THE EDITOR, Sir:
WHEN I heard that the theme of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) for the Festival Queen 2006 Competition was 'Beauty Beyond Boundaries', I was really excited. Why do you ask? I thought, finally, that the competition was going to break out beyond the traditional Afro-Jamaican representation. However, my euphoria was short-lived because as an Afro-Jamaican who wants to see representation of the diversity of ethnicities on the Festival Queen's stage, once again I was disappointed.
So, where are the Indo-Jamaican beauties? Where are the Euro-Jamaican beauties? Where are the Chinese-Jamaican beauties? Are they not a part of the Jamaican cultural landscape? Why are they not a part of this wonderful cultural competition? My fellow Afro-Jamaican beauties, I see you, I too celebrate with you, but where are your other sisters? Why are they relegated to the other competition (Miss Jamaica) and you for the most part, the Festival Queen's? Why? Whose perceptions are being legitimised here? Is it the JCDC's? Is it the non-Afro-Jamaican beauties? Is it the Jamaican society? Again, why are the representations of Jamaica compartmentalised to which ethno-racial group is more likely to enter for national representation versus international representation?
As a society, we really need to move beyond the boundaries of Afro-centric representations only in this local competition, as this negates the social reality of Jamaica's landscape and also our motto, 'Out of Many One People'. Obviously, we are still imprisoned in cultural ill-tradition and it's time for a true evolution. It is really only when the annual Festival Queen competition displays a kaleidoscope of racial ethnicities that are representative of all the female beauties of this country, that we would have really moved to 'Beauty beyond boundaries'. Hence, I patiently wait for that time in this nation's history, maybe, maybe next year.
I am, etc.,
ANN-MARIE FISHER-HERDSMAN
annmarie_herdsman@ncu.edu.jm
Asst. Professor,
Northern Caribbean University
Mandeville, Manchester
Via Go-Jamaica
