Some of them do. Some of them naturally, I don’t know, they feel like it is a burden for them. Most of them when the pressure hit them they can’t take the responsibility and just leave and run away. And some don’t want to work and help with the children.

Counselling is a good way of helping them I think.

Roxanne Bancroft, teacher

I think that it is 50-50 since there are some men who are living both in the home and in society then there are others that are not.

However when we look at our society today with so many cases of child abuse, delinquency, single parent homes, murder of women and mostly street children we need to ask ourselves what are the roles of the men in our society.

I think men should be role models not only in the home but in the society at large. In order for us to know if men are living up to their responsibility we need to examine our society and then make an analysis since a good home will definitely lead to a good society.