Background to the Study

Many studies on gender have been carried out in Europe and North America, but few studies have adequately addressed the diversity in cultures with respect to gender stereotypes in the Caribbean. Some would argue that Jamaicans have adopted the gender beliefs of Europe and North America due to the heavy influence of the colonial past and the saturation of the mass media with US cable programmes. This perspective is substantiated by the work of Hamilton and Leo-Rhynie (1984). New and advanced media technology has brought the values and norms of North American society into the average Caribbean home with greater force and frequency (Dunn 1995). This study seeks to discover what gender notions are held by Jamaicans and Barbadians, who have a shared British colonial past, but who also have some 50 years of defining themselves as distinct Caribbean cultures. One of the most powerful cultural agents of socialisation over the past 20 years from 1998 to 2008, for an entire generation, has been popular music. For the MTV, You Tube, Myspace and iPod generation (Forbes 2010), music is not only sound but video as well. It is portable and accessible from anywhere. The technology has made it possible for large numbers of people to “plug in” around the clock. Our interest in this study is in the extent to which the current sex-role stereotypes mirror the lyrics and sentiments expressed in the popular Caribbean songs of a generation.

Previous Studies

One of the earliest and most common facts we can express about others and ourselves is that of maleness or femaleness. It is the first announcement at birth and the primary determinant within the home as to what expectations our families should have of our behaviour, contribution and life choices (Katz 1985). Gender socialization begins very early in life and continues throughout adulthood. Studies that bring together gender and culture include Williams and Best (1990) and Carpenter (1998). These stand out for a number of reasons. To begin with, both are ecologically sound and include male and female research teams in order to control for gender. Second, they include studies conducted using culturally appropriate instruments normed for each society and based on a trustworthy three hundred (300) item pool adapted and refined by Cattell (1943, 1946), Gough and Heilbrun (1980) successively. Most cultures do have different roles for men and women and this appears to be a universal, if not practical approach to everyday living. However, the sometimes subtle differences in the expression of these roles across cultures is what makes it possible to say, “This is a typical Jamaican man or typical Barbadian woman.” These differences separate us from each other as whole cultures. In this study, we consider how the stereotype beliefs of Jamaicans and Barbadians may be reflected in the popular music of the culture.

A digression of sorts may be useful in looking at the role of culture and the environment in gender socialization. The studies carried out with children of abnormal sexual differentiation are a case in point with regard to gender—role acquisition. Children born with apparently female—dominant sex organs, which later develop into male organs at puberty, have been researched in two communities. Separated by culture and geography, they have developed two distinct patterns of gender socialization in the face of an abnormal, yet recurrent physiological feature. In the United States as in the Dominican Republic, the girl/boys or “guevedoces” are raised female until puberty when the physical changes occur. In the US community the “now boys” choose homosexual lifestyles for the most part. In the Santo Domingan community, where homosexual practices are not tolerated, the “now boys” adopt heterosexual lifestyles, act out heterosexual, are treated as male, and go on to marry and raise families. It is therefore argued by Cairns (1979) that much of what we observe as sex-role differences are the result of “anticipated” physiological developments, “being augmented by culture”. These studies highlight the strong influence of cultural norms on gender behaviour.

In 1998 the pan cultural work of Williams and Best was replicated in Jamaica (Carpenter 1998). The female stereotype was more clearly defined than the male and the adjectives associated with women received the highest responses. This is understandable in light of earlier work carried out in the Caribbean by Olive Senior and colleagues, which supports this view “In gender-role learning we have seen that the female role is well defined compared with the male role” (1991: 38). This is especially true of countries where the roles of girls and women become fleshed out, in terms of their function in the home, by the age of 5 years. The chores assigned to children are held to be the chief source of their early gender-role learning (Cohen and Bunker 1975; Senior 1991). Girls and women learn traditional gender roles in far more visible and consistent ways.

Results 1998 Study

On the other hand, Jamaican men scored highest on the more unflattering terms such as; reckless, coarse, arrogant, disorderly, cruel, aggressive, and tough. The picture painted of the male stereotype was also lazy, autocratic, stern, robust, hard-hearted, unambitious and unscrupulous (Fig. 1). Despite being seen as robust, the Jamaican male stereotype was also seen as a man who was lazy.

