Ragashanti contributing to growing public lesbophobia?

In recent months there has been a sharp rise in serious concerns by members of the lesbian and

bisexual women communities about the path being taken by radio personality Ragashanti and his tambourine crew on his new home at Nationwide Radio. This is coming on the back drop of several unconfirmed reports of several cases of rape and sexual abuse including corrective type incidences across the country with two suspected murders. Please bear in mind the incidents have not been confirmed to be outrightly lesbophobic but the word on the street just by observation suggests people are talking about lesbian lifestyles more disparagingly in a long time.

Usually in Jamaica lesbians never experienced such a backlash either on the airwaves or otherwise and as Ragashanti is widely listened to between 1pm - 5pm following the controversial cut from Newstalk 93 FM where he was unceremoniously booted. There was a problem with the content of the program he hosted there at the time but he has found a place at his original home at Nationwide.

Ratings at any cost?

He has had guests who are introduced a lesbians and gays with very sensationalized discourse over the airwaves and with the broadcasting commission monitoring he has been careful to reduce some of the original verbiage that obtained when he was at Newstalk FM. He also has a column that he writes mix up pieces and gossip columns in the Jamaica Star. A steady stream of lesbophobic and stereotypical pieces have been coming both on air and in print as shown below, he supposedly answers a write in query on lesbianism:

More Lesbian Mix Ups

Mad respek to all a mi Tambareen Fambily linky-linky an mi Mix Up an Blenda massive. Yow!... di Lesbian Mix Up topic a mad up di place. A crazy tings a bust out inna Jamaica ya. Fi real. Gwaan pree dem two vibz ya pon di topic:

Who is really a Lesbian?

Raga big up yuh self. Luv yuh show! I am a lesbian and have been so since high school, at least that's when I became conscious of it. A lot of people seem to believe that a woman becomes a lesbian because she was abused by men or had very bad relationships resulting in heartbreak, been raped, lacked love from her mother and the list goes on I am sure. I think a woman that started dealing with women becuz of some sort of abuse is not really a lesbian and I think they should try again with men, but do it differently, like spend more time knowing the man and actually DATE and so on. 

I have never been molested, raped, heart-broken, never lacked love from my mother. In fact she was an ardent follower of God. I never grew among lesbians, nor did I know any, or knowingly encountered any. No family member I knew of was so inclined so I was not socialised in it. I have never been sexually attracted to a man. I can appreciate a well dressed, handsome, well-spoken, intelligent,sexy bodyman but to think "oh God him sexy eeh me woulda dash it out pon him," no. I have tried dating men when I was much younger. I had a steady boyfriend, very, very nice guy, I had real, real feelings for him but when it came down to sex I just couldn't do it and out of respect for him and his feelings I had to tell him where I stood. He and I are still friends. So my point is that the equation: abuse+loveless childhood+heartbreak by men = lesbian, is wrong, probably not entirely but for the most part.

Thanks for educating us. You're right. Many of us assume that if a woman is a lesbian then she must have gone through some terrible ordeal that turned her away from men. In a mature, secure and articulate manner, you've made us know that such is not necessarily the case. Not all lesbians are psychologically and emotionally wounded. Bless up yuh self.



Lesbians in School

Mi se Raga mi hav a bag a mix up fi gi yu. Mi use 2 go 1 all girls skool. Raga a bear drama dem gi yu. One 8 grader use 2 deh wid 1 eleven grade girl. But d 11 grader a d butch. She did a gi d 8 grader bun wid a nex 11 grader Raga. Wen mi ask d butch who a wife, she se if a wife dem a run down dem beta gwaan cuz she deh wid a gyal weh work a bank. Anyway, d gyal dem find out bout dem one another n d gurl lef d 8 grader. D 8 grader nearly mad, she all write luv letta n bear tings. Raga any way dem did deh bak n ting. But d other 11 grader find out bout it n knock out d 8 grader wit a chair. And d same evenin a nex girl cum a skool gate fi d butch girl n beat up d 11 grader...lol...dwl.

Dr. Kingsley Stewart aka Ragashanti

Nuh feel nuh way still, but mi naa go run mi usual joke dem wen di mix up involve children a roll dem way ya. Fi years now me a get a whole heap a mix ups bout a whole heap a lesbian drama in many of our high schools. Mi cyaan too support dem violence deh mongst di school girl dem. Mi jus hope seh di authorities will stop walk roun like dem a eediat an nuh know wa a gwaan, an start come up with effective interventions aimed at decreasing violence amongst students grappling with sexuality issues. Bless up.

Reach Ragashanti at

mixupraga@gmail.com or

PO Box 5866, Liguanea PO, Kingston 6.

ENDS

Serious concerns:

Many lesbians have been expressing outrage at this new and steady stream of commentary on their lifestyles/orientation and by extension putting them at risk. The obsession with the butch dynamic is also not going down well for many in the community as they fear there maybe serious repercussions. Bearing in mind that Ragashanti whose real name is Dr. Kingsley Stewart is an Anthropologist and while there maybe some validity to his use of the colloquial and street culture to examine humanity he may be going overboard much to the detriment of the folks who he makes fun off. Not everyone knows how to separate the seriousness from satire.

Shebada - comical roots play character loved and hated by his effeminate dialogues and shenanigans on stage played by Keith Ramsey who has been stigmatized as gay.

Ragashanti also has been seen however at Shebada's parties on several occasions bearing in mind there is a strong suspicion by the public he is gay yet Raga finds it necessary to get ratings by playing on the stereotypes in Jamaican society. Nationwide radio like it or not is owned by Cliff Hughes an erudite reporter turned radio owner who has signed on Raga and is also known for his gay friendly stance on LGBT rights yet we have Ragashanti out of control on the airwaves?

Some more outspoken lesbians have suggested bombarding the lines with calls condemning the way Raga has been going on and present a more positive light on lesbian and bisexual life.

Ironically there are many MSM and some members of the GLBTQI community finds the sensationalism funny and there have been vigorous debates on social network pages about ignoring the problem and some defending Raga to the ground.

Good to see ordinary folks getting in on a strategy to deal with this new problem but will it get off the ground? as many moves as discussed before just lie there after much planning and hot air.

Women for Women has issued a soft caution to ladies to be careful out there in light of the news of incidents happening and unverified cases.

How do we measure this? let's see what's to come.

Is the answer to Raga's contribution to lesbophobia a yes or no?

What say you?

Peace and tolerance.

H