Mind The Gap-A cross cultural take on age disparity relationships by Donovan Reynolds

Chapter1

Mind the Gap

Whenever we first hear the phrase “Mind the Gap “-in your thoughts it conjures images of the London Underground rail service or the New York Rail service. If you are faint hearted it immediately summons up inside of a queasy fear of fatally falling between the narrow and dangerous gaps of the train and platform. A recent narrative in the tabloid press has taken advantage mind the gap metaphor.  As a powerful magnet to entice the unsuspecting public into buying magazines and newspapers that continuously pedal salacious gossips about age disparity relationships. The age disparity relationships of Hollywood heart throbs are often laid bare in the media in a venomous and spiteful way and oh! How we all love having a laugh at their expense.

Stories about Demi Moore and her toy boy Ashton Kutcher seen holding hands in public for the first time or old spice Michael Douglas falling asleep at the Oscars on Katherine Zeta-Jones arms set the tabloids alight.  When 52 years old pop star Madonna was seen cruising on the beach with 24 year old professional dancer Jesus was a shocking revelation .It had a greater impact in the main street media than when the war broke out in Iraq in 2002. These overpowering headlines rake in millions for media moguls such as Rupert Murdoch and Michael Bloomberg who all lick their chops from the profits that spin off from these stories.

 Frontline journalist and back room editors relish a Hollywood cougar and old spice relationship flaunted in the public. It comes cheap but attracts a large and cheerful viewership without them having to worry about the risk of paying huge sum of money unscrupulous private eyes to hack for it. Popular culture in the western world is pervasive but incomplete without a steady diet of gossip that we all have become addicted to.

The tabloid press seem  to  give the misleading assertion that age gap relationships are the preserve of the rich and the famous and that female  Cougars and old spice boys are social actors in a sport that is reserved for the wealthy  “A lister’s “of Hollywood. Thanks to internet and the proliferation of social media bear, evidence of social networks, bloggers and online dating network that are giving expression to a growing number of ordinary persons involved in age disparity relationships. Their true life testimonies online are far flung from the hyperbole being peddled by the tabloid press in Europe and North America.

There is an over whelming body of evidence and research seems to suggest that age disparity relationships encounter the same health and emotional problems as same sex relationships. The combined literature seem to suggest that there are some serotypes, moral prejudices, misogyny and social stigma associated with age disparity relationships. Equally, there are some very satisfying experiences of age gap disparity relationships that have stood the test of time. Where the age gap relationship falls down is, often as a result of jealousy insecurity and external pressure from close friends and family. There is also compelling evidence that older men are viewed more favourable than older women in age gap relationships.

Although- since the 1980s -there has been an increase of older women dating younger partners and and marrying younger men. The subject which will be explored in more detail in this text as we seek to unpack the intriguing stereotypical world of the “female man eating cougars” on the prowl- in search of “young hormonal male cubs” that they take captive because of the size of their bank balance coupled with their uncontrolled sexual appetite .On the male side of the equation there is the stereotype of the old spice alpha-male “ditching his same age wife unfairly for a younger female partner. These narrow notions of viewing heterosexual relationships discard the idea of diversity of choice between adult male and females as a workable solution.

As we contemplate maturity and the selection of finding our soul mate. We begin the difficult task of finding compatibility with a long term partner. Usually, it is someone who is willing to understand us and care deeply for us because of the right reasons. Some persons find consolation readily in same age relationships while there are others of us who find compatibility with the most unlikely of intimate companions. Pretending that your age is not an issue is a sure-fire way of courting disaster if it is not thought trough properly.

 Age gap relationships do not make intimate partnerships impossible. However, it requires both parties to be aware of the possible challenges that lies ahead .It is important for those so inclined to consider carefully the mechanics of how it will work and the difficulty of gaining social acceptance or not from strangers, peers and close family members who might find it difficult to accept this form of relationship.

Paul Carlson a relationship specialist advises that it’s not about the age gap -for him it is about compatibility .Age gap relationships that are successful seem to be those that gel with each other mentally and spiritually they focus on the quality of the relationship and not their age. My own advice that: for the relationship to last- you can’t treat each other like a dirty secret. There has to be mutual respect of each other’s experience or it might turn out to be a mothering or a fathering experience.

 Most of the persons that I have interviewed in same sex relationship that are successful and are experiencing longevity- advised that they began with most of the ground rules of normal age relationships but worked at sex and communication at the slower partner level and gradually increased their experience and competence together over time. It is very important and honest from the outset- to admit that age disparity relationships are difficult and complex undertaking and the outcomes are quite difficult to measure.  The odds are stacked against them from the very beginning.

 Cultural norms about relationships are based universally on two very primary assumptions. First: that age gaps between relationships should be the same or the gap wherever necessary should be a narrow one. Secondly; that usually the man should be the older partner. Both assumptions in my opinion are unfair as this simply not the case as there is a bias of alternative choices between same sex partners and other forms of time scale heterosexual relationship. From this cultural vantage point the odds are stacked against the acceptance of age disparity relationships.

Away from the salacious world of age gap sagas that the tabloid press juxtapose in our minds as orthodox standards are ordinary couples who engage in are gap relationships with mixed results. Paul, a 40 years mature student of Caribbean decent met Ditka a 24 years white female student from Central Europe while studying on different faculties at a University in London. Shortly after the introduced themselves to each other the chemistry between them dovetailed and they began a sexual relationship and moved into a flat together. Initially the age and cultural difference was irrelevant .Ditka adored Paul as his intelligence and maturity reminded her of her dad back home in Central Europe .On holidays they visit each other country of birth and the cultural exchange helped to deepen their understanding of each other.

 Paul was very outgoing and relaxed about life while Ditka was an account student who whipped his finances into of shape. Within four years of the relationship cracks started to emerge within the liaison as external pressures from outside interference began to eat away at their cohesiveness. Ditka began complaining of outside interference from his ex-wife and daughter who began telephoning the house. In addition her friends began to encourage her to look to greener same- cultural pastures as they felt that the novelty of old spice Paul who was earning less money than her was wearing thin and that she should jump ship for a younger and wealthier man.

