RECENTLY, two prominent music observers one from home the other from aboard, weighed in on the vexed issue of gay bashing by reggae performers.

Addressing the recent JAVAA (Jamaica Vintage Artistes and Affiliates) Reggae Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Clyde Mckenzie rendered it a stupid practice of local reggae acts to go on stage with anti-gay lyrics.

"The fact is," McKenzie declared, "putting certain things in the public space, helps to normalise them. It is a basic fact. In point of fact, I have said to my artistes (when I used to manage them), you see this thing where every day ounu go on stage and waging verbal attacks on homosexuals, is a stupid thing ounu doing."

The former publicist for dancehall's heavyweight Beenie Man explained: "I wasn't talking about the impact on their careers. I say, if you really dislike homosexuality so much, by talking about it so much in the public space, you are normalising that behaviour."

Perhaps the area of least similarity between Jamaican and Japanese reggae culture has to do with the reaction to homosexuality.

Another viewpoint came from Professor Noriko Manabe, who -- in the final segment of her comprehensive discourse on the influence of reggae on her native Japan -- addressed the controversial issue of homophobia in reggae and the Japanese response.

Bringing an end to her lengthy lecture of her country's conversion to reggae music at the Neville Hall Lecture Theatre (UWI, Mona) recently, Professor Manabe made it clear that she was simply laying out the circumstances as they unfolded in Japan.

"Over the last decade, gay activism, which has led to the cancellations of European tours for a number of Jamaican dancehall artistes, has made Japanese reggae fans aware of the presence of anti-gay lyrics in Jamaican dancehall. This has led to debates within the Japanese dancehall community on the extent to which aspects of Jamaican dancehall performance should be adopted in Japan when the social circumstances in Japan are different," Professor Manabe noted.

She noted that while Japan has its own stereotypes of gays and lesbians, it is rare to see violence or open hostility towards them. "Neither Shinto nor Japanese Buddhism places taboos on sexuality in the same ways that Judeo-Christian religions do, instead considering it in terms of pleasure rather than morality," she said.

"In fact," the music researcher added, "male homosexuality has a long history of acknowledgement in Japan; it has been associated with monks, kabuki actors, samurai, and the navy."

Quoting as her source, Mark McLelland, sociologist and cultural historian of Japan specialising in sexuality/gender theory, Professor Manabe stressed that it was not until the rise of the military government in the 1930s that homosexuality was strongly discouraged.

"Unlike in most Western countries," she cited, "gay sex has had little history of criminalisation in Japan. Today's modus operandi seems to be to respect the privacy of others, while not flaunting such behaviour in public."

Returning to the Japanese reggae fraternity, the music professor explained: "While I did not encounter gay bashing in the performances I personally attended, accounts from Japanese reggae performers and fans suggest that some Japanese performers do make homophobic comments. As one reggae fan noted, 'I have a transgender friend -- a woman in a man's body by virtue of hormones. He loves to dance, but sadly, I can't invite him along to a reggae event, because some stupid DJ or singer might say something that leaves him feeling uncomfortable."

She also shared the views of some artistes and that of one manager who told her that some of these guys (Japanese reggae artistes) became very immersed in Jamaican culture at an impressionable young age.

"They've bought the whole homophobic thing -- hook, line and sinker." As another manager noted, 'My charges mix with rudeboys when they're in Jamaica and return needing to be macho men.

"As a veteran artiste explained, "Some of these guys got into the reggae scene in the early 1990s, when Killamanjaro had established the sound system clash as the main event of the dancehall. And the clash, by definition, is a fight. They weren't there in the 80s, when it was more about listening to the music and watching the girls dance. So the clash defined what dancehall reggae means to them. Their macho stance and confrontational attitude, including gay bashing, is a reflection of the environment where they first experienced the scene."

However, she was quick to point out that "several performers openly disagree with such behaviour, finding it morally objectionable and outside the Japanese norm of respecting privacy. They prefer to associate reggae with a message of love and peace.

"Many of the artistes I spoke with were in between. As one well-known DJ said, 'I don't like gay men. I think homosexuality is unnatural. But I feel equally uncomfortable singing 'Death to the B----Boy.' It feels weird to focus so much attention on gays'." According to another well-known MC, 'There's no outside pressure not to say anything homophobic in Japan, but the audience doesn't want to hear it either. In Japan, people think it's a personal matter that's up to the individual, and it's not their concern.' His perception seems spot on; according to one female fan, 'Whenever I hear an MC make an anti-gay comment, I want to say, 'Shut up, play some tunes, and let us dance'."

Source: JamaicaObserver.com