Fig. 1
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Male stereotype 1998

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The Female stereotype that emerged from the data was of women who were seen as; emotional, soft-hearted, fussy, affectionate, sensitive, worrying, gentle, warm, complaining, patient, fearful, understanding, touchy, sentimental, talkative excitable, sophisticated, and sexy (Fig. 2). These adjectives received high responses of 80–91% which is ten to 20 points above the 70% desired percentile point for being female associated. These scores reflect the passive, yet positive, caring characteristics.

Fig. 2
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Female stereotype 1998

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The Present Study

Williams and Best’s invaluable work was used as a springboard for examining the local Jamaican experience in 1998 and in the present study. While Williams and Best placed considerable emphasis on the variety of cultures included in their study, the present work examines the gender beliefs of selected Jamaican and Barbadian males and females. We additionally examine these stereotypes against the popular music of the decade that has elapsed between our original investigations and the present male and female images presented in the music of the day.

Procedures

Sample

A random sample of 124 Jamaicans and 112 Barbadians was selected from the general population of persons over 18 years. A mall intercept of equal numbers of men and women in each country were approached in busy shopping areas such as markets, supermarkets and malls. Verbal consent was obtained from all respondents before including their responses.

Data Collection

A list of one hundred (100) English language adjectives was read/shown to the respondents to determine which adjectives they recognized as being associated with men and women in their cultures. Adjectives recognised by 70% or more of the respondents were deemed to be stereotypically masculine and feminine in each of these countries. Male respondents were interviewed by male researchers and female respondents by female researchers to control for any effects that could be caused by gender.

Instruments

A 100-adjective list of male and female attributes was derived from the original Cattell (1943, 1946), Gough and Heilbrun (1980) 300-item list, reduced and tested by Carpenter (1998) to assess the Jamaican population. The Jamaican list was further tested on the Barbadian adult population for cultural appropriateness. The instruction was:

This sheet contains 100 adjectives that are sometimes used to describe people. For each adjective you are asked to decide whether it is more frequently associated with a man or a woman in our Caribbean culture. Do not spend too much time on any one adjective. If you find it impossible to place a particular adjective in either the male or the female category, you may omit the adjective and go on to the next one. Place a tick in the M column after the word if the adjective applies to male, or tick the F column if the adjective applies to a female.

You are not being asked whether you believe that it is true that men or women differ in these ways, and you are not being asked if you approve of the assignment of different characteristics to men and to women.

Results

The data from both countries were analysed using SPSS to arrive at the frequencies for each of the adjectives. Adjectives which were seen by 70% or more of the adults in each country as male/female–associated were considered to be stereotypically male or female.

The 2009 Jamaican data are presented first, followed by the 2009 data from Barbados. The 1998 and 2009 data are examined for Jamaica and compared with Barbados, and the 2009 data are then compared and contrasted for male and female stereotypes in both countries. The music culture from both countries over the period 1998–2008 is examined to establish the extent to which the sex role stereotype for each country is reflected in the lyrical content heard on the radio and in the streets. This particular span of years coincides with the period that has elapsed between the first study in Jamaica and the recent study in Barbados and Jamaica. The music itself, in the post independence era of some 40 years, deals with a number of consistent themes that reflect the social concerns of the nation, namely, relationships, social injustice, survival and revelry.

Jamaica

There was overall a higher level of recognition for female–associated adjectives than for male–associated ones. The 2009 stereotype emerging of the Jamaican male is rather unflattering and portrays a man who is stereotypically coarse, reckless, aggressive, lazy, tough, arrogant, stern, disorderly, robust, rigid, autocratic, courageous, and hard-headed (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3
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Jamaican male stereotype 2009

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The stereotype emerging of the Jamaican female is more flattering and contains more adjectives despite the fact that equal numbers of male and female respondents were included. The higher response rate for the female stereotype is similar to that of the 1998 study. The description of the female stereotype however begins with negative ascriptions. The image is one of a complaining, fussy, sexy, emotional, worrying, affectionate, sensitive, soft hearted and sophisticated, woman (Fig. 3).