Pauls snoring and his untidy handling of the kitchen sink was annoyingly amplified by Ditka and after a while the regular quarrel took a stressful toll on the relationship. Paul eventually moved out on his own during a shock revelation where Ditka revealed that she was seeing a next man from her cultural background. Within four months of moving apart Ditka realised that she had made the mistake of her life as her new beau of the same age was way too immature for her liking .So she began the walk of shame by apologising to Paul and unashamedly started to hound him desperately to take her back. But Paul by this time was too hurt and humiliated by her careless jaunt to forgive her. He decided unrelentingly to call it quits however cold it might have seemed and moved on. A year later the story took a more sobering and redemptive turn for both of them as Paul found and settled with a female banker ten years his junior from his cultural background .While  Ditka found another Old Spice in his forties after convincing herself that same age or younger men was not her cup of tea.

Barry a fifty year old British middle income banker an only child was for most of his adult years and   a mama’s boy by unintended consequences because his father a carpenter died when he was 17 years. He therefore spent his adult life caring for his mother who suffered from Lupus a degenerative disease that took over his mom’s life as she was either ill in bed or being shuttled by him to and from the hospital. Caring for his mother deprived him of a good social and intimate life. He had on and off relationships with female his age but they did not stick around long a frustrated by his ailing mother. Unfortunately his mother eventuallydied and shortly after mourning her death he began looking around for a respectable female to cohabit with. Desperate for love He scoured all the places that an intimate companion that could be had but came up empty handed or out of pocket. Most of the honest women whom he met that fit his criteria by age and chemistry had all been taken and those available to him were often on the take or took him for granted.

Eventually Paul was introduced to Sharon a twenty six year old woman in the most unlikely and ill advisable of place to find partner a London night club. First, the relationship on his part was purely sexual but then he developed an affinity for her caring persona. As the relationship deepened he began to introduce her around to his family and trouble started as everybody had an opposing opinion the relationship. His snobbish cousins did not like her as they felt that she was not good enough for him as she grew up on a rough South London Estate and could not be trusted. His work colleagues took cautious exception to her age and decorum. Even his blind uncle had an opinion on the matter. Confused about the dilemma and feeling vulnerable and desperate Barry took and easy but risky option. He resigned his job, sold the house that was willed to him by his mother paid off his debts and left to Thailand to open a restaurant and perhaps to if all options fail he would have made more than enough money purchase a Thai bride. The announcement came as a dagger to Sharon’s heart .Who by then had come to love as Barry feverishly. He was a breath fresh air compared to the abusive men that she had become accustomed to in her past -for her- age was just a number that foolishly stood between them. They agreed to part respectfully but agreed out of courtesy to remain in contact.

After a year and several Thai cocktails later Sharon received an e-mail from Barry that things had gone bad for a British restaurant that he had opened in Bangkok had flopped and he was ripped off by an unscrupulous business partner. He was out of pocket and his immigration status was in trouble. Sharon by then was working as a Support worker managed to send him money by western union and scraped together money from her saving account and with the help of her relatives she managed to purchase a return ticket for him to come home. Three months later she met him at Gatwick Airport where he looked dishevelled as if he was on crack. She took him home to her council flat bought him a new set of clothes and took care of him until he found a Job at Canary Wharf they are now happily married and are the doting parent of a lovely one year old daughter.

Nigerians are passionate about family and sticking to traditional norms which evolve around patriarchy, tribal customs, family and village life affirms approves and validates relationships. Akin 26yrs Yoruba and Funmi 35 years MBA students at a London University. Met and fell in love while studying in London. When they met they found out that apart from having a strong chemistry between them they were both from the same tribe and were from Adoekiti village in South West Nigeria. Their fathers knew each other they were both businessmen and Senators of the Peoples Democratic Party. They were aware that age gap relationships was a no go area but they felt that the friendship between their fathers could cut against the holy grail of tribal customs. On completion of their Post Graduate studies they decided to use a well deserved Nigerian Holiday to seek approval of their family back in the Village to get married Funmi ‘s biological clock was winding down and she felt as if she wanted a child as an expression of their love and commitment together. Their holiday turned sour when Akins dad Kola objected to the relationship and made it known to Funmi’s father Segun in a stroppy and long telephone conversation. The family antagonism towards their relationship and marriage proposition was so intensely loaded with polarisation that they eventually stop seeing each other as the sharp guillotine of cultural norms sliced them apart.

Before looking at some of the data available it is important for me to give the readers of this book an in-depth understanding of what is considered as mind the gap relationships the jargon associated with this discourse the combination of age gaps. What is socially accepted in the western world as a normal and legal age range relationship and what is not legally accepted in general? Case studies involving ordinary persons and celebrities will be explored in addition to the opinion of respected relationship specialist and person’s personal feelings and experiences of age disparity relationship. The overall aim of this chapter is to give an understanding of the experiences of same sex relationship that will set the stage for a better understanding of the complex but exciting issues to emanate from the chapters that precede this one.

In most of the major democracies in the Western World between 16 &18years old is the legal age of having a relationship. In some countries the legal age to marry may range between 18 to 21 years. Any sexual relationship below the legal age of consent is regarded as illegal and may land you in jail and your name added to the infamous sex offenders register with disastrous consequences for your reputation and future aspirations.

On average in Europe and North America most men marry women about 3 years their junior. However a study released in 2003 by the United Kingdom National office for Natural Statistics concluded that a proportion of women in England and Wales marring younger men rose from 15% to 26% between 1963 and 1998. A cross cultural study carried out by Dr Michael Dunn of Cardiff University concluded that cross culturally three is a bias for women choosing older men over younger ones. A study of dating websites by Hilary & Moss seem to contradict this as cougar dating websites in 2010 showed a 34% increase of older women marrying younger men.

