I would never forget the masquerader who’s body was so heartlessly discarded in the heart of our beloved Queen’s Park Savannah - Japanese tourist – Asami Nagakiya
The then POS Mayor, Raymond Tim Kee’s comments, where he drew reference to the vulgar behaviour of women he has seen exhibited at carnival time in relation to a direct question about the untimely death of a masquerader in the city’s capital just did not sit well with thousands of people (at home and abroad) and an almost instant firestorm erupted on social media. From angry statuses and posts to an online petition calling for Tim Kee’s immediate resignation was launched within hours of his statements being made public.
Immediately it was clear to me what Tim Kee may have unwittingly and even unknowingly done, was lay blame squarely at the feet of all female victims of sexual violence, assault and even rape by the way we women dress or act, and he was in fact promoting and glorifying rape culture. But while the outrage was real, those who supported the mayor and his statements became just as vocal in their stance, without understanding exactly why the mayor was wrong and why a hurried protest was organized in a matter of hours decrying his statements.
In a society where girls are taught to cross their legs at the knees and act like a lady but boys are allowed to run the gamut of bad behavior which is almost celebrated (as it is certainly not punished) in our post colonial West Indian homes. Where girls are taught to be quiet, and not encourage unwanted attention from boys, but our boys are taught to “soot” or cat call women of all ages in the street. Where a girl is taught to clean and cook and take care of the home, but boys are taught that they deserve the biggest piece of chicken at dinner time regardless of helping with the chores or not. Where a girl is encouraged to turn a blind eye when her mate is unfaithful but boys are celebrated as being more of a man when he can boast of having more than one woman. Where girls are taught how not to get raped but boys are not taught how not to rape. That is rape culture and that is what our shared West Indian experience teaches us, that men are superior and that women deserve or “is asking” for whatever befalls her.
Unfortunately there are many of us, both men and unbelievably women who seem to think that some women do “ask for it” and that they should behave and act accordingly if only to prevent sexual attacks from happening, god forbid we acknowledge that the real problem lies with the men who perpetrate these acts. And while I agree that the mayor is only human at the end of the day and that we all make mistakes, his views on women seem very ill-suited to 2016 and perhaps a course in gender studies and even volunteering at a rape crisis centre may do him and many of us well in dispelling these damaging and archaic notions.
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