New Age Gays in Dancehall, The Shebada phenomenon

Source: The Wickedest Time


The Caribbean culture has always been known to be notoriously homophobic, but this will not stop homosexuals in the Caribbean from enjoying their life, regardless if people disapprove of their lifestyle. Now it looks like homosexuals in Jamaica has carved out a place for themselves in Kingston’s dancehall scene.



Some people are starting to call it the “Shebada Phenomenon”. And while we are on this topic, have you had a chance to see Shebada? Click on your new tab, visit youtube, and search for Shebada or Bashment Granny. Although it’s funny, I would not recommend avid homophobes to take part in it. Shebada is the name of the ‘borderline’ character in this comedic Jamaican play.
More and more gay men are now gaining confidence, celebrating their femininity, and as they grow assertive, no longer lurking in the closet for the down-low, instead they are ‘out and bad’ at your local bashment. They are often dressed in full gay regalia, freedom rings, nails, extensions and mascara. All that’s missing is the handholding and other public displays of affection.



“From wah day ya, dem out like bees, dem de a every dance, sometimes yu see a pack a dem, usually ‘bout eight or so, and dem travel in three Kingfish or three vans. And dem out de, dem have a class, dem well-dressed, in some European styles, like Jean Paul Gautier and dem spend dem money. When mi keep my dance, dem buy out di bar.” One female promoter laughed.
“Dem man ya anno fool, dem can tek care of demself and dem have connections, but dem still move careful because mi hear man and man say dem ah go kidnap two ah dem bwoy de already,” one male observed.“But to me, is like Jamaica ah get foreignized, almost like dem accept it and just look the other way, ‘cause it obvious say dem gay because dem, even when the selectors dem say ‘too much b bwoy ah come a dance from wah day ya’. It nuh jerk dem; dem just a party fi di better.”



Some people believe that the homosexual community is territorializing the dancehall space and taking their claim for acceptance within the culture.Now, it seems, even the anti-day songs are no longer a hallmark of shame for the New Age gays who see the songs as a badge of honor. “It’s really funny, when I attended college in the UK, the gays would walk out and take the centerstage when the anti-gay music played and now I am back here living in Jamaica, I see the same thing happening, when the funny man song dem start, dem walk out and say ‘whoi’ and tek centerstage,” one female public relations agent at a energy drink company said.“Mi just pap up when mi see it because dem feisty and loud and fulla drama. Mi like dem and dem like me because dem always mek me laugh and dem compliment me and tell me that I look good, and den they will say ‘girl, me a goodas too, mi like yu style’. They make me laugh,” she said.



Most Jamaicans feel differently of the matter, they are no sharing in the joke. They believe that gays are making a mockery of an art form that they struggled to bring to the world scene. Their good humor is further challenged by culture slights such as a popular youtube footage of a gay asian boy dancing to a dancehall song, an example that merely underlines the dilemma for dancehall: as more cultures are being exposed to dancehall culture, Jamaicans lose the right to tell these new recruits how to appropriate the music into their own lives.

At home, many men bite their tongue and chafe when they see beautiful and popular young women hanging out with men of questionable sexual inclinations, and that trend has spread to the poorer classes who accept these social outcasts as one of them.



“The downtown girls dem love dem, mi see dem spar wid Big Bottom Angella and she nah mek nobody do dem nothing. I guess we just have to accept them, but mi know dem still have to be careful, nuff people ah talk from wah day ya, but nothing no happen.”



I am very curious to see what becomes of this, especially since the Prime Minister recently stated that there is no room for gays in his cabinet. With this new found enthusiasm towards the undermining of the homosexual community cause more violence and hate for Jamaicans or will this be a move towards opening a new chapter and turning a new leaf in Jamaican society?