Barbados

The Barbados data were collected in the same manner as those from Jamaica. One hundred and twelve (112) adults were interviewed face–to–face. The results for the Barbadian adults are presented in Figs. 4 and 5. The stereotype of the male that emerges is one of a reckless, disorderly, robust and tough man. Given how few male adjectives scored 70% or more, the researchers made the decision to include scores slightly below the desired mark. Sex stereotype adjectives of 65% or more were selected for inclusion. These were show-off, arrogant, aggressive, hard–headed, courageous, adventurous, lazy, inventive and rigid. All other male–associated adjectives received scores below 65%.

Fig. 4
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Jamaican female stereotype 2009

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Fig. 5
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Barbadian male stereotype 2009

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The adult female stereotype that emerged is one of an emotional; fussy; affectionate; complaining sophisticated; sensitive; worrying; warm; fault–finding; sexy; touchy; sentimental and gentle. All female–associated adjectives received scores above 70% and were therefore more highly endorsed than the male–associated adjectives in Barbados. (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6
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Barbadian female stereotype 2009

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A Decade of Jamaican Music Culture

Jamaican popular culture has for the last 25 years been dominated by what has now come to be known as Dancehall music. Authors such as Donna Hope have attributed the long run of Dancehall music to the inability of the society to move to the next level. As a consequence, she believes, the music reflects the evolutionary state of the people, so irrespective of the changes in the sound of the music, the topics being addressed by the practitioners in the genre have not changed. The societal injustices remain unchanged while the music has evolved towards the digital forms we now consume. Dancehall has co-existed alongside more traditional Reggae forms, which tend towards social commentary. French Reggae scholar Jérémie Kroubo Dagnini supports Hope’s position that the music’s unvarying themes are a reflection of the larger society:

Since dancehall, it is three decades of the same political and economic system the promotion of money via capitalism and it may be linked to why dancehall is still dominant today. (Stabroek News, http://www.stabroeknews.com, June 6, 2009).

In Jamaica, it is impossible to avoid hearing the latest songs playing at full volume in the streets and in commercial centres. This is largely due to the lack of enforcement of the Noise Abatement Act. Music is consequently a very public tool of socialization for all ages. There is a rapid turnaround of the lyrics within the Dancehall industry while the tunes or “rhythms” are re-used for a variety of songs and artists. Artists overlay their lyrical content on the same tracks which are now built for repeat use in response to the fans’ demands. It is almost impossible to select any one song as the number one for a given year as every few months a new “best” emerges. The songs selected for use do not by any means present an exhaustive list and it would be difficult to come to a consensus as to the definitive list of top songs for a given year as invariably there are several throughout the months. However, those included here represent a sampling over the past decade of the listeners’ demands throughout these years. Between 1998 and 2008 in the main, Jamaican Dancehall lyrics have focused on male conquest of female bodies, gun talk and pursuit of money for the past four decades. The “bad man” or the Don has emerged as the stereotypical male role model, while the female has become a sex subject as well as object, designed for fulfilling the fantasies of both genders. In the words of Hope, “A real man is a Badman, synonymous with the gun-toting ‘Shotta’ (2010, p. 61). Supposed Love Songs within this genre are notably misogynistic, even when sung by female DJs. It is only in the traditional, and less popular, Reggae form that the woman is upheld as gentle, delicate and lover.

The songs selected for comparison with the male and female sex role stereotypes in Jamaica were taken from the Reggae Gold Album 1998–2008. These were then compared with a variety of charts containing top 10 hits and where there was congruence across a variety of sources the song was selected. Reggae Gold did however provide a consistent source of hit songs throughout the entire period under examination, while other charts began several years after 1998. Only Dancehall songs were chosen although the albums generally combine a mixture of Dancehall, Reggae and Crossover music. From 1998–2008 some of the top Dancehall songs that made it onto the Reggae Gold albums were: 1998—Destiny—Buju Banton; 1999—Look—Bounty Killer; 2000—Hardcore Lover Lady Saw Ft TOK; 2001—Shizzle Ma Nizzle—Elephant Man; 2002—Pon Di Riva—Elephant Man; 2003—One of those Days—Sizzla; 2004—Jook Gal (Wine Wine) [Head Gawn Version]—Elephant Man featuring Twista, Youngbloodz & Kiprich; 2005—King of the Dancehall—Beenie Man; 2006—Dutty Wine—Tony Matterhorn; 2007—Nah Go a Jail—Busy Signal; 2008—The Mission—Featuring Stephen Marley & Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley.

