THE POPULAR belief that men are marginalised is a myth. One just has to look at their influence on our culture and this reality will become very evident. One cannot ignore the obvious gender gap in education as expressed in your editorial, but think of politicians, sports (men!), and pastors. If we are honest with ourselves we'll see that, save for a few exceptions here and there, these institutions are dominated by men. As is our music.
This was aptly demonstrated at the recently concluded Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest. The chief organisers of the festival are men as were most of the performers. 'Dancehall Night' had a total of 20 acts billed and of these only two acts were women. 'Conscious Party' night had no female performers. There were 12 men billed to perform. 'International Night' had only one female performer out of a total of eight performers.
The lack of the female presence at festivals like these is a microcosm of the problem of male domination in our popular culture. Jamaica is one of the most violent countries in the world. If one does a content analysis of the lyrics of much of our music, then a distinct pattern emerges one of violence, degradation of women, who are portrayed in the role of servitude only for the enjoyment of men (read Red Stripe Girls) and homophobia. This is the image of manhood that is portrayed as the ideal, the standard by which to live.
