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.Yetwhile there is now some evidence that fellatio may be an acceptable prac-tice, because men are on the receiving end, nowhere in dancehall dis-course has there been any treatise by a male artiste that encourages orsupports cunnilingus.In August 2003, I was part of a television interview panel on CliffHughes s Impact programme with Ce cile and veteran dancehall deejayNinjaman.During the interview, Ninjaman admonished Ce cile fordoing this song, which he felt was her own way of trying to encourage di man dem fi start do dis ting because these were the kind of practicesor what he called carelessness that led to the demise of Sodom andGomorrah.Ce cile stated that disc jockeys refused to play the song onair, even though it used double entendre to discuss the practice.She alsonoted that Baby Cham s Boom was given significant airplay and asimilar song by Beenie Man that encouraged women to perform oral sexwas being played on air at that time.Dancehall men are unequivocalabout the fact that they do not bow, and for Ce cile, a dancehall artiste,to suggest that her male partner bow to her tampers with the sexualrituals that are idealized in the dancehall.The BabyfatherThe role of babyfather is another viable, socially sanctioned and sexualroute to masculinity in Jamaica.A babyfather is a man who fathers anillegitimate child or several children.Each child serves as undisputedproof of his conquest of the punaany and the accompanying subjugationof the woman.The man who can become a babyfather multiple timesover lays claim to high levels of masculine identity as a potent and virileman.Many men, particularly those from the inner city and lower andworking classes are elevated and praised by their peers for siring mul-tiple offspring.Those who do so with as many different mothers or whoare potent enough to sire more than one child in the same year ormonth are elevated to the status of near myth or legend.They are real men.The paradox is that many show little or no concern about the eco- Love Punaany Bad 53nomic and emotional welfare and upbringing of these children.Further,my research revealed that some of these babyfathers selected their poten-tial babymothers with great care to ensure that these women weremature, responsible and financially secure enough to provide their chil-dren with a decent upbringing and a secure future in the inevitableabsence of the man s support economic, emotional, physical andotherwise.The champion jockey is one example of sexual conquest as maleempowerment at work in one inner-city community in Kingston,Jamaica that I will refer to as Waterhole.In Waterhole, jockey is a sex-ual play on the notion of riding and the concept is one of riding as manywomen as possible to become a champion.Many young men in commu-nities like Waterhole become fathers at an early age because if they donot father children by the time they are around twenty-three years old,then their manhood becomes suspect and their peers will often castderogatory slurs at them and chase them away from the corner .Inthese communities, the corner acts as a strategic site of male socializationand male bonding, and access to it is treasured and protected.27 At thisparticular corner in Waterhole a man does not become a man until hegets someone pregnant, and the concept of champion jockey as a status-generating tool is used to rank levels of masculinity among young men.The year-long process or race culminates at the same time that tradi-tional and uptown Jamaica engages in various New Year s Eve celebra-tions New Year s Eve balls and parties, church vigils and watch nights,community vigils, family gatherings, and so on.At this time, groups ofyoung and middle-aged men from Waterhole tally their list of conquestsand the winner is crowned champion jockey for the year ended.Conquests must be more than casual dates, because the men have toprove that they have been involved in an intimate sexual relationship orliaison with their female conquests.A one-night stand cannot qualify asa new conquest, and the contestants for the supreme position of cham-pion jockey must prove that they have had sexual relations with thiswoman several times, over an extended period of time.A pregnancy orbirth of a child is the ultimate and most valuable proof of such relations.In an effort to ensure undeniable confirmation of these conquests, manyof these men ensure that, during the course of the year, they conduct their 54 Inna di Dancehallliaisons and sexual activities openly.For example, inviting these womento their homes and publicly promoting their sexual trysts.Many prefervigorous or violent sexual activities that elicit screams or moans fromthe woman and cause the tell-tale creaking or shifting of bedroom furni-ture that can be heard by neighbours or peeping Toms outside.Love bites(hickeys) can be strategically placed on conspicuous parts of the woman sbody, such as the neck.All these actions help to ensure adequate confir-mation of the couple s multiple sexual engagements.Further, the man ensures that, where possible, he visits the woman shome and makes himself man a yaad .Therefore, he would sleep overat her house and behave like the man in residence .Where possible, hewould also encourage his friends to telephone him at the woman s housewhile he is visiting
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