Jamaican RasterfarI: Misogyny & Sexism in the 'One Love' Culture

[Makini]

Commentary: Jamaican RastafarI: Misogyny and Sexism in the 'One Love' Culture
Published on Friday, July 27, 2007

By Linda Petrusi


Every patriarchal organized religion has its own unique brand of misogyny and sexism. RastafarI is no exception. Grounded in the words of the old testament combined with traditional African culture; one can argue that RastafarI women are more oppressed than Jamaican women as a whole. Beginning with Adam and Eve, the Old Testament teaches women to believe they created “sin” because Eve ate from the tree of knowledge. (God forbid that women should have knowledge) The Bobo Shanti sect in particular view women as polluted, consistent with Christian dogma and traditional African culture where women are perceived as devious, manipulative, and are forbidden to express any political thought during “reasoning sessions”. This in turn, creates greater subordination for RastafarI women. It would appear that Queen Omega was only honored because of the man she was attached to. Once King Alpha died, so did any respect for the Queen.

I am not suggesting that all Jamaican RastafarI men are this way. However, one can not ignore the fact that the majority of Jamaican RastafarI men are sexist misogynists. While it is true that the Nyahbinghi Order (named after Queen Nyahbinghi of Uganda who fought against the colonists) might in theory be seen as non-sexist simply because the sect was named after a woman. The reality is that all other sects emerged from Emperor Haile Selassie, who was a man. The twelve tribes are perhaps the most liberal, except that the twelve tribes represent the twelve sons of David. No mention of a woman. This is because men were the historians and women’s voices were not allowed.

In fact, “One Love” is a commercial enterprise for the travel and tourism industry and undermines the integrity of RastfarI as a potential for social change and transformation. This creates an illusion that all is well in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean. The pieces just don’t fit well together. In fact, what emerges is a hypocritical movement which consistently undermines the integrity and knowledge that RastafarI women could bring to the table if they were allowed....



http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/jamaica/jamaica.php?news_id=2672&start=0&category_id=9



-M-

[Omugabe]

Grounded in the words of the old testament combined with traditional African culture; one can argue that RastafarI women are more oppressed than Jamaican women as a whole.

The writer of the piece has some serious problems; and we suspect that it is the evil eurocentric feminist brainwashing.

She is implying that her alleged misogyny of Jamaican Rastas toward their women is somehow grounded in "African culture"; yet she offers no example where any African culture display misogyny towards African women.
This evil indictment of African culture can only come out of the anti-African brainwashing of the bigots of europe.

We know of no African culture that promotes hatred of African women or mistreats African women as a matter of culture designs.
So we need to stop spreading white lies and white propaganda, and at least try to learn African cultures if we wish to expound on them.

The anti-women nonsense coming out of the christian crap of the invading devils should not be associated with African culture in anyway.

What should be clearly understood though is that males and females are DIFFERENT; and they will ALWAYS play different social roles, and NATURALLY  so.

It is also a natural fact the males are the dominant gender and the females the 'submissive' gender.  It is the female who surrenders under the male.
That set up will never change as long as humans shall live. 

And any foolish feminist who has a problem with the way Mother Nature sets up her species should address their problem to her!

Now, even with that NATURAL set up of the difference in gender, it is the foolish males who would abuse their women, and weaken their abilities to better produce care for more healthy and successful offspring.
 
And it would be the foolish females who would challenge and contend with those of the dominant gender. 

Not even relatively 'weaker' males are foolish enough to challenge and contend with stronger ones.  So the foolish feminists should take lessons from those who are relatively 'weaker' among males; and use a different approach (besides confrontation) to get along with males.

In fact, Mother Nature has created 'woman power' for females.  The wiser women will know this power.  And the feminists would do well to learn from wiser women and more successful families.

[jah-mani]

Don't forget homophobia.

[Makini]

hmmm

'It is also a natural fact the males are the dominant gender and the females the 'submissive' gender.  It is the female who surrenders under the male.
That set up will never change as long as humans shall live.'

i never heard of an 'unnatural fact' or a natural one.

found it interesting no other females on the board thought to respond or comment on that comment you made.


sexist - male chauvinist: a man with a chauvinistic belief in the inferiority of women... therefore i don't see how well qualified you are at commenting on this issue except to affirm that the attitude exists. i can't speak for Jamaica/rasterfarian or in that context of course but just as someone(you) commenting on the post.



-M-

[Boogieman]

Blessed love,
Kings and Queens.
I can't see why is all this fuss about...
 Men are created to provide and to defend, and women are the mothers of creation , women gives birth to all man kind, JAH created both. JAH didn't cast out Eve out of Eden JAH casted both Eve and Adam ,because they both sinned.
MAN and WOMbMAN are both human , but they are both different. So isn't it right to think that their porpoise in this world is different?
If the I think that it's sexist to think that womans porpoise is to create life,(example) than think about that if there was one man in the world and all the women ,the world could be repopulated , but if there were just men and one woman, man kind would die out...
Man and Woman equally important , but both different...
That is the order, only gentiles will tell I different.
Holy Immanuel I Selassie I JAH Ras Tafar I.

[siger]

i know nothing of jamiacan rastafarI,  but this is an argument i've heard before...

the Omugabe has made it clear, we do not take to kindly to the western propaganda that the misogyny Jamaican women experience is in some way steeped in traditional African culture. if anything, one could argue that the suppression of women is taught by the christian religions that Jamaican women seem to embrace.

granted the writer must have a basis for this. lets say that there is a Jamaican RastafarI who mistreats his wombman. let us say that the writer squeezed a confession out of him, and he pleaded guilty on contest of the "misogynistic teaching of African culture."
the obvious conclusion would be that he was miseducated.

but i fault the writer in taking it a step further. from being miseducated to miseducating others.
by saying, in an assuredly manner, that these attitudes are grounded in that which is African and Rasta, is wrong in my view.
let them stand and show in which way this is so.

i condemn the ill-treatment of all wombman,
but she is not a rastafarI who allows a man to treat her with disrespect.

[Belle]

Omugabe, I don't agree with your comment that

"It is also a natural fact the males are the dominant gender and the females the 'submissive' gender.  It is the female who surrenders under the male.That set up will never change as long as humans shall live"

The submissiveness of women is a biblical construct that is very patriarchal. In Ancient Egypt i.e Nubia which was the cradle of civilization, the Queen was seen as an equal to her Pharaoh. Even the role of Isis in the afterlife illustrates the high regards that Ancient Egyptians had for women. Women are the givers of life and are equal to any male.

[Mansa]

so Rastafari vibration is to be blamed for the misogeny in the bible? how intriguing

All the African cultures I know of are matriarchal