 Across most cultures and especially in western civilisations historically there has always been a preference of older men as partners by men. Brown University in Rhode Island USA conducted a study in 1986 that confirmed the following: That the social structure of a country determines the age difference between partners more than any other factor: that sexual financial and social difference affects persons in age disparity relationship: That a society with an uneven distribution of wealth between age groups may affect the dynamics of the relationships.

Religion and Science historically has pegged debates to either morality or statistics as platitudes about what is right or wrong without taking into consideration alternative circumstances. In the Age gap relationship debate on a commonsense level it would seem to suggest that persons rights to relationships should be within legally safe boundaries.  Two persons in my opinion who are of a legal age limit and having the capacity and maturity to embark upon a relationship should do so without hindrance. However, there compelling exceptions for example it would be extremely unwise for an 18year old woman to marry a man in his eighties although it is legally possible. All the statistics seem to suggest that older people tend to have lower sex drives which are often cited by the brigade opposing age gap relationships. However as the improvements with quality health care globally this argument may become less convincing. Sexual drives are not homogeneous it varies nor is it the sole determinant of an intimate relationships. It seem to me that persons current state of emotional, psychological, physical health is a better bench mark of assessing intimate relationships as age is a simplistic barometer on which to judge a relationship.

So the term age gap relationship in a practical sense refers to sexual relationships between people with a significant difference in age along a lifetime conveyor belt. The wider the age gap the riskier the stakes of success. There are often moral and uncomfortable issues arise about these relationships that are amplified by the media. Attitudes towards age gap relationships vary and depend upon the age gap and how consent is viewed legally and culturally. Social and economic variables impact upon age disparity relationships. The age difference may affect the relationship which usually has more to do with external interference. Persons in Age gap relationships are affected by moralistic prejudice. Older women in relationships with younger men are viewed less favourable than older men with younger partners.

Donavon Reynolds is a United Kingdom based Social Worker,Independent Writer and Human Rights Campaigner.Comments and feedback can be sent to dannygerm63@hotmail.couk

Chapter 4-Gangs of Jamaica-Excerpts From "Poor and Boasy" By Donovan Reynolds

Chapter 4

Gangs of Jamaica

This chapter seek to examine how a culture of gang violence has tarnished the reputation of our beloved country. It has its roots forged in an unholy alliance when the two main political parties in Jamaica- caught up in the cold war hustling and the need to secure their political hegemony turned to armed gangsters in the slums of urban Jamaica .When the political hustling of the 70s and 80s were over the political aligned gangsters turned to the lucrative but illegal drug trade that extended to the urban centres of Europe and North America creating a global criminal network. Locally the alliance created garrison communities: creating safe political seats for the two main political parties. It is a tour de force of political alignment, guns, gangland, drugs, racketeering, hypermasculinity and political corruption.

The majority of Jamaicans are peaceful law abiding citizens but poverty and deprivation has made those who live above the poverty line vulnerable to gang activities and the proceeds of crime that flow from this activity. The absence of a social welfare state and the failure of the Jamaican Constabulary force to police communities on an even keel have left a vacuum that is filled by men purporting to be area leaders who take it on themselves to govern these communities from the financial proceeds of crime. Ironically these so called area leaders abuse the same citizens by sexual exploitation of women arming vulnerable unemployed men while their political directives turn a blind eye.

According to James Kerr (1997) Garrison communities are created by: (i) the development of large-scale housing schemes by the State and the location of the houses therein to supporters of the party in power; (ii) homogenisation by the dominant party activists pushing out the minority from within and guarding against invasion from outside; and (iii) the expelled setting up a squatter community. The hard core garrison communities exhibit an element of autonomy, in that they are states within a state.  The Jamaican State has no authority or power except in as far as it forces are able to invade in the form of police and military raids.  In the core garrison disputes have been settled, matters tried, offenders sentenced and punished, all without reference to the institutions of the Jamaican State.

Fieugora(1980) and Hamilton(2000) describes the garrison process as a political culture that extends well beyond the boundaries of the communities which have come under the tight control of politicians, their thugs, and/or local enforcers.  The ability of the garrisons to do outreach work greatly enhanced their significance as it can determine the outcome of an election that they ascribe to.  It has become therefore central to the corrupt electoral process where political parties seek geographical control as an electoral strategy.  During the election heavy bogus voting, ballet rigging and voter intimidation is a salient feature. 

Central to the garrison is the ‘don’ or area leader who receives his mandate to govern by being the most vicious or dangerous man in the community.  He organise the political gangs who are often armed with M16s and AK47 assault riffles and other artilleries such as hand grenades, petrol bombs and sub-machine guns.  Lines of demarcation of opposing political neighbours are clearly defined and crossing the border or invading their opponent’s territory is often marked by a vicious reprisal that may include the killing of children, close relatives and close family members of their opposition. Criminal gangs tend to identify themselves with particular garrison communities and remain affiliated or aligned to their particular party.  During the election period they surface as perpetrators of political violence and promote election malpractices. Entry and exit to and from these communities are controlled by the so-called “top ranking” and gang leaders who have close relationships with the constituency Member of Parliament, get preferential access to contracts and jobs and function as key elements of the local level community political leadership in both parties in these inner city poor areas. Outside of financing their activities by the strategic alliance that they form with the Member of Parliament they finance their lifestyle by extorting businesses and drug dealing. In recent times well meaning politicians have recognised that the process of driving a wedge between themselves and these political thugs is a risky and dangerous undertaking. Ex-member of parliament had to resign her seat in a St Catherine constituency where the late Donovan “Bulby” Bennett a PNP don and enforcer wreaked havoc on her political workers because she refuse to collude with his request for her to dole out state resources to him.