For example the DJ/selector Tony Matterhorn of the Bembe Thursdays DJ squad emphasized (2007) that the event was initiated to bring back females to dancehall and the dance arena generally. (Stanley Niah 2010, p. 142).

Buju Banton’s lyrics in Destiny were more in the vein of social commentary, and is what is referred to locally as “conscious” lyrics. “The rich man’s wealth is in the city, Destruction of the poor is his poverty, Destruction of your soul is vanity, Do you hear, I and I, I wanna rule my destiny” (http://www.metrolyrics.com/destiny-lyrics-buju-banton.html). Lady Saw’s 1999 hit moves the listener from social commentary to a description of the kind of lover that women expect a Jamaican Man to be. Her song finds favour with the larger female populous and echoes the “agony sex” sentiment,”…all she needs is a hardcore lover that will treat her right (that’s what she’s looking for), all she needs is a hardcore lover that will treat her riiiiiiggggghhhtttt!!!!, one more time have di girls dem a scream and a bawl, waan it hardcore from di window to di wall (http://www.metrolyrics.com/hardcore-lover-lyrics-lady-saw.html).

When Bounty Killer unleashes his song, Look it signals a series of “sufferer’s laments,” which he continues to release for several years to come. Bounty’s songs provide an urban backdrop to the sexually explicit lyrics of other artists and the dance routines. Bounty consistently produces songs that seek to justify the violence of inner city youth who take up the gun as a way out of poverty. And although Bounty is not featured as the top artist in the coming years his popularity is unquestioned.

Look into my eyes, tell me what you see?

Can you feel my pain? am I your enemy?

Give us a better way, things are really bad,

The only friend I know is this gun I have.

Listen to my voice, this is not a threat.

Now you see the nine are you worried yet?

(http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bounty+killer/look_20235813.html)

The dancehall selection then moves through a series of Elephant man hits that bring back the men to the dance scene. Young men are featured as the dancers in the videos that accompany the songs and a craze is renewed, with young men taking to the dance floor competing against each other with deft footwork and large upper body movements that emphasize their masculinity. “A’right, real badman nuh wear people pants, We tek dancing to a higher rank, We spen’ pound,an wi spen frank, John have a new dance a lock Jamaican an’ Bronx, Pon Di River Pon Di Bank (http://www.metrolyrics.com/pon-di-river-lyrics-elephant-man.html). Even where the song is essentially about dance moves and the latest dance craze the “Badman” is invoked to demonstrate the masculine ideal in dancehall.

Never outdone, Beenie Man picks up the lyrical trend by introducing a new dance, Row like a Boat, “Well a brand new dance Roses come a promote, Oonu [all of you] row like a boat oonu [all of you] row like a boat, Whole dancehall a rock from coast to coast”. For the next three to 4 years, Beenie Man and Elephant Man duke it out with successive dance songs introducing a variety of new moves for young men to master. The dance craze culminates in as Tony Matterhorn returns the female to the centre of the dance floor and attracts international attention. The Dutty Wine assures the listener that no matter how many young women present themselves for the challenge Matterhorn will be up for the challenge, “See the crew of dem, I will wine dem, Could a three a dem, could a four a dem, Even more of dem, I will grind dem” (http://www.lyriczz.com/lyrics/tony-matterhorn/23538-dutty-wine). Naah go a Jail Again, by Busy Signal, returns to the street lament of the ghetto youth, which we examined in Bounty Killer’s Look. However, Busy’s message is a protest against incarceration, “ [Chorus:] Seh wi nah go a jail again—oh no!, And wi never going fail again—oh no!, Like a ship wi ago sail again—oh oh!, You would a never see mi call mi friend fi bail again”. The dance songs have just about run out of innovations when the Marley brothers bring the music fans back to the conscious lyrics with the hard–hitting The Mission which continues to decries the injustices of inner city living conditions in Jamaica.

