The Commentator www

Do black women prefer being abused? [From Main Page]

Through out the black world, our culture has been taken over by violence. If you are not a violent person, then you are seen as a “nobody”. Many of our black women don’t want to be seen with a man who is soft, gentle and civilized. If a man comes across as such, he is usually thought of as being weird, sick or even gay. Many of our black women prefer a real man. What is a real man? One who acts and thinks like an animal.

Of course, many of our women welcome being beaten by their men. Believe it or not, some of our black women actually believe that when their men are beating them to pulps, their men are actually proving that they love them! Where in the world to they get these notions from is completely beyond me! This must be so, as instead of leaving these beasts, many of them go back - obviously for more of the “love”.

Adequate proof, however, of why it can be safely said that our black women prefer abusive spouses is seen in our popular culture. The black world is currently being taken over by a very destructive force called “rap”. In Jamaica, this rap is called “dancehall”. This is no longer just a music form - it has become a way of life. Unfortunately for us black people; rap is not a very progressive influence. One of its hallmarks is its continued degeneration of black women.

Rap and dancehall considers women to be chattels - objects to be exploited, and I do mean exploited. Rap portrays our women as sex slaves - or more appropriately - sex sluts. Here in Jamaica, whenever street dances are being advertised, illiterate and near-naked women from our ghettoes are used as advertising baits - in other words, they are seen as nothing. However, rap offers more abuse for our black women.

When one listens to what passes off as music, I feel very sorry for us black people, but especially for our women. I heard one instructing how our women should observe their rightful place - in total submission to her “bad-man”. I hear another urging women to be beaten if they don’t do their “homely duties”. Another dancehall tune proudly proclaims that, in sexual terms, women will always serve some useful role, after she cease having any other use. Yet another urges our men to take sex from women - whether or not they want to “give it”. Our women aren’t even seen as humans but “things”.

Now, you may be wondering, why did I mention these things? It is very simple. One reason why this abuse towards our black women by rap/dancehall has been allowed to thrive is because our black women like it! Many of them actually think they are being complemented when they are told to “open up and don’t dis bad man” - that is to willingly accept rape!

You see, if our black women did not like being abused, they would have taken effective action to ensure respectable treatment, whether from the beasts that many of them have for spouses or from our popular culture. It is primarily because of our black women themselves why they continue to be at the receiving end of this abuse that they apparently love so much.

It may just be a black thing, but it seems very clear to me. Our black women prefer to be abused. They have to power to stop it but they won’t because to most abuse means love!

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Changing demographics offering opportunities for the Caribbean (Cont'd) [From Main Page]

Two Caribbean countries, the United States Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, with both 17 per cent, are among the top 25 per cent of countries with the highest percentage of persons aged 60 years and over, according to a 2006 ranking of 192 countries. Eight other countries are on the top half of the world’s countries with regard to ageing: Cuba (16 per cent), the Netherlands Antilles (14 per cent), Barbados (13 per cent), Trinidad and Tobago (11 per cent), Jamaica and Saint Lucia (10 per cent) and Suriname and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (10 per cent).

These demographic changes will have a sizable impact on the labour force, the social security systems and the provision of pensions and health care, the report says. The present economic system, with its dependency on a narrow range of goods and services, seems no longer viable and universal access to socio-economic support systems and primary health care can no longer be financed solely by governments.

U.N. Head Office

"Globalization and the need to restructure Caribbean economies provide room for new avenues to diversify the economy, such as catering to health tourism or developing niches for sustainable agriculture, to only name two"

While almost all countries seem to recognize these changes, this awareness has not yet been translated into a comprehensive reform of the health care and social protection and pension systems, says the report.

In matters of health the region seems to follow global trends, with lifestyle-related diseases on the rise. The provision of free social and health care protection in most Caribbean countries was instituted at the time of independence. While tax-based schemes have been designed to provide social assistance in cash and in kind, they are not sustainable in the long term. Social protection schemes seem to be generally in good shape, due to the fact that contributions seem to be reasonable and only limited out-payments are currently made.

With regard to pension schemes, which are mostly pay-as-you-go systems, the majority of older persons do not seem to be covered, even in countries where some form of non-contributory system exists. This is often caused by limited knowledge on and accessibility of such schemes and often insurmountable bureaucratic hurdles during the application process. Some countries have engaged in parametric pension reforms to adjust their schemes to the changing demographics, but a full-fledged overhaul of national pension schemes is not yet on the horizon.

Social protection needs to integrate women’s needs, the report says. Women outlive men, but older men seem to be generally healthier than older women. Widows do not generally enjoy access to pensions and women are often excluded from the formal labour market -- two factors limiting women’s access to formal protection mechanisms.

While these challenges may appear almost insurmountable, various windows of opportunity are opening, the report says. The most important is the favourable demographic situation, with the largest labour force in history and the smallest percentage of beneficiaries.

Globalization and the need to restructure Caribbean economies provide room for new avenues to diversify the economy, such as catering to health tourism or developing niches for sustainable agriculture, to only name two. Partnerships with the Caribbean Diaspora may offer new business approaches and provide more investment within the region. It is now up to Caribbean leaders to pursue these and other windows of opportunity to ensure a prosperous future for the region.

Background documents and other material are available at http://www.eclac.org/portofspain/. For further information, please contact Neil Pierre, Director, ECLAC Sub-regional Headquarters for the Caribbean, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I., phone: 1-868 623 5595, fax: 1-868 623 8485, e-mail: neil.pierre@eclac.org.

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