Implications of Toughness on Femininity in the Carribean

The section of the reading that resonated most with me was chapter six when Ulysse discusses the "masculinization of poverty" and the implications that has on the future of the ICI's (167).  Ulysse explains that due to natural disasters and a growing male population there occurred the evolution of the southern districts into gangs similar to those Americans have experienced in the stories of the New York gangs of the 1920's. Due to the heavy reliance of the growing population and politicians on the Dons who "substitute for government's role as provider and protector of citizens" (166). Through the promulgation of the Dons there was a growth in the badness-honor system that enforced the idea that masculinity is ultimately performed in a male's ability to commit violent acts and earn accreditation throughout the district (166-167). The spread of badness-honor was heavily influential in the behavior of many young men who were disenfranchised by high unemployment and no social safety net (167).  Through the spread of gang culture came a rise in violence in the downtown districts, where the arcades of the ICI's were located (168).
Due to the increased violence in the Arcades ICI's were forced to relinquish the feminine characteristics ascribed in Ulysse's first few chapters. The ICIs were forced to attain a level of "toughness" that would allow her to operate in the Arcade environment (189). This added to the binary of the "lady" to the "woman" as the "woman" is perceived as less feminine because of her crassness that is inscribed in the ways of survival in the Arcades (188). Because of the domination and control that the binaries create, they persist today (188). Because of the enforcement of this binary, men are able to control the downtown ladies in the way that they reenforce the "demonetization" of toughness because "it is a form of active agency that is seen as a theft of a naturally masculine prerogative" (189). Massey's article enforces the role of this domination through the power ascribed to men due to the geopolitical positioning of men in the area. The relation of power as it is distributed amongst men and women is emphasized when Massey explains that, " "the time-space compression of some groups can determine the power of others." The compression of the female populace through the promulgation of the socially constructed ideas of femininity and masculinity is the deciding factor of male domination in the Arcades. However, when comparing the similar trades of men and women (trafficking of illegal substance) in the Arcades, why is it that the men are favored and gain domination over the women? Does the embrace of an economy dependent upon drug trafficking imply a heavier role of general moral decay? Furthermore, what are the implications of this social phenomenon for the colonizing country?