A youth and youth fi have a plan and have some ambition.

And make sure unnu [all of you] firm ina di Armageddon

So when you son become a man, him know just where you stand

Him know him poopa [father] set it so him follow tradition

(http://www.lyricsmania.com/the_mission_lyrics_damian_marley.html)

A Decade of Barbadian Music Culture

If dancehall music reigns supreme in Jamaica, it is a strong contender in Barbados and the other Caribbean territories. In Barbados, the genres of popular music are primarily: Afro Caribbean, Calypso and Soca. Reggae and Dancehall are imported from Jamaica and Steel pan from Trinidad. The most common types of music you will hear are Calypso, Dancehall and Reggae. If you want to get a taste of the flavours of music in Barbados, the best time to visit the island is during The Crop Over or Kadooment season. This season runs from July to early August. During this time, there are numerous music festivals and the season is topped off with the Grand Kadooment street carnival. A more up-tempo dance form called Calypso Soul is also very popular among the younger Barbadian (Bajan) community and forms a huge part of Kadooment (http://www.vacation-in-barbados.com/barbados-music.html). Throughout the rest of the year however, Jamaican dancehall and American pop music dominate the party scene and the airwaves.

The lyrics and arrangements of home grown popular songs in Barbados over the past decade are more similar to Jamaican Reggae than Dancehall music. Even when the titles for these songs might appear to be about relationships they have generally centred around dances and partying. Song lyrics directed at women tend towards the more gentle endearments or playful repartee. Where Jamaican Dancehall music is sexually explicit and violent Barbadian Calypso is replete with loaded innuendos and coquetish lyricism. Men and women are both depicted as in control of the lovemaking and the man is not generally portrayed as a “bedroom bully” delivering “agony sex”. Songs on the “Bootilicious Soca Party, Vol 1” album, such as Mash It Up by Abena refer to dancing non—stop and not as would be expected in the Jamaican context, agony sex. It is important to note two things regarding music in Barbados however. The carnival music is seasonal and intended for play in the streets where whole families are celebrating. This may encourage the milder, more subtle forms of expression that children could listen to without fully understanding the intent. Second, Jamaican dancehall still invades the airwaves and party scene in Barbados and across the Caribbean. The potential influence is therefore still quite strong.

But whereas the elite in Barbados, for example, are terrified of the invasive “Trojan horse of a counter-culture” from Jamaica, the masses of the region’s youths, both at home and in the Caribbean diaspora, embrace Jamaican dancehall music and its language as a celebratory discourse, asserting a shared identity of cultural affiliation. (Cooper 2004, p. 229)

The hit list for Barbados from 1998 to 2008 begins with Square One Band’s DJ Ride and continues with Krosfyah’s 1999—Pump Meh Up; 2000—Krosfyah again takes the top Soca tune with Oba Obadele (Obadele Thompson); and in 2001—Krosfyah—Sak Passe; 2002 Jamaican dancehall artist Capleton’s—Bun out di Chi Chi dem; 2003—Peter Ram—The Pledge; 2004—Kite—Firefly; 2005—Alison Hinds—Roll it Gal; in 2006… 2007 Rihanna’s Umbrella was the number one song internationally,—in June 2008—Hypasounds—Party Mood.