Karl Walker a staff reporter of the Jamaica Observer upon the death of Bulby gave a chilling account of his ruthless reign and how he was shielded by other politicians within her party leaving her exposed.Bulbie a former leader of the infamous Spanish tow Clans Man gang was a political don who was an honcho man of her party representative Clinton Jingles Davey in a neighbouring constituency during the 1993 general election. A jingle was unseated by the incumbent Member of Parliament and current Prime Minister Bruce Golding who won handsomely. Heather Robinson won her constituency for the PNP and Bulby Davies head honcho and his cronies attached themselves to Heather Robinsons team and began to make several demands.Bulby intimidating demands reached an high water mark when he summoned Heather Robinson to a meeting at her own constituency office and announced that he intended to kill all the political dons in the area aligned to the PNP.He announced that he wanted to be the only Don in Spanish Town

Out of concern for her party supporters Heather Robinson called upon her political colleague ‘Jingles’ to reign in ‘Bulby ’.She was met with a cold response from ‘Jingles’ after that meeting ‘Bulby’ and his cronies proceeded to murdered Eccleston in a gun battle at De La Vega City a strong man of Heather Robinson constituency. The at tack was a chilling episode in which bulby was reported to personal walk over to the wounded Eccles ton and reigned bullets on him in a fit of anger and vengeance.Bulbies three co- accomplice were convicted but Bulby remained at large killing Heather Robinsons party workers like flies. Robinson sought help from her reluctant colleagues within the PNP but it fell on deaf ears.

In an act of desperation Robinson made an impassionate plea in parliament calling on her colleagues to dismantle the power base that gave support to ruthless dons. Instead of coming to her assistance the PNP inner circle remained silent and outside of parliament they ostracised and treated her like a traitor accusing her of being a traitor and blaming her of embarrassing the party publicly. Within week of her famous speech in parliament where she famously declare that she was unable to give birth to Political Dons ,--she isolated but brave heather Robinson resigned from the PNP in 1996 arted burying a number of her party workers who died as a result of her principled stance

‘Bulby’ continued to wreak havoc as head of the Clans Man Gang. By the same token he became the benefactor of a number of government contracts fronted by other people while on the Police Most wanted list he was reported to having eyes and ears in the corrupt Jamaican Police Force. Finally on the 30^th of June 2005 ‘Bulby’ was cornered in a police raid at a luxurious house that he owned and was reported to have been killed in a shoot out with the Jamaican Police. He died clutching an expensive .50 desert eagle pistol a large quantity of cash and Jewellery was found in his house. He was estimated to Value JA 100 Million at the time of his death. Following his death his cronies rained bullets on the Spanish Town Police Station and burned T shirt with the image of the former PNP national security minister Dr Peter Phillips in open defiance. ‘Bulbie’

 was buried in an expensive glass casket in a manner befitting to his gangster status.

Bulbys activities raised the bar above the mark of shame left on the PNP by the infamous Duo Burry Boy and Feather Mop. They were both instrumental in handing the late Michael Manley his electoral success in the newly formed Central Kingston Constituency in the 1976 general election. They held their base in Concrete Jungle man were the leader of a PNP aligned gang that rode Honda motor cycles and wreaked havoc on JLP supporters and creating mischief with JLP supporters at Gordon House .They were also reported in 1975 to vandalise the JLP retirement Road headquarters stabbing a 70 year old watchman and wounding a research officer. They benefited from political contracts. As a reward for their political contribution they were rewarded with a trip in the Prime Ministers famous trip to Cuba because of their political strongman ship. ‘Burry Boy’ a Rastafarian embarrassed the party leader at a reception held by Fidel Castro in his honour by throwing a tirade and kicking over the tables laid with pork.

‘Burry Boy’ was killed by a lone assassin before the 1976 election while ‘Feather Mop was’ murdered in a reprisal killing of a civil servant who began querying a questionable payment made out to him for a government contract in 1975.

 Hamilton (2000) rightly observes that after the bitter elections of the seventies and eighties a new avenue of increasing their income was to extend their activities to drug dealing. The war on drugs promoted by the Regan Administration created an impact on the South American drug trade and the port of transhipment directly into North America was cut off using Jamaica strategic alternative as a transhipment port. In addition the ganja eradication programme under the Seaga administration dented the revenues of local Ganja smugglers. An alliance was forged with the Columbian drug cartel and by the early nineties Jamaica became a major transhipment port to North America and Europe. The massive drug finds on the National Airline together with vicious murders that were committed by political aligned gangsters caused the politicians to distance themselves publicly from these notorious gangsters- who continue to attract the attention of the US drug enforcement agency and law enforcement agencies in Canada and Europe.

                                                                                                                         

The picture I have painted may give the impression that all persons living in those political areas are involved in crime.  That is not so, as there are a number of law abiding citizens who are able to live along side this violence and achieve success through legal means.  It must be said that the perpetrators and law abiding share the same physical environment and for the most part, are wards of poverty deprivation and trapped circumstances.  Hence they are also victims and as a consequence experience external prejudice and social exclusion.  One of the main things that they come up against is branding that sets them back and excludes them from social institutions.  Branding includes the following: (a) retaliation from areas of supposed differing party affiliation, (b) victimisation by employer’s averse to violence prone areas or themselves politically biased, (c) political and economic victimisation should their party not from the government, an immediate risk of losing projects in progress when their party loses and, not least, the general deterioration of market values in real property within these areas.

Gang affiliation is closely linked to the garrisons.  However there are a few gangs that are independent of garrisons.  These gangs are self-financed usually with the proceeds of drug sales.  Being a member of a gang is not a complex undertaking in Jamaica as there are a number of unemployed youths in the urban cities frustrated and are vulnerable to being recruited because of financial reasons.  Gang membership also offers status and inclusion and fills the void of young males who were raised by their mothers.  With their fathers missing from their homes, gang membership provides the role of filling the void of their missing fatherhood – hence the “fatherless crew”.  For children who grew up without a father figure, a gang leader usually also called “Dads” represent a father figure that they miss growing up without during their formative years. Without joining a gang they are vulnerable to external gangs, therefore gang membership acts as a buffer and protection from neighbouring assailants.  In the word of machismo gang membership safeguards its members from being branded as feminine and soft.  For most unemployed youths in the inner cities, gang membership is the only game in town.  Already, as described above, there address is a hindrance to them gaining employment.  Moreover, those who offer employment are cautious to give jobs to inner city men out of fear of being ripped off or for plain discriminatory reasons. In Jamaica the gang culture is constantly evolving and taking traction in all 14 parishes. Out of a population of nearly 2.7million people, 800,000 live on squatters settlements dotted across the island.

