BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - AS the Federation continues to put its tourism product on the international market, the Department of Gender Affairs is working to have more men and women equally involved in the development of the local culture.
According to Troy Watson, Gender Officer at the Department, culture is about lifestyle, shared identity and the things that are practiced in St. Kitts and Nevis.
He explained that when culture is talked about at the Gender Affairs level, it includes discussions about men and women being equally involved.
“For long we have been talking about what is happening in the Federation, what is not and what has not been happening, and we have not had an organization or movement that men can come together to share their space...men from different background. What we want to do is to have a group of diverse men come together to sit down and discuss challenges that we are faced with as men and the challenges we are facing in the Federation,” Watson said.
Speaking to the subject of equality, he noted “there are things that are affecting us not just in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis but across the region. And because of how we are as a melting pot and the movement across the region, we need to ensure that we have our men active and their voices are heard. And for that reason, we are saying that we want to have a National Men’s Council”.
The Gender Officer noted that it is time for men and women in the Federation to value their culture, adding that when culture is mentioned it does not merely involve the “cultural expressions” that tourists would hear and the arts they would see as well as the foods they would eat, but rather for the ambiance, the dialect and the people to whom they interact.
“As we talk about culture in terms of what we value, we talk about our values and how we pass them on to the younger generation. It is not about the man or about the woman, it is about the community and what we show as the value and treasure in the Federation.
“So when the tourists come they are coming to see something different. They are not coming here to watch television. We have the same stations they do! They are not coming here to get the same food they get at the restaurants, it is about the service and how we present ourselves,” Watson said.
He disclosed that the Department is asking men and women to get on board the culture train and help push the Federation forward.
