Women in Caribbean Carnival

嘉年华中的女性研究网络将是嘉年华学者和嘉年华艺术家的第一个国际网络，重点关注嘉年华中女性角色的变化(包括任何自认为是女性的人)。它最初还在于与艺术和学术嘉年华社区的接触，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，旨在探索女性在加勒比海、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的平台，支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海嘉年华的主要批评之一是，它们不再寻求挑战当权者的权力，而是成为女性身体的一种奇观。嘉年华中的女性研究网络将通过打破嘉年华研究中传统的化妆舞会和所谓的比基尼和珠子的二元组来探索女性在当代嘉年华中的角色，以考察女性参与嘉年华的许多新方式；作为学者、艺术家、表演者、传统的杂耍演员、组织者、活动策展人、设计师、卡利普索纳人和钢制平底锅运动员。在2017年特立尼达岛狂欢节上，传奇的80岁卡利普索明星卡里普索·罗斯发布了一首热门歌曲《让我一个人待着》。这首歌的歌词很快被国际媒体称为最早的女权主义卡利普索歌曲之一，歌词警告男人们把女人单独留在路上，让她们自由地享受派对。这首歌宣告了女性在狂欢节期间不受男性骚扰的权利，在狂欢节期间，根深蒂固的父权规则不再适用，并呼应了女性所主张和主张的狂欢节自由。卡里普索·罗斯的歌引起了特里尼迪亚政客和官员的注意，在该岛发生了性侵犯和长期存在的家庭暴力问题后，人们注意到了一种“受害者责怪”的文化。据《华盛顿邮报》报道，2016年狂欢节期间，一名年轻的日本女钢锅音乐家被谋杀，她被勒死，身穿黄色比基尼，案件悬而未决。据报道，西班牙港前市长雷蒙德·蒂姆·基辩称，狂欢节期间女性在路上的粗俗和淫秽是针对她们的罪行的部分原因。特立尼达嘉年华的服装设计师Anya AYoung-Chee回应了Calypso Rose的歌曲和歌曲中突出的问题，与当地艺术家和活动家合作设计了T恤，2017年有数百名特立尼达嘉年华参与者穿着T恤，上面印有“Leave Me Alone”字样--以及特立尼达语的英文版本--“Leave She Alone”。AYoung-Chee还认为，狂欢节期间大批女性走上街头本身就是一种政治激进主义行为；成千上万的女性走上街头，拥有你的空间，拥有你的自由[……]除了激进主义，还有什么？(Anya AYoung-Chee in Power，《华盛顿邮报》，2017年2月26日)这只是该网络试图审视和解决的狂欢节领域中复杂的性别和性政治的一个例子。在最近特立尼达的狂欢节上，社会活动家们利用传统的化妆舞会，如“娃娃”，突出岛上的性虐待和少女怀孕问题(见Eintou Springer和Idakeda Group)。嘉年华为庆祝和解放妇女提供了一个空间，但也可以深刻复制其社区中根深蒂固的父权制度。这一独特的网络将联系嘉年华的主要合作者，并从比较、跨学科和视角深刻理解妇女在嘉年华中不断演变的角色。

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.