In the context of a society structured, in part, on unequal relations of gender, we present in this paper, a case of what we term ‘gender-nuanced’ behaviour characterised by gender relations of relative equality between rural women and men in the Fancy community of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It is a relationship in which men treat their women as equals and unconditionally support their women’s efforts at personal advancement and community development. Specifically, we speak to the way in which men support their women’s thrust towards broadening their knowledge through enhancing their access to information via the use of new information and communication technologies (ICTs), the potential of which has significant implications for technology enabled Open and Distance Learning (ODL).

This is an interesting  situation precisely because feminists, community development workers and women’s activists all indicate that in situations where women pursue an interest which is not related to their domestic life and which have the potential to erode unequal power relations, they often meet with strong resistance from their men. This is not the case in Fancy where the Women and Development Unit (WAND), University of the West Indies, has been involved in community development activity since 1997.¹ 

In Fancy, a socially cohesive society where there is little gendered division of labour, women and men find strength in each other as they work towards a common goal, that of improving the lives of their family and the condition of their community. This can be extended to their education too, with the backing of ICTs.