Women in Caribbean Carnival

狂欢节中的妇女研究网络将是第一个狂欢节学者和狂欢节艺术家的国际网络，重点关注妇女在狂欢节中不断变化的角色（包括任何自认为是妇女的人）。它的初衷也在于它与艺术和学术狂欢社区的接触，打破了这些社区之间的界限。它将创建一个跨学科的研究小组，旨在探讨妇女在加勒比海，美国和英国狂欢节中的作用。通过这些讲习班、一个网站和一系列出版物，该网络将提供一个长期平台，以维持关于妇女在狂欢节文化中的作用的艺术和学术研究。传统主义者对当代加勒比狂欢节的主要批评之一是，这些狂欢节不再寻求挑战当权者的权力，而是成为女性身体的奇观。狂欢节中的女性研究网络将通过打破狂欢节研究中传统的化妆舞会和所谓的“比基尼和珠子”mas二元来探讨女性在当代狂欢节中的作用，以研究女性参与狂欢节的许多新方式;作为学者，艺术家，表演者，传统mas玩家，组织者，活动策划者，设计师，calypsonians和钢锅玩家。在2017年特立尼达狂欢节上，传奇的80岁卡里普索星星卡里普索·罗斯（Calypso Rose）发行了一首名为《Leave Me Alone》的热门歌曲。这首歌很快被国际媒体称为最早的女权主义卡里普索歌曲之一，歌词警告男人不要让女人独自上路，让他们“自由”和聚会。这首歌宣告了妇女在狂欢节期间不受男人骚扰的权利，在狂欢节期间，根深蒂固的父权制规则不再适用，并呼应了妇女主张和要求的狂欢节庆祝自由。卡里普索·罗斯的歌曲引起了人们对特立尼达政治家和官员在性侵犯和岛上长期存在的家庭暴力问题之后的“受害者指责”文化的关注。据《华盛顿邮报》报道，在2016年狂欢节期间，一名年轻的日本女性钢锅音乐家被发现被勒死，身穿黄色比基尼，据报道，西班牙西班牙港前市长雷蒙德·蒂姆·基（Raymond Tim Kee）认为，狂欢节期间路上的女性的“粗俗和淫荡”是对她们的犯罪行为的部分原因。特立尼达狂欢节服装设计师Anya Aesthet-Chee通过与当地艺术家和活动家合作设计T恤来回应Calypso Rose的歌曲及其所强调的问题，这些T恤在2017年被数百名特立尼达狂欢节参加者穿着，上面印有“Leave Me Alone”和特立尼达英语版本-“Leave She Alone”。阿肯-奇还认为，在狂欢节期间，大批妇女走上街头，这本身就是一种政治行动主义行为;“成千上万的妇女走上街头，拥有自己的空间，拥有自己的自由。除了行动主义，还有什么？（Anya Aesthet-Chee in Powers，《华盛顿邮报》，2017年2月26日）这只是网络试图研究和解决的狂欢节领域中复杂的性别和性政治的一个例子。在特立尼达岛最近的狂欢节上，社会活动家们利用传统的化妆舞会，如“娃娃”舞会，来强调岛上的性虐待和少女怀孕问题（见Eintou Springer和莎士比亚集团）。狂欢节为庆祝和解放妇女提供了一个空间，但也可以复制其社区中根深蒂固的父权制。这个独特的网络将连接主要的狂欢节合作者，并从比较，跨学科和视角深入了解女性在狂欢节中不断演变的角色。

The Women in Carnival Research network will be the first international network of carnival scholars and carnival artists focusing on the changing roles of women in carnival (inclusive of anyone who self identifies as a woman). Its originally also lies in its engagement with both the artistic and academic carnival community and breaking down boundaries between these communities. It will create a cross-disciplinary research group which aims to explore the role of women in carnival in the Caribbean, the US and the UK. Through these workshops, a website and a series of publications, the network will provide a longstanding platform to sustain artistic and academic research on the role of women in carnival culture. One of the main criticisms aimed at contemporary Caribbean carnivals by traditionalists is that they no longer seek to challenge the power of the establishment but have become a spectacle of the female body. The Women in Carnival research network will explore the role of women in contemporary carnivals through breaking down the traditional masquerade and so-called 'bikini and beads' mas binary in carnival research to examine the many new ways women are participating in carnival; as scholars, artists, performers, traditional mas players, organisers, event curators, designers, calypsonians and steel pan players. In Trinidad carnival 2017 the legendary 80-year-old calypso star Calypso Rose released a hit song entitled 'Leave Me Alone'. Quickly dubbed one of the first feminist calypso songs by the international press, the lyrics warn men to leave women alone on the road and to let them 'free up' and party. The song declares a woman's right to not be harrased by men during Carnival where deeply imbedded patriarchal rules no longer apply and echoes the celebratory freedom of Carnival which is asserted and claimed by women. Calypso Rose's song drew attention a culture of 'victim blaming' amongst Trinidadian politicians and officials in the wake of sexual assaults and the long-standing problem of domestic violence on the island. Following the unsolved murder of a young female Japanese steel pan musician during carnival 2016, who was according to the The Washington Post, found strangled and wearing a yellow bikini, the former mayor of Port of Spain Raymond Tim Kee was reported to have argued that the 'vulgarity and lewdness' of women on the road during carnival was partly to blame for crimes against them. Trinidadian carnival costume designer Anya Ayoung-Chee responded to Calypso Rose's song and the issues highlighted by it by partnering with local artists and activists to design t-shirts, worn by hundreds of Trinidad carnival goers in 2017, emblazoned with the phrases 'Leave Me Alone' - and the Trinidadian English version -'Leave She Alone'. Ayoung-Chee also argues that women out on the streets in large numbers during carnival is an act of political activism in itself; 'coming out in the streets in the tens of thousands, owning your space, owning your freedom [...] what is that besides activism?' (Anya Ayoung-Chee in Powers, The Washington Post, Feb 26 2017). This is just one example of the complex gender and sexual politics at play in the carnival sphere which the network seeks to examine and address. In recent carnivals in Trinidad traditional masquerades such as the 'Baby Doll' mas has been used by social activists to highlights issues of sexual abuse and teenage pregnancy on the island (see Eintou Springer and the Idakeda Group). Carnival offers a space for celebrating and emancipating women but can also replicate deeply patriarchal systems of power imbedded within in its communities. This unique network will connect key carnival collaborators and to gain a profound understanding of the evolving role of women in carnival from a comparative, cross-disciplinary and perspective.