A spokesperson for one of Jamaica's major carnival operations has challenged critics of the annual festival, saying characterisations of the event as wholly lewd were unfair.

Samantha Franklyn, public relations manager for Bacchanal Jamaica, argued that the lyrics of calypso and soca - the main genres of music played - were not as sexually explicit as those in Jamaica's dancehall circles.

She also said carnival was not merely about gyrations.

"I personally don't engage in lewd dancing, or wining down on the streets, and all my life I practically have grown up going to carnival events. I have never seen my parents engage in any lewd activities, so parents are respon-sible for monitoring their children," Franklyn told The Gleaner on Tuesday.

Debate on decency

Raging national debate about public decency has coincided with a clampdown last Friday on the broadcast of violent and sexually explicit content on radio, television and cable.

The Gleaner first broke news of the Broadcasting Commission's ban of free-to-air X-rated songs, including the dancehall phenomenon of daggerin', the simulation of violent sex. Soca and calypso songs with overtly sexual material will also face the axe. The ban does not apply to recordings on CDs or DVDs.

Rampin' Shop, the chart-topping song performed by deejays Vybz Kartel and Spice, has become the cause célèbre of supporters of the ban who have registered outrage at the lyrics. Kartel (real name Adidja Palmer) has, however, blasted detractors, saying the controversy was being stoked by social hypocrites.

Parental vigilance

Franklyn suggested that a wholesale blackout of carnival parades would adversely affect the festival's marketing edge, explaining that it drew support from droves of tourists and Jamaicans based overseas.

Such action could deplete sponsorship, she said.

The Bacchanal Jamaica spokes-person called for a shifting of res-ponsibility from event promoters to parents, who she believed should more vigilantly monitor radio and television content which children consume.

She also suggested that media houses find middle ground on the airing of carnival.

"The media houses, too, have a role to play as it relates to carnival. ... They can censor what parts of carnival they don't want to put on the airwaves, (but) Mas Camp is not only about wining," Franklyn said.

Ras Kassa, a leading music-video director in the island, this week called for an across-the-board policy on music fit for airplay, not a targeting of dancehall alone.

"They should insist carnival is not shown live on TV, because it's not only Grandma putting up her leg, but it's the children in Kiddies Carnival too," he told The Gleaner.

Michelle Laidlaw, assistant manager of Jamaica Carnival, another major promoter, declined comment.

Carnival, better associated with Caribbean neighbours Trinidad and Tobago and South American bacchanal Mecca, Brazil, was pioneered in Jamaica by the late Byron Lee in 1990. Weeks-long celebrations climax after the end of Easter with road parades, featuring a kaleidoscope of costumed marchers - some scantily dressed - and colourful music.