  Gang membership is a collective response to the twin evils of unemployment and social deprivation.  It carries with it its own unique culture and symbols that is dynamic and takes on board other aspects of the Jamaican culture such as the dance hall movement.  Central to this merger are its main chair leaders, male deejays who through their lyrics glorify guns, endorse violence and debauchery.  Hence deejays like Movado and Vibes Cartel are revered by gangsters and gangsters ‘wannabees’ both locally and internationally. Their music endorses their activity and deviant lifestyles. Their lyric accompanied by slick beats and famous duels is considered as a recruiting tool for the young and vulnerable alluring them into the gangster’s paradise.  Ace deejay Movado has done a popular song called Gangster for Life extolling the virtues of murder and gang bang glorification.  This song has now become an anthem for gangsters both in Jamaica and in the Diasporas.  Vibes Cartel’s song Come inner mi Ramping Shop is an ex-rated song laced with sexual innuendos, popularised by school children.  This drew heavy criticisms from the press and had to be banned from the air-waves by the major radio stations in Jamaica.  The mixture of gangsterism and dancehall has served up an unsavoury concoction that is played out in a dramatic saga.  Dances are no longer a place for “lovely dovey” people.  A typical gangster party is one in which the men decked with heavy gold chains hanging from their necks accompanied by the wearing of expensive designer clothes. At the gangster balls they confine themselves to one side of the dance floor drinking hennesy and champagne whilst the women on the other side dressed in skimpy outfits with their body parts hanging out dancing under the video light in an ex-rated manner.  Rub- a-dub is no longer the standard, as ‘skinning out’ and debauchery is the current standard.  During birthdays and gangster celebrity parties, bottles of champagne are used to bathe the host or hostess in a manner that beggars belief as wealth and proceeds from drugs activities are splashed out to show power, Wealth, supremacy and bravado.

                                       

Badness “honour” is an essential quality that is necessary to lead a vicious gang.  This is achieved by the degree of wickedness or the callous manner in which the gangster slays his victims.  This is a wicked type of hyper-masculinity that is cold and blood-curdling.  As culture is not static, the labels, narratives and symbols of the Jamaican gangland are continually responding to contemporary trends.  In the 1960s to 1970s gangsters were called “rude boys”.  The 1980s and 1990s they were regarded as “bad men”.  By the turn of the century they regarded themselves as “Shotters” and the current trend is to adorn them with the title of “Gangster for Life” - heaven knows what’s next.

It is important at this stage to mention a new method of financing gang activity that has it roots in the Lottery Scam that emerged out of the second city of Jamaica that is famous for its tourism product. In June 2005 Adrian Frater the Gleaner news editor from Montego Bay broke the news that several Montego Bay communities were awash with millions of dollars from s scheme by which illegally obtained personal data were used to con American citizenzens .Alluring them to send money as processing fees to the local fraudsters who had fooled them into believing that they had won the lottery. By December 2006 a worried Lynda Longford an Operations Manager of a major E-commerce company in the city told a Gleaners editors forum that the e-fraud component of the scam was negatively impacting on their operations and their overseas partners were threatening to pull out of Jamaica and that this would result in the loss of 140 jobs. On the back of her utterance two corrupt police officers were arrested in connection with stealing Jamaican $97,000.00 from persons involved in the lottery scam.

By 2007 the scam heightened and several young millionaires averaging 24 years sprang up in communities such as Mount Salem and Granville. The money is used to buy luxury cars champagne parties and funded the purchasing of automatic guns and ammunitions from Haiti these guns are used for protection and reprisal killings. The police linked about eighty murders directly related to the lotto scam. The reprisal killings were related to disagreement about the sharing of the money, extortion and robberies, jealousy and rivalry between communities.The scam is estimated to pull in US 30 Million dollars per year and the shady activity is gaining momentum.

The upsurge in crime and violence was so disturbing to the extent that Operation Kingfish an arm of the security force in Jamaica assembled to track gun trafficking and gang activities raided the Montego Bay communities in February of 2007.The elite Jamaican crime fighters arrested 32 persons, seized a million dollars in cash, nine luxury motor cars, and several mobile phones and computer equipment.

At a post operation press conference Assistant Commissioner Less Green a former Scotland Yard British Police Superintendent was spot on with his assessment that although the raid was successful it was just the tip of the iceberg as the major players were still at large. In October of the same year a 72 year old New Jersey pensioner identified as Anne Mowle committed suicide after she was reportedly fleeced of her life savings of US $284,000 by a Jamaican fraudster. Another pensioner was fleeced of US $445,000 in November of the same year. This prompted a team of local police to travel to the USA to interview other victims of the illegal scam. The police party co-opted intelligence gathering on their visit and  a joint partnership mission was establish with their US counterparts in order to thwart the fraudsters. Through a joint effort with US and Jamaican Police in April 2008 a 28 year old Jamaican man was jailed after a US 10 million dollar cheque that was being sent to a police agent posing as victim was intercepted.

The scam continued unabated despite the intervention of the police the local con artist known as “diallers” are now a fixture of the countries gangland activities although Montego Bay is the epicentre of the activity it has expanded to other parts of the Island such as Mandeville and Negril.

