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1 fm 3 2/6/02 4:13 PM Page i RastafarI Women

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3 fm 3 2/6/02 4:13 PM Page iii RastafarI Women Subordination in the Midst of Liberation Theology Obiagele Lake Department of Anthropology The University of Iowa CA RO L I N A ACA D E M I C PR E S S D u rham, North Caro l i n a

4 fm 3 2/6/02 4:13 PM Page iv Copyright 1998 Obiagele La k e All Rights Reserv e d L i b ra ry of Con g ress Cat a l o g i n g - i n - P u b l i c ation Dat a Lake, Obiagele. RastafarI women : subord i n a t i on in the midst of libera t i on theology / Obiagele La k e. p. c m. Includes bibliographical re f e rences and index. ISBN (pbk) 1. Women in the Rastafari movement J a m a i c a. 2. Jamaica Religion. I. Ti t l e. B L J 2 5 L d c C I P The cover photograph and photographs in Chapter 7 are by the author. Ca rolina Academic Press 700 Kent Stre e t D u rham, North Carolina Te l e p h one (919) Fax (919) w w w. c a p - p re s s. c o m P r i nted in the United States of America

5 fm 3 2/6/02 4:13 PM Page v To African Sisters the World Over

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7 fm 3 2/6/02 4:13 PM Page vii Contents List of Tables and Figure s A c k n o w l e d g m e nt s Chapter 1 R a s t a f a rian Women and the Global Stru g g l e for Liberation 3 Rastafarian Women Litera t u re 4 Feminist Appro aches What is Missing? 8 Wo m e n s Cont a i n m e nt within a Capitalist Political Econ o m y 10 Caribbean Responses to Male Domination 11 What Lies Ahead? 13 Chapter 2 S l a v e ry and Capitalism in Jamaica 17 African Female Slaves in the Caribbean 20 Christianity and Revivalist Religion s 22 P o s t - E m a n c i p a t i on Slaves 25 M a rcus Garv e y 28 The Cro w n i ng of Lij Tafari Makon n e n 31 Chapter 3 The Political Econ omy of Jamaica, The 1938 Rebellion 37 Women and the 1938 Rebellion 39 Labor Unions and Party Politics 41 RastafarI Initiatives 43 Rastas and the Rise of Int e rn a t i onal Capital 45 Chapter 4 Women and the Rise of RastafarI 59 RastafarI Houses 62 The Twelve Tr i b e s 62 The Nyabing i 64 The Bobo Shant i 65 Selassie I 66 R e p a t r i a t i on to Africa 67 Rasta Women in Eng l a n d 72 v i i x i x i i i

8 fm 3 2/6/02 4:13 PM Page viii viii Cont e nt s Holy We e d 7 5 Chapter 5 The Int e rf ace between Sexism and Capitalism 79 Political Marg i n a l i z a t i on 79 E c onomic Marg i n a l i z a t i on 81 C u l t u re as Ideology 86 R e p re s e nt a t i on of Women in Media 86 Kinship and Education 87 E ng e n d e r i ng Girls and Boys 88 Male Violence Against Wo m e n 89 I n c e s t 92 Chapter 6 The Sac ra l i z ation of Sexism 93 P o l l u t i on as Cultural Ideology 94 Polluted Women in Africa 98 Polygyny as Sexual Cont ro l 100 Chapter 7 C u l t u ral Ideology and RastafarI Wom e n 103 Rasta La nguage (I-Man) 103 Ital Food 104 Hair and Headdre s s 106 The Linguistic Cont a i n m e nt of Wo m e n 114 Chapter 8 M i sogyny in Caribbean Music 117 Ska, Rock Steady, and Reggae 120 D i ff u s i on and Defusion of Reggae 122 R e p re s s i on in the Midst of Revolution 125 Dance Hall Sexuality 128 Women and Dance Hall 131 C ro s s - C u l t u ral Sexism in the African Diaspora 133 Chapter 9 W h at s at Stake? 139 The Diff u s i on and Defusion of RastafarI 139 Religious Obstacles 141 Men Resist Wo m e n s Initiatives 142 The Eff e ctiveness of Wo m e n s Org a n i z a t i ons 146 A p p e n d i c e s Appendix A Rastafarian Chron o l o g y 149 Appendix B S u m m a ry of Recommendation s 153 Appendix C Numbers of Rastafarians by Parish, 1982 Census 155

9 fm 3 2/6/02 4:13 PM Page ix Cont e nt s ix Appendix D Religious Affil i a t i ons in Jamaica 157 Appendix E Twelve Tribes of Isra e l 159 B i b l i o g ra p h y Authors Index S u b j e ct Index 1 9 3

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11 fm 3 2/6/02 4:13 PM Page xi Tables and Figures Table 1. Religious Affil i a t i on in Jamaica, Table 2. P e rc e ntage of Revivalists in Jamaica 25 Table 3. U n e m p l o y m e nt Rates by Sex, Table 4. Number of Reported Rape Cases 90 Table 5. Rape Cases Reported and Adjudicated 90 F i g u re 1. L i on 61 F i g u re 2. Map Showing Location of Shashemene 69 F i g u re 3. Political Economic Para d i g m 80 F i g u re 4. Male Dre a d l o c k s 108 F i g u re 5. Rasta Women with Head Co v e r i ng s 111 F i g u re 6. Rasta Women without Head Co v e r i ng 112 x i

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13 fm 3 2/6/02 4:13 PM Page xiii Acknowledgments I extend my sincerest gratitude to all of the Rastafarian sisters who were so generous with their time and with their willingness to share parts of their lives with me. In part i c u l a r, I am grateful to Maureen Rowe for her keen insights and to Sister Minnie allowing me to witness her indomitable s p i r i t. I am also grateful to Joann Quiñones-Podomo, my re s e a rch assistant, for her diligent attent i on to all aspects of this tome during the crucial stages of this process. My sincerest thanks to my son, Jahmal, for his re a d i ng and critique of this work in its final stages. x i i i

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