CFPA, IGNITE, YAM and CRVJ Call for a Deeper Conversation on Gender, Leadership and Power
The Caribbean Family Planning Affiliation (CFPA), IGNITE, Youth Advocacy Movement (YAM) Grenada and Caribbean Religious Voices for Justice (CRVJ) call for serious and constructive engagement following remarks by CXC Chief Operations Officer, Dr. Nicole Manning, that “men are born leaders” and that society should help them remain in that place.
We believe this assertion requires reflection not because men should be excluded from leadership, but because leadership should never be treated as a male birthright.
From a faith perspective, the starting point is clear: “So God created humankind in his image… male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27). The biblical vision begins with shared human dignity, not male superiority. Certain interpretations of the Bible have, at times, been used to justify the unequal treatment of women and the privileging of men. Such interpretations contradict the loving, liberating and inclusive vision of Christ.
Men are not born leaders any more than women are born followers. Children are born with potential. Leadership is developed through character, education, opportunity, relationships, responsibility and service. When societies consistently give boys authority while teaching girls accommodation, what later appears to be “natural leadership” may simply be privilege practised until it looks like nature.
The Caribbean knows this reality well. For generations, Caribbean women have led families, communities, churches, schools, businesses, movements and nations often while much of their labour remained invisible or undervalued.
The question, therefore, is not how we help men “stay in that place.” The question is: Who created that place? Who has access to it? Who has been excluded? And why should leadership be determined by gender rather than competence, character and calling?
Christian faith offers another model. Jesus challenged the pursuit of status and turned conventional leadership on its head: “Whoever wants to be first must be servant of all.” (Mark 9:35). That is leadership as service, accountability and responsibility for the flourishing of all people, not domination or entitlement.
We need a Caribbean conversation about boys and men, but it must be a conversation about healthy masculinity, where boys are encouraged to be compassionate, courageous, collaborative and emotionally healthy, and where men can lead without equating masculinity with control.
And girls need the same freedom: the freedom to lead without apology. Closing the gender gap is not about replacing men with women. It is about transforming systems that have historically attached power and leadership to gender. Our schools, churches, universities, workplaces and public institutions should recognise leadership through competence, integrity, vision, service and accountability not chromosomes.
The Caribbean needs a coordinated response to the gender gap. Let that response ask a bigger question: How do we build a Caribbean where women and men can bring their full humanity to leadership, where power is shared rather than protected, and where leadership is exercised not over others, but for the common good?
This is not a threat to men. It is an invitation to all of us to imagine and practise a better way of leading.