Barbados is in a party mood when Square One Band makes it to the top of the charts with DJ Ride in 1998. A lighthearted song full of innuendo in which a female protagonist challenges the supposed Disk Jockey’s (DJ’s) “ I want a man come an ride me riddim, I want a man come an ride me riddim. [if] You think yu could handle me? The party continues into 1999 with Krosfyah’s hit, Pump Meh Up invites the listeners to stop paying attention to the singer’s attire and instead to keep playing the music so he can get in the party mood, “Pump me up wid de music, Pump me up, Cause you know I’m addicted, Pump me up wid de music”. Yet in the following year a hard–hitting Jamaican Dancehall song that has been criticized for its homophobic content, Capleton’s 2000 “Bun out di Chi chi dem” makes it onto to Bajan local charts and remains at the top for about 2 months. Chi, chi is a Creole word for a bed bug and is a derogatory term use to describe homosexuals in Jamaica and invokes listeners to, “Bun out ah chi chi, Blood out ah chi chi” (http://www.gugalyrics.com/CAPLETON-BUN-OUT-DI-CHI–CHI-LYRICS/409912/). In 2001 the very popular Barbadian band Krosfyah winds the festival with Sak Pase, which picks up the pace from Capleton’s harsh dancehall lyrics to a carnival song that encourages dancers to “ sak pase, drink yu drink, sak pase, hol a gyal, sak pase wine yu bump” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YO8KC-fFJo&feature=related). The year 2003 sees Barbados in a very patriotic mood when Peter Ram leads out with his very popular “The Pledge” “Barbados, Let me see some hands up again. I will always love and cherish you to the end (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnHT6FMvFxY). Kite provides an interesting and impressive rock collection that receives international acclaim. Their hit song “Firefly” is a complete departure from the usual Barbadian fare.

The spot-on combination of big, radio-ready songs and use of steel drum and ‘vintage’ Reggae guitar in their ‘iLandRock’ sound made a big impression on the booming music scene in the Caribbean. They just didn’t sound like anybody else. They just sounded right (or ‘tight’, as they say in the Caribbean!). Kite Festival Kite headlined Culture Shock, the Caribbean’s premier international pop/rock festival on the beach in Bridgetown, Barbados featuring bands from the U.S.A., Canada, The U.K., Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados. (http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_MS11033)

In 2005 Allison Hinds returns Barbados to a party mood with her Soca release, “Roll it Gal” which is still quite popular today across the Caribbean. Women are invited to flaunt their sexiness no matter what others may think of them. The lyrics paint a picture of a strong woman who is in control not only of her sexuality but also her education and family life:

Chorus

Roll

Roll it gal, roll it gal

Roll

Control it gal, roll it gal

Roll

Go to school gal, and get ya degree

Nurture and tek care of ya pickney

Gal ya work hard to mek ya money

Roll it gal, roll it gal

(http://www.smartlyrics.com/Song566383-Alison-Hinds-Roll-It-Gal-lyrics.aspx)

As 2007 comes to a close there is no doubt that Barbadian born Rihanna’s has held the number one slot internationally for the longest period that year. The love song affirms that the man need have no fear because the singer’s love will keep him protected in the worst of times:

When the sun shines, we’ll shine together

Told you I’ll be here forever

Said I’ll always be a friend

Took an oath I’ma stick it out till the end

Now that it’s raining more than ever

Know that we’ll still have each other

You can stand under my umbrella

You can stand under my umbrella

(Ella ella eh eh eh)

(http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rihanna/umbrella.html)

Hypasounds continues the dance music trend in 2008 with another party song, aptly titled Party Mood. “I’m in a party Mood, Let’s have this party mood. I feel like behaving rude, Let’s have this party mood”.

Discussion

Generally, there was a lower level of recognition for the sex role stereotypes among the Barbadian population than the Jamaican and in particular the Barbadian male. In stark contrast, the Jamaican male image is very clearly defined with the sex-role stereotype adjectives being endorsed by 70–90% of the sample. Overall, the sex–role stereotypes of the female were more clearly defined in both countries. The coarseness and toughness recognised by the sample as typical of the Jamaican male is certainly reflected in the dancehall songs which unvaryingly contain the obligatory nod to the “badman”. The Jamaican male image can therefore be seen as synonymous with the coarse, reckless, aggressive, rough, badman depicted in the songs. “Rudeness” is perceived as part of Jamaican masculinity, even though it verges on harassment and violence at times. Black male sexuality is allowed, indeed expected, to be vulgar and out of control—rough, tough and abusive” (Kempadoo 2004, p. 131). He is equally robust and lazy yet the songs are not necessarily depicting a shiftless man who has no occupation. This description may come out of everyday life experiences. The physical dexterity and agility demonstrated in the male dance craze is not reflected in any of the stereotype descriptions. Essentially the Jamaican male stereotype is of a man who is anything but soft. He is aggressive, takes charge and shows his courage by even defending his position by the gun. When bounty Killer says, The only friend I know is this gun I have. Listen to my voice, this is not a threat. He is embodying this “Real badman” of Elephant man, Beenie Man and countless other dancehall artists.

