Nicolas Hemmings in his role as Sister Betsy.
Tanya Batson, Staff Reporter
THERE is no question about it. Jamaica has very strict rules about masculinity. Masculinity is about more than simply being male. It is about being the correct sort of male. As such, there are particular things that men, real men (or at least that's how the doctrine goes) do not do.
These rules extend well beyond not crying and being willing to pee in public, regardless of what the sign on the wall says.
Because of these unwritten rules about correct masculine behaviour, men who have wished to get involved in the arts have often got flack that they are homosexual. Male dancers are possibly the most targeted group. This is despite the fact that male dancers usually have very masculine bodies. They are often still deemed effeminate. It has been suggested that male dancers get their sexuality questioned because they sometimes wear tights. And regardless of what the Mel Brooks-directed movies says, it is never a good thing to sing:
We're men,
We're men in tights
Tight, tights
It is therefore interesting that even in a society that punishes gender transgressions (especially in men) very harshly, men playing female characters is acceptable. Quite a few of these male/female characters who have been seen at varying events, from floats to stage shows. These men or at least the most popular ones usually don ugly wigs and parade as very 'tough' women with exaggerated breasts and or bottoms. They never appear sexy.
Men in dresses in theatre is by no means a modern phenomenon. In fact, during the Renaissance period women were banned from theatre, all female parts were played by men dressed as women. These ranged from young boys whose voices had not yet broken to more obviously masculine men, who would play the less feminine female roles.
Furthermore, movies such as Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), starring Robin Williams, who plays a hip old nanny, and Tootsie (1982), starring Dustin Hoffman, who plays an actor who dresses as a woman to get a role in a soap opera, are the most famous examples of cinematic cross-dressing.
Interestingly, both movies are comedies.
In neither movie are the men transvestites or transsexuals. A transvestite is a man who has the compulsion to don female clothing. With this exception, he usually accepts his heterosexual male identity in everyday life. On the other hand, transsexuals do not identify with their physical bodies.
Munair Zacca, one of Jamaica's leading thespians, is one of the actors who has played a man playing a woman. In the play Feminine Justice, God condemns him to womanhood as punishment for his crimes against women when he was alive. He agrees with the idea that despite the rampant homophobia in Jamaica, people will accept men dressing as women if it is dressed up as comedy. Noting that he is not really an expert in cross-dressing, as the role in Feminine Justice was his one time in a dress, Mr. Zacca said: "It's just amusing to see. When I was in the play, it was because God had decided to punish me to make me feel what it was like to be a woman." Mr. Zacca also notes that men dressing as women is a part of the tradition of the English pantomime, as is seen in productions such as The Ugly Sisters.
"Jamaicans tend to scoff at gays, if he is cross-dressing seriously," he said. "But if not, it is okay... It's just a good laugh"
Nicolas Hemmings is another actor who has played a man dressed as a woman. His most famous role is Sister Betsy from the roots play Brother Desmond. Mr. Hemmings points out that he has done a lot of skits in the past where he has played a woman. However, his role as Sister Betsy started out as an experiment and it has gone over very well with audiences, who often think he is a woman until they spot his legs.
"I think the easiest character to play on the stage is a man playing a woman," he said. The reason is that it is very attention grabbing and very funny. "Dressing as a woman is explosive," he explained further. "The lines are a bonus."
Mr. Hemmings points out that his character Sister Betsy is so beloved that she is missing from his new play If Love So Nice and people have been asking for her.
