Fathermen: October 2015

For this post I share an essay by Amy Bailey; a teacher, social activist, social worker, 'Lady of Letters' and astute commentator on the Jamaica of her time - the 1930-40s - a moment of great upheaval on the island (eg. labour movement ).

This essay entitled 'Dead Fathers', was one of her countless pieces for Public Opinion, a journal for/by the emerging educated middle classes to discuss the issues of the day. 'Dead Fathers', has an almost psychoanalytic quality to it (albeit a grounded one), as Bailey assesses the social death of the father in Jamaican society by virtue of his material, emotional and moral absence from everyday family life. Whilst I would argue that much has changed in terms of the lived experience of fathering in the region since the time of writing - e.g. greater visibility, somewhat more effective maintenance courts and many men keen to disrupt cycles of 'absence' - her general thesis on the symbolic place of the father in Caribbean society audibly echoes into the present. That is, the ideal of the beneficent provisioning patriarch persists as a fatherly model that continues to elude the mainstream of Caribbean men - to the anxiety of those who marshal the moral/social order (pastor, politician, social worker, magistrate etc).

This leads me towards the conclusion that perhaps such enduring anxieties about everyday Caribbean family life (as succinctly summarised in Merle Hodge's 'We Kind of Family'), are as much an artefact of a Caribbean kinship order, as they are a representation of and commentary on it. I would even go so far as to contend that perhaps such concerns are more recalcitrant and resistant to change than the paternal patterns they bemoan. In other words, maybe some of the changes Bailey hoped to see are occurring, yet the hymn book of respectable society is yet to catch up. That said, you'll have to wait for my phd thesis to be finished for me to empirically to back this up ;)

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Dead Fathers

Public Opinion, October 18, 1941:10

Jamaica had had several names that have characteristically described the country—“Land of Wood and Water,” “Island of Springs,” “Land of Perpetual Sunshine,” etc. but yet another name may very well be added as we have qualified for it, and it is “Land of Dead Fathers.”
It is just possible that this name will bring a smile to the lips of some who read it and that they will declare it far-fetched. But after a little thought, it may be borne in on their minds that it isn’t quite so ridiculous after all.
By “dead” I do not just mean literally dead. Would that some of the fathers were. I mean dead in spirit, dead to moral or practical responsibility for their children, dead to a civic responsibility towards Society and the State, dead in respect and consideration for womankind and womanhood. And if a man can be more dead when he is all of these things, then I’d like to see him. For it is well to remember that we are made up of body, soul, and spirit, and when the last two are dead surely the body is but a carcass that functions because the life isn’t gone out of it.
There are large numbers of men in this country—too large for us to feel comfortable about—who answer to the above description; who have children for whom they assume no responsibility; who have children whom they refuse to recognise, who have children of whom they are unaware. Thus bearing out what Ella Wheeler Wilcox tells us, that “Men may be fathers unaware.”
Those of us who do social work among the poor know only too well how many times the reply to the question “Where is the father of these children or this child?’ is “He is dead.” More often than not, what the mothers really mean (this comes up after close enquiry) is that they have no idea where he is. Some will tell you frankly that he left for the country or went abroad years ago, and they had never heard from him. It is not a large percentage of names of these “dead” fathers that finds its place in the Registrar’s Office.
Then there are the instances of genuine neglect where the fathers are dead to every decent instinct. Only last week I came across the case of a young girl around 17 years of age, who was the victim of one such man. All the money she had received immediately before the birth of her baby and since then—five months now—is 4 [shillings] from which to pay hospital fees and take care of the child. This despite the fact that he is in a good job.
Lately there came to hand also another case where the father of 4 children coolly stepped out of the picture and left the mother, a domestic servant, earning 5 [shillings] weekly to take care of these children single-handed. He had gone elsewhere, no doubt, to do the same job all over again.
But why multiply the instances? The great point is that something must be done about it. It is not for want of effort on the part of the Women’s Liberal Club, [which] at their two last annual conferences brought the question of the irresponsibility of fathers forcefully before the public in the hope of stirring up public opinion on the matter, and which, in representations to His Excellency the Governor, stressed the importance of the government amending the present law, or introducing new ones, so as to improve the deplorable condition which is really a serious blot on our civic life and a menace to the future.
In discussing the matter among other social questions with representatives of the Liberal Club some time ago, Prof. Simey pointed out, and quite rightly too, that an outsider could not be expected to do that job for us. Such reforms should come from ourselves, not enforced from outside. In other words, we must create sufficient strong public opinion to impel our legislators to move government to act.
Do we care sufficiently enough to build up such a public opinion? Apart from a few who are like voices crying in the wilderness, the majority pass indifferently by. Can’t we all as members of a community take some interest in this matter? I am appealing especially to the upper and middle classes. Can’t we take a personal interest in our employees, establish the human contact with them, i.e. treat them as if they were not just automatons to get through our work? We would in this way get to know details of their family, or lack of family life, and thus be in a position to help them not so much financially, as in many other ways. This should not be done in a spirit of curiosity as people soon get to know the difference between “nosiness” and interest.
Employers of chauffeurs, men waiters etc. have a unique opportunity to encourage respect for and development of a family life in this country. All things being equal, preference should be given to the man who has responsibilities and assumes them, rather than to the man who neglects them. And, where possible, if it comes to the notice of an employer that an employee willfully neglects his children, he should be dismissed. This is not third-degree punishment by any means.
In the same way, many a mistress will find the opportunity of helping a maid to get support for her children, if she will take the trouble to find out what happens when she leaves the job on an evening, or an employer who employs girls in shirt- or other factories can do much to help in this matter. Sometimes just getting a Salvation Army Officer in touch with the delinquent will be of tremendous value.
I repeat that improvement in this direction must come from ourselves. Of course, when there is Universal Suffrage, women will have the chance of bringing aspiring representatives to book and pinning them down to declare just what is their stand on this problem. According to their stand, so will the votes be given or withheld. Then afterwards keeping the eye on them, to bind them to their promise. But until then, can’t we do something to lessen the sum total of these “dead" fathers? They, though dead, speak in loud terms to us. At least their children do. Won’t we listen to them?

This and more of Baileys writings are available at this excellent site:

https://sites.google.com/site/amybaileyjamaicawriting/

To celebrate the lead up to Father's Day this past June myself (Adom) and Stella Phipps held our collaborative exhibit at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh.

The exhibit hung between the 10th and 30th June 2015, presenting a dialogue on issues of paternal proximity and absence between Dominica (where I did fieldwork) and Scotland (as Stella offered her visual memories as a father's daughter).

The opening event was attended by Nick Thorpe of Fathers Network Scotland - a charitable organisation that seeks to promote positive fatherhood in Scotland. Nick interviewed both Stella and myself shortly after the event and produced this great short feature:

For more on Fathers Network Scotland and to learn about their exciting 2016 Year of the Dad campaign please click here and here.

Thanks to all those who were able to attend the opening and catch the exhibit throughout June, particularly Stella's great father-child arts workshops on Father's Day!

Below are some photos from the exhibit.