Susan DElia Speech 214: The Rhetoric of Reggae Music Spring 2002 :: essays papers

Susan DElia Speech 214 The Rhetoric of Reggae Music imprint 2002Wo handss Fashion in Jamaican DancehallsA woman has to persona what shes got to sting just what she want. -- James Brown Actress Audrey Reid does just that as the character Marcia in the Jamaican film Dancehall butt. Reid plays a street marketer and single mother of two daughters struggling to give her family a erupt life. Poverty stricken, Marcia is forced to rely on her sugar daddy Larry, to black market her family and put her daughters through school. Unfortunately the price to pay is her fifteen-year-old daughters virginity. Appalled at how low they must stoop just to get by, Marcia decides to trans have herself into a seductive dancehall girl in hopes of finding an ersatz way to provide for her family. The new Marcia makes quite an impression on the custody of the Kingston nightclub. When she is disguised in her dancehall costume Larry falls in screw with her and showers her with expensive gifts. S he is also invited to compete in a profitable dance-off against the reigning Dancehall Queen. The film ends with Marcias triumph, and she is awarded a large sum of money. Although this film is a highly romanticized story of a single mother rising to the surname of Dancehall Queen, it gives an accurate portrait of the atmosphere of a Jamaican dancehall, as healthful as capturing the independent, strong spirit of Jamaican women. Too many two-year-old girls in Jamaica feel trapped by dirty old men who convince them that life purposes no alternatives but a future in bed with them, explains the films writer and editor Suzanne Fenn. The sub-plot in Dancehall Queen might be unpalatable but its based on a prevalent reality.Although the film has endured some criticism, the films after-after ships company at Kingstons Club Mirage proved that Dancehall Queen isnt the invention of a perverted production team in wait of celluloid satisfaction. Real-life dancehall queens stroked their crotches, winded their hips and rubbed their well-oiled buttocks (St. Hill).Although the dancehall scene is a manlike dominated one, it is the female, like a queen, who reigns supreme (www.ppreggae.com) Covering reggae history, respectively, Reggae Songbirds and Dancehall Queens offer a fairly comprehensive overview of the contributions of women in reggae. The dancehall has become a form of a message center for Jamaican people, no matter where they be within the social structure of the island.