Carnival hypocrisy

THE EDITOR, Sir:

A photograph caught my eye in the recent media (mainstream and social) coverage of the carnival celebrations. It was of a heavily pregnant woman outfitted in the garb of bacchanalia on the streets of Kingston. Half-nude, barely covered, decked in bright orange, glitter and feathers, with her precocious foetus rivalling for the position of prominence.

I mused whether the same concessions would have been given to another female feting at a dancehall party, her protruding uterus exposed, babe in utero, and mother engaged in the sounds and movements of dancehall revelry.

I imagine that the public would have had a different reaction to this display. For dancehall was created out of the bowels of this country. Yet, though shades of similar elements exist between soca and dancehall, many, including our radio stations, create imaginary distinctions. Our public conscience should denounce both, or neither.

Yes, our country continues to be beleaguered by episodes of inconsistency, the fare of foreign imports versus our rejected local offerings, lines of demarcation drawn between what uptown supports and what the mass embraces. While not being an advocate of dancehall, the hypocrisy is striking and revolting.

Still, our posterity may be grateful to the half-naked, pregnant reveller for the rebirth of Bacchus or Bacchante.

PUBLIC GAZER