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Columns : Letters to The Editor Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM


Dr. Kreimild Saunders: Revealing Bodies: Obscene Objectification or the Sexual Empowerment of Women in Junkanoo Carnival
By Dr. Kreimild Saunders
May 13, 2015 - 12:27:03 PM

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Dear Editor,

From the announcement of Junkanoo Carnival there was an immediate reaction to the prospect of g-string clad women dancing to sexy music in provocative, mock sexual postures. These images from Trinidad and Brazil flood the mass media and our sexual imagination. Rev. R. Patterson, president of the Bahamas Christian Council was most outspoken in his warning that immodest attire and performances could lead to “fornication, promiscuity, rape, incest and other sins of the flesh”.

This statement is a reflection of the anxiety and fear of conservative Christians that specular sexual images of female bodies would unleash uncontrollable sexual desires and even male sexual violence. Male sexual arousal is typically viewed as a natural force that they are powerless to control. The male sexual organ is seem as having an agency all its own. This reasoning leads to the fallacious sentiments such as Rev. Patterson’s contention that immodest women can bring tragedy upon themselves. This narrative inverts reality by disavowing female victims of violence (blaming the victim) and representing men as victims of female sexual power. This narrative simultaneously calls upon women to be the guardians of sexual morality because men lack self-control.

Clearly, this mis-representation of our sexuality needs to change; we must affirm the sexual agency of adults and the imperative for all of us to take responsibility for our sexuality.

Rev. Patterson also condemned the objectification and exploitation of women’s bodies by the festival organizers and by inference the Christie administration. There is indeed an objectification of women’s bodies.

Women’s bodies have been sexually objectified and controlled since the dawn of civilization; that is why in the West a topless female is sexualized in a manner that a topless male has never been sexualized. We saw that some women were recognized as having the best bodies in the carnival.

Both sexual conservatives and some feminists have problematized this growing tendency to the objectification of women’s bodies and see it as degrading to women. This general trend is problematic indeed but the issue is complex because most female participants enjoy dressing sexy and flaunting their sexuality in dance performance. They generally feel affirmed as beautiful, sexually desirable beings.

I dare say that Carnival in the black disaspora strongly affirms the sexuality of all women, especially mature women regardless of size or shape. It is essentially a celebration of women’s sexuality. Objectification becomes a problem when the self-worth of women is essentially defined by their bodies. As a culture we have to ward against a general tendency to extremes—representing women as essentially sexual objects or as chaste beings.


Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his/her private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of TheBahamasWeekly.com

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