In the stereotypical Jamaican family hierarchy the women is placed below the man of the household based on authority. The man of the family makes all of the decisions and supports the family financially. The woman is supposed to answer to the man and insure that all of his needs come second to none. Those typical male and female gender roles are the cruxes of the Jamaican family hierarchy; however, in “Bella Makes Life” by Lorra Goodison, Goodison turns these roles upside down. In her short story she explores the masculinity insecurities the protagonist Joseph, faces as the stereotypical Jamaican gender roles shift in his relationship with his counterpart Bella.
As the mother of Joseph’s children, Bella, went over to New York for a period of a year, Joseph had to encompass the role of a father and a mother in his children’s life. This causes Joseph sense as a man to be fogged as he dealt with the issues internally. Instead of it being Bella’s responsible, Joseph was now in charge of making sure that his children were sent to school neat and clean. It even went to as far that he learned how to plait his daughter hair in order to insure that she looked presentable. His friends began to laugh at him because it seemed like he had gave up on relations with women all together. The fact that even his friends saw a change in him added to the resentment he had for Bella leaving to explore New York and him having to assume her role. As he began to become sort of a “surrogate mother” his power as the man in his relationship with Bella changed when she returned back to Jamaican.
The new forward and bold Bella that emerged off the plane first seemed to be refreshing; however, as her stay in Jamaica became longer Joseph dominates in their relationship began to deteriorate. Questions that women in Jamaican culture normally would not ask a man the new Bella felt comfortable with.