In 2009 I travelled to Jamaica to gather information on the activity in the month of March that preceded my visit eleven persons were murdered in the parish of ST James as a result of reprisals and counter reprisals linked to the scam. I knew that the process to investigate first hand about the scam was a risky undertaking but the story was too alluring to resist. I prepared my visit by making contact with a very influential person in Montego Bay who promised me to arrange an interview with an interesting player in the lottery scam. While there I was introduced to a member of the notorious stone crusher gang who offered to speak to me with the proviso that I would not record the conversation or photo graph him. He met me for a lunch meeting at a famous restaurant in the city of Montego Bay Jamaica. The meeting got off to a shaky start but he began to open up to me after having a few drinks of hennesy

.Mr X for the sake of anonymity spoke in deep Jamaican patois .He told me that he grew up in the green pond area with a single parent who paid for his education by a combination of dancing and doing odd jobs for her family. At the age of 14 he dropped out of a private high school in Montegobay due to truanting and erratic school attendance. His mother met in a traffic accident shortly after and in a bid to keep his three other brothers in school he joined a gang and began committing robberies to put food on his table. The ferocity with which he conducted his robberies earned him an invitation in 2006 to join the notorious Stone crusher gang by a colleague from the district of Granville whom he had met while being remanded in prison for a case of robbery and illegal possession of firearm. The same year he was acquitted from the case as result of the witness not turning up for. Upon his release he was invited by his crony whom he met on remand who was released on bail but absconded to join the gang.

The gang activities extended to extortion and protecting the lucrative Lottery scam that started in the gay community in Montero Bay but gained traction with a number of young savvy Cornwall collage graduates who  once worked in the e-commerce trade at Mont ego Bay Freeport. The gang muscled in on the trade by providing protection service for a number of big wigs in the trade who supplied them with guns and ammunition bought from Hati.When asked how they came in possession of such high powered weapons he told me that the boss that he worked for chartered a speed boat to Haiti loaded with Ganja and meat astonishingly he remarked that the Haitians loved donkey meat and it was a part of the cargo- guided by sophisticated GPS systems that met the Haitians of the coast of Haiti in exchange for high powered weapons and ammunition. These high powered weapons were smuggled in at night on a sleepy St Elizabeth costal town and transported by road to Montego Bay where the cargo is distributed to gangsters.

When asked about his personal involvement with the gang he said light heartedly: mi meck a few duppies along the way but a suh the game goh. When translated in English it means that he has murdered a few persons along the way but that’s a part of the game. He explained that his duties involved escorting money from the cam bios to the boss house, getting rid of extortionist and performing hits on the bosses’ enemies. He said what made the Stone crusher Gang so famous was their ability not only to be ferocious but to have the better weapons than the other Mont ego Bay Gangs and the local police.

On the subject of the police he told me that he was not afraid of the local Mont ego Bay police as most of them were corrupt and that he personally has seen a lot of them turning up at the boss house for money. He however was afraid of a police squad from Kingston whom he referred to as “king fish”. Operation King Fish is an elite core of police officers based in Kingston whose remit is to track criminal gangs in Jamaica. When asked to quantify the gains that he achieved from the gang he told me that about four million dollars had passed trough his hands over the past two years. He was able to buy a car in his uncle’s name and set up a market stall for his mother but he had “flossed” out the rest of money on women as he expects to die anytime.

As I was abut to delve further into the murky involvement of the Mont ego Bay police involvement in the scam his mobile telephone rang and he answered it his countenance changed from that of an angel to a devil , he  immediately gulped down his drink and said “ English mi wi si yuh mi have a pussy fi go kill”. This translates in English I have to leave now because I have to kill some one to kill it could mean literally or is often used in Jamaican term to express that he is involved in a feud to settle with some one. Whatever his parting words were meant I was astonished at the full breath of the discussion that we had on my return to my hotel I reflected on what he had told me and inscribed it in my note book with a mixture of astonishment and trepidation.

 On my return to London I received information from my Mont ego Bay source that Mr X boss was arrested by the police and a large quantity of cash and computer and mobile phones were seized during a raid by the police. I have been reliably informed by my source that Mr X is still at large. The Jamaica Observer and The Gleaner Newspaper confirmed that the Jamaican Police Commissioner had retired ten police men from the Mount Salem police Station in the public interest-it is alleged that their corrupt activities were associated in part with the lottery scam. The Director of Public Prosecution whose office examined statements pertaining to their corrupt activities was unable to press charges against them due to a lack of evidence however she directed that departmental discipline be taken against them. Meanwhile the Lottery scam continues the US Postal service has put out a fraud alert informing its citizens to be aware of this unsavoury activity as unsuspecting American victims continue to be fleeced of their life savings.

By the nineteen eighties the Jamaican gang land had extended its influence to the urban centres of North America and Europe and had gained a massive foothold on the crack cocaine trade in the markets of North America and Europe.

Women and Under Development in Jamaica

 Chapter 8 :Women and Under Development in Jamaica

Tracking the progress of Jamaican women is like negotiating and endless mind field without much result to show. As like every where else the contribution of women have been often undermined by the fact that history is recorded by men- trough masculine lenses. Women’s contribution to Jamaica’s historical progress has been reduced to basically Nanny of the maroons , the philanthropic Mary Seeacole, and the great cultural icon Louise Bennett -Coverly .The mother of the feminine movement Simone  de Beauvoir rightly points out that the word masculine and feminine are used symmetrically only as a matter of form, as on legal paper. But in actual reality women have always been enslaves among the human specie and deprived of the accolades of their contribution to human progress.

 I have always believed that all that is written about women is suspect because historically men have been the author, legislature and scribe of human history. Thus, the Jamaican Woman in pre and post independence has always been dependent on the Jamaican man to represent their accomplishment and in some circumstances- is used -as slaves to promote a masculine view of history. There are a few paltry exceptions of examples of men in Jamaica today that practice gender parallelism. The examples of policy and legislation that shape the lives of women is thin on the ground and when they occurs it smacks of a patronising offering and often lacks enforcement.

