Sharla Agatha Shivonne Elcock:Gender Issues in Trinidad
I usually get very defensive when talking about Trinidad and Tobago because I am so fiercely loyal and proud to be Trinidadian. I am a firm believer that Carnival unites our people and that would never change. However, upon reflection, I realized that Carnival, while it can be positive in many ways, is also contributing to the degradation of women in my society. Gone are the days when costumes were elaborate works of art which celebrated femininity, now they are tiny bikinis decorated with beads so that our women can dance in the streets almost nude. Gone are the days when people would chip through the streets or be mindful of their behavior, now women are regularly photographed acting lewd and lascivious. The hidden smut in our calypsos has given way to full descriptions of anatomy and sexual acts. We did not pay attention to these transitions for it seemed as though they happened overnight and now they define our culture and our beautiful festival. Modern Carnival is a festival in which the musicians, designers and photographers treat women like sexual objects. The blame does not lie squarely on the shoulders of these people as women seem to revel in their newfound role. It saddens me that I never thought about it hard enough before. What would make me accept the degradation of women as culture? Trinidad and Tobago are beautiful islands with great talent, art, history and culture and elements of misogyny have no place in our future nor in the greatest festival on earth…Carnival. I love Carnival for what is, a uniting force in a multiethnic society and for what it can be again, a means of expressing our identity as a people. Yes Trinidadian women are sexy and beautiful but we do not have to expose ourselves, dance indecently, or sing lewd songs about it. The world can see Beauty written across our faces.