The female sex-role stereotype reflected in the music of the 1998–2008 period is not to be found in the hardcore dancehall lyrics of the Jamaican hits mentioned above but rather in their offshoots performed by the same artists. These border on Reggae music and include: Thank You Mama by Sizzla; Virtuous Woman by Warrior Kinga; Strength of a Woman by Shaggy and Inna har Heart by Capleton. The artists themselves seem to be signalling that Hardcore Dancehall music is not the medium for love songs, and that women need to be persuaded through this softer Reggae medium. In essence, Dancehall is to maleness what Reggae is to femaleness. The complaining, fussy, sexy, emotional, worrying, affectionate, sensitive, soft hearted and sophisticated woman is embodied in the latter.

The softness and warmth which her nurturing roles is supposed to bestow on the character of a woman directly contrasts with the tough personality the young African Caribbean boy is socialized to take on, to avoid a show of tears on every occasion of inward hurt, to learn to suffer deprivation with a self-sacrificing nobility of spirit. (Chevannes 2001, p. 209)

The Barbadian music scene during this same period reflects a wider variety of genres and lyrics that does the Jamaican. Little of what becomes popular during this period really reflects the male sex role image, which though very blurred, does match with the first four stereotype adjectives of the Jamaican male: reckless, disorderly, robust and tough. The male image presented in these adjectives is not reflected in the local music. The music makes reference to men who like to party, not the badman of Jamaican Dancehall lyrics. Yet we understand how the influence of dancehall, during the 8 months that do not include the Crop over festival may be a source for these few, strongly endorsed stereotypes. The fact that the remaining male adjectives are recognised by less than 70% of the respondents as stereotypically male would suggest that these are not salient male characteristics in Barbados. Christine Barrow (1998), Barbadian gender specialist looks back at the changing tide in Barbadian gender expression through the lens of dress in the 1995–1996 period and notes that the dress of young men and women began to take on a unisex look with the two genders wearing the same type of baggy jeans, bright shirts and plaited hair. She also looks at the reaction to stage performers such as “Barbadian singer Edwin Yearwood who won the three awards of Soca Monarch, Calypso Monarch and Road March Monarch at the Barbados Crop Over Festival in 1995, was widely criticised for wearing four earings and a ‘ragamuffin’ hairstyle…”. Interestingly enough, while Jamaica has been painted as an extremely homophobic culture, and by that same token, a hyper masculine one, Barbados demonstrates an active tolerance for sexual differences and sexual orientation. “In the dancehall dis/place, the use of sex and sexuality to reinforce and identify masculine identity is also reflected in an overt paranoia of male homosexuality and all it symbolizes” (Hope 2006, p. 79). The continuum of sexual identities is more openly displayed and accepted in Barbados than in Jamaica. This may have had some impact on the lack of a rigid and pronounced male stereotype in Barbados.

In direct contrast to the blurred responses received for the male stereotype, the female sex–role stereotype is very clearly defined in Barbados. The response rate for the adjectives describing the Barbadian female was similar to that of the Jamaican female. Additionally the adjectives chosen to represent that stereotype were similar for both countries. Women were seen as complaining, fussy, sexy, emotional, worrying, affectionate, sensitive, soft hearted and sophisticated in both countries and in Barbados, they are also seen as warm; fault–finding; sexy; touchy; sentimental and gentle. The music of female vocalists such as Allison Hinds, originally of Square One Band’ and Rihanna have portrayed in their number one songs of the period women who embody these traits. DJ Ride, Roll it Gal and Umbrella