 In this chapter for the sake of organising the discussion I will focus on two sets of women in Jamaica. The first set is those that live above the poverty line and the second set who are a bit more fortunate. I will argue that women overall contribution has been remarkable but for the most part is stymied by hegemonic masculinity and often their achievements go unnoticed or unrecorded. Since the 19 70s women’s lot has improved educationally but they have not benefitted from that social advantage. I will broach the no- go -arena of the psychological undermining of women’s rights by a negative cultural trend in the Dance Hall movement that needs a rain check. A warning to the faint heart and politically correct that towards the end of this discourse there is a course set of descriptions that might be unsettling but necessary in order to expose a certain negative development.

 The domain of politics and cultural exposition in Jamaica is marked by entrenched masculinity. I have given an example in an earlier chapter of how female Prime Minister Portia Simpson’s short political rule was marked by a vicious a class war plotted by her male colleagues within the Peoples National Party. The other extreme is the manner in which misogyny lyrics by" mealy mouth" deejays continues to be aired in public spaces unchallenged. Despite the land mark reforms of the 1970s by the late Michael Manley which saw the introduction of equal pay for men and women a culture of masculinity have screened out women from the board rooms of corporate Jamaica. The problem with women is that they have not organised themselves to fight an actual battle against their male counter part historically.Mainly because they live dispersed among their oppressors and are sometimes  prisoners of their own biology.

The large amount of domestic violence in Jamaica and abuse of women in garrison communities is appalling and would mitigate an armed insurgency of women seeking a redress for their continued oppression. A perceived mass feminist upheaval with burning of braziers in front of Jamaica House the official Prime Ministers residence I am sure would be timely but perhaps not have the desired effect.

The most mediocre Jamaican middle class man or political don in the garrison considers himself as a demigod and looks down disdainfully on the bevy of women. The lack of a welfare system in Jamaica has made women living below the poverty line vulnerable to abuse .Irresponsible men in poor communities run off leaving their children behind subjecting women to the slavery of having to bring up the children on their own- In a man’s world where he is often devoid of any financial responsibility. The women, often single parents are left behind enslaved with the unpaid labour of bringing up children on their own without the resources to nurture them and the emotional and financial support from the children father. Usually they have to rely on their own bodies to rescue them so their biology becomes a prime currency of survival. As they use their bodies as a market place to trade on their own survival. Thus unfortunately they earn the undeserved labels of “bitches and whores” while their male counter parts warm the corners of the streets with a spilff in hand.

Children growing up in Jamaican inner cities reared in single parent families have to suffer the indignity of seeing the absentee father return occasionally to raid the grocery provided by her sex work leaving her in a cloud of dust with a ring around her eyes or a broken limb. Usually the assault is accompanied by accusing her of having an affair only to disappear again in order to escape the radar of a police warrant. In some extreme cases women are murdered in front of their children leaving their offspring’s to suffer without the financial help of the state social service apparatus often turn a blind eye due to a lack of resource. These unfortunate children are often left with their old and frail grannies lacking a Zimmer frame, others more fortunate are dispersed among relatives.

A UNICEF report done in 2007 revealed that 37% of the Jamaican population are children and one in every two Jamaican who live in poverty is a child. The same report showed that at that time there were 2000 children living in sub standard government institutions across the island deprived of a normal standard of care. “Womensphere” a global news organisation monitoring women’s civil liberties covered the 10^th anniversary launch of the Victim Support in Portmore St Catherine in August 2009.This is an area that houses the largest housing development in Jamaica. Among the guest speakers present was Carol Palmer Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice. It was revealed that since 2005, 22,739 cases of violence was seen by officers of the unit. Of this number 13,997 were females 8760 were male. Carol Palmer in her address commented “Women are more Vulnerable to become victims of violence as the seven groups which fall under the VSU are rape, carnal abuse, incest, attempt rape, indecent assault, domestic violence and murder. It is for this reason why women in Jamaica suffer” According to the latest Economic and Social survey carried out in Jamaica 9,625 incidents of domestic violence was reported in 2007, a 29.2 percent rise. A proximately 4.4 percent of the murders reported were attributed to domestic disputes, 0.1 percentage decline over 2006.

So in essence women below the poverty line   have become prisoners of their biology and have been starved by a lack of resource. Ironically it is their own biology has often come to their rescue at the expense of unwanted pregnancy, single parenting, domestic violence and sometimes death is the ultimate price. Furthermore their historic and cultural significance have often been undermined by their male counterparts.

Before exploring the experience of women from middle Jamaica it is important for me to lay out my own philosophical stall. Like many other Jamaican men I grew up under the ignorance of viewing the world through masculine lens. My readings of the work of great feminist writers such as Simone de Beauvoir and my foray into the social sciences rid me of the scales of ignorance concerning women’s rights from my eyes. Like Saul on the road to Damascus I am pro feminist and a very dripping wet left leaning liberal. So, in essence I am an advocator for gender parallelism. If there is one thing that separates us from the animal kingdom is our ability to define nature on our own terms.

Historically as human beings were originally hunters and gatherers with the division of labour clearly define between men and women. Men were the providers and women the carers. The role of hunters and our acquisition of wealth and the acquisition of property gave us the false notion that we were superior to our female counterpart. The wheel of history is enigmatic but it has an equitable component that often spins us from injustice towards justice. The industrial revolution fell at a fast pace and rapid new technologies are developing constantly it has caught men on their “back foot” unbalanced. The club that man used to wave over his head is replaced by new technologies whereby the only need is the press of a button. Mans muscular strength in most cases is no longer significant as all that mass of muscles is replaced by the click of an electronic mouse attached to a computer.

Today men and women have a level playing field and the rise of the feminist activism have signalled the warning to roll back the archaic laws against women that are unjust. According to evolutionary biology we all began life as a single cell and it seem as if history is compelling us to return to that liberating position of a single cell. It therefore seems unjust for men on the basis of their strength or the gender position or space that they occupy should unfairly assume that they should automatically hold a hierarchical space as opposed to a parallel on. Indeed a fair position should be assumed where by we see or role as complementary to rather than occupying an oppressive position where one gender sits above the other.

