Women, stand up, speak up: Break the silence

03.JUNE.11

Editor: Up until recently, when you heard the term the silly season, automatically you thought about general elections in SVG.{{more}} Today I believe we have a new silly season, Carnival.

Sadly, it has become the time when all hell breaks loose and women are the ones taking the heat. I refer specifically to the prevalence of Soca songs which do nothing to help the cause of women, but would have you believe that the women and girls in this country are loose, sex starved and money hungry. I am taking exception to this type of message being sent to the world about us and I stand firmly against the portrayal of women in less than desirable terms.

As women, we need to take a stand against so called song writers and artistes who have an entire year to put one or two songs together and could only come up with the shallow, smutty lyrics that we are forced to listen to, and I say forced to listen to since they are being played just about everywhere you go, and before you know it, the lyrics are ringing in your ears.

To those who would say the lyrics are not bad, it’s your interpretation, I ask, have you ever heard of subliminal messages? I want the artistes who are guilty of writing these smutty songs to consider what they are doing to our children who in all innocence pick up these lyrics and learn them faster than any adult.

I want to congratulate the stance taken by Julian Francis when he announced that songs with dirty or smutty lyrics against women will not be played on Star Radio unless they can be cleaned up. I urge other radio stations to follow his lead. I say to us women, call up your favourite radio station and ask them to stop playing songs that are degrading to you. Women are a major demographic and the radio stations need your business, so let them know that if they continue to play those songs you will withdraw your business.

Unfortunately, a huge number of women in this country allow men to disrespect them, and they contribute to it. Just look at the number of women attending the Soca shows, see who is on the stage gyrating with or without a man behind them, look at the skimpy outfits that leave nothing to the imagination. Really, we should be ashamed of ourselves. What messages are we sending to our young girls who do nothing but emulate us?

It is time that the women of this country to get the respect they deserve from our men, and it is time we learn to respect ourselves. Women, Stand up, Speak up and break the silence.



Jennifer Richardson