Straighten Up Yu Argument”

Language as Shibboleth of Jamaican Masculinity

Bibliographic Data

ID8901587
AuthorsMoji Anderson (corresponding author), Nadine McLean
Year2014
Volume60
Issue3
Pages19-38
Publication date2014-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCaribbean Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0008-6495 • E-ISSN: 2470-6302
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00086495.2014.11672524
OpenAlexW749383339
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited15

Some man a play number twoNuff man a oil and Vaseline fi trueI and I nuh inna none a dat, it won't do-Terror Fabulous, Number 2 (1994)the Jamaican scholar Clinton hutton has referred to the gayification/gyalification of Jamaica: the increasing visibility of homosexuality in general, homosexual in particular, and a metrosexual aesthetic.1 This article explores the reactions of a group of young Jamaican to this trend. It will show that these resisted these transgressive masculinities through linguistic performances: language manipulation that included lexical avoidance and modification. This word play became a shibboleth of authentic Jamaican masculinity: those who adhered to the rules were real and those who did not were fish (homosexuals).Understanding masculinity(ies)There are various masculinities operating in patriarchal society at any one time: what R.W. Connell calls hegemonic masculinity, as well as other subordinated masculinities formed through the interplay of such variables as ethnicity and class, which are measured, surveilled and hierarchised against the hegemonic ideal.2 While hegemonic may not be normal, in that most may not practise it, it is normative^ the ideal ideational construct^ Homophobia is at the nucleus of hegemonic masculinity: homosexuals are the diametric opposite of'real and therefore effeminate, and boundaries must be policed to prohibit entry. Men are therefore aware that in order to prove their they must prove their heterosexuality.Keith Nurse states that the need to police the boundaries of hegemonic becomes more and more important,* due to what Rhoda Reddock terms in the gender order.6 In the Caribbean (and elsewhere), these changes include the increasing economic and decision-making power of women demonstrated by their superior educational performance and growing displacement of in employment. In addition, Nurse argues that the objectification of men's bodies and the emergence of a new consumer ethic that incorporates men have feminised the man by subjecting him to the erotic gaze.7 Further, the rise of activism around homosexual/alternative sexuality issues has gone some way to de-marginalising subordinate masculinities. Not surprisingly, a backlash has occurred, which Nurse says is manifested in elite male discourse.In Jamaica, the key elements of hegemonic are promiscuous heterosexual behaviour, domestic freedom, financial provision for children and mother, dominance, aggression and overt homophobia in word and action - what Barry Chevannes calls anti-homosexual heterosexuality.8 Donna Hope argues that homophobia is not just the rejection of the homosexual, but in fact a radical and extreme manifestation of Jamaican masculine paranoia of the feminine, where male homosexuals are deemed gender traitors.9 Chevannes states that fear of being branded a 'batty man' drives boys to heterosexual sex at an early age.10 Homophobia is an integral component of the perverse masculinity that Noel Cowell argues cuts across all masculinities in Jamaica, whether hegemonic or subordinated;11 as do exaggerated rimais12 which must be engaged in as proof of masculinity, since know that inadequate performances lead to questioning of their sexuality.1* Patricia Anderson has pointed out that while the importance of being loving fathers is implicated in Jamaican men's identity, this characteristic tends to be attenuated by socioeconomic status, so that hyper-masculinity is more pronounced in poorer communities, hHomophobia's virulence and effect on LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered) Jamaicans have been documented.1* Research on homophobia in Jamaica has suggested that it is tied not only to Jamaican masculinity, but to Jamaican cultural identity more generally. These studies have linked it to both official and popular culture, and to the strong religiosity in the country, although some have pointed to the nuanced nature of its expression

Argument (complex analysis · Masculinity · Sociology · Anthropology · Caribbean history, culture, and politics · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · History

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