The middle class Jamaican women are divided into two categories the first set for the sake of this discussion will be called the rising middle class some of whom are pretenders or aspirants consist of mainly educated professionals and functionally literate small business women, IT workers and middle managers who are able to function with some amount of financial independence but are still vulnerable to the ebb and flows of living in an inflationary economic environment. The second set of women are Upper middle class and own property and wealth or those that are managers of financial insttutions,or high ranking Civil servants, Doctors, Lawyers or those women who have acquired this status by virtue of marrying a wealthy Jamaican male. The middle class have one thing in common they acquire a taste for European and American lifestyle and are quite ambitious and hard working and competitive among each other.

 It is also important to note that in Jamaica there is an overlap between social class and social capital. Hence social capital may take the form of high academic achievement, family fortunes or women receiving favourable acceptance if their complexion is of a lighter hue. In Jamaica women have a higher level of education than men. The ratio for enrolment at the University of The West Indies is a staggering 82: 12 loaded in favour of women. It would seem to suggest that men see higher education in the region as women’s domain there are four female students for every one male at the regions elite institution. There are more female University graduates in the Jamaican labour force than men but this progress has not been reflected in the corporate board room or in the elected parliament.

Jamaican woman’s sexuality have been hung dry and laid bare by the Deejays mainly male but a few women have joined the sordid bandwagon. The notions of feminine sexuality have long been defined along narrow lines and often are confined to the physical sexual act. In dance hall parody woman becomes the object of disgrace as opposed to be the subject of great celebration of mutually exclusive erotic desire. The male penis is seen as a ‘stiff object’ to inflict pain and visit humiliation upon the woman’s body. Marion Hall aka Lady Saw confirms this fact in one of her most celebrated narrative she pleads incessantly in one of her popular songs for men to stab out the meat meat: meaning vagina to be roughed up. There has always been a suspect relationship between sex and violence but it would seem as if the Jamaican dance hall deejays are working overtime to establish a concrete relationship between both variables. In other society’s sexual advantage is regarded as a consolation that is conceded to a female. In the dance hall world of ‘slackness music’ this female consolation receives an undignified battering. So for example Grammy award winner ‘Shabba Ranks’ describes the woman’s vagina with a creative but course narrative suggesting that it is made out of foot bottom material and it ‘cant run dung’ meaning that it deserves a battering because it cant be damaged.The self proclaimed doctor of Jamaican Dance Hall ‘Beenie Man’ makes a more a less course but outlandish disclosure that an old dog like him- has girls in twos and threes- much to the delight of his cheering and unashamed male and female audiences.

 Dance hall is an off shoot of main stream Reggae music is often sometimes a force for good for example Shaggy became popular internationally by catch lyrics and beats that celebrated women and often integrated sexual innuendos and a reasonable amount of hyper masculinity that left women dignity in tact. Few cultural writers have focused on the psychological abuse visited upon the Jamaican women and if they do it is done selectively. The reason for staying away from the subject is because any analysis of the subject involves getting down in the gutter of course descriptive language.

 According to most sexual performance psychologist women’s sexual satisfaction has universally stem from the erotic satisfaction of  experiencing multiple orgasms’ while men in general derive their satisfaction from the pursuit and having a single ejaculation often leaving their pursuit unsatisfied. Women sexual satisfaction has been portrayed in dace hall narratives as an oppressive erotic episodes that begin with a hard and stiff penis and the only consolation for the woman is to ‘wine good’ meaning to gyrate their hips in celebration without having an organism to show for it. The gyration of the hips is a central feature in African dance culture that portrays a celebration of sexual virility but the dance hall culture has put a negative reworking of woman’s sexuality that is psychologically demeaning and creates an object subject relationship where woman’s sexual liberation is smothered.

 If dance hall music is to redeem its credibility it mush shake of the negative promotion of woman as a passive object to be bombarded with violence and unfulfilling understanding of female sexual erotic experience that enslave them psychologically among the human specie. While the dance  hall movement has taken traction internationally and has cemented itself an exportable cultural offering that earns revenue fro those involved in the entertainment industry by even those Jamaicans living in the Diaspora. It is done so sometimes at the expense of women’s dignity. So any attempt by protagonist to explain it away and accept it as a rebellious reaction to class prejudice and social deprivation is an attempt to peddle a fancy fairy tale explanation that lacks justification.

So the development of women in Jamaica has been asymmetrical trough our countries history. During slavery they were often used as passive objects to provide a much needed labour force for the Colonial masters, they were care givers to their own children and that of their oppressors. They were a reservoir of substitute labour on the plantations. They were donned the hat of wives to their husbands and concubines to their oppressive masters entertaining their whims and fancies as objects of exploit and desire.

During pre and post emancipation the fought alongside the Jamaican men for their freedom with their contribution unrecognised. They fought for political independence and universal adult suffrage without their freedom and positive rights enshrined in the constitution.

In post independence they war accorded some civil liberties and began to see education as a tool of liberation. Towards the bingeing of the new mellllinoum they outnumbered men in higher education by about five to one and had third first women founder of a political Party Antoinette Haughton-Cardenas and in 2007 their fist woman Priminister who had a short stint in office.

Although modest gains have been made class prejudice and a lack of resource have pitted women in two camps the middle class and the under class. The old boy net work in Jamaica which consist of a re representation of the plantation class ideology refuse to open the board room to educated middle class women their years of mismanagement and corruption has visited a plague of poverty on the underclass women who often have to rescue themselves with their own biology out of desperation. All categories of women are expose to domestic violence structural prejudiced and are unable to enjoy the social advantage that they have worked hard for and is been screened away from them by the masculine brigade.

Donovan Reynolds is a U. K. based Social Worker and Human Rights campaigner. Persons wanting to comment or give feedback are encouraged to respond in the space provided by this blog. Alternatively, they may email me at: donovan.reynolds@hotmail.co.uk.