Gender+and+Sexual+Expression+in+Haiti

=Background = Haitian Carnival takes place over several weeks leading up to Mardi Gras, with the largest Carnival taking place in the capital, Port-au-Prince. Celebrations are not limited to Port-au-Prince; they take place in several other cities in Haiti, such as Jacmel and Aux Cayes. The Haitian Creole name for the festival is Haitian Defile Kanaval (defile is Creole for parade). Festivities begin in January and are known as Pre-Kanaval, and Kanaval officially begins in February ending on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, also known as Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday.

Similar to other Carnivals around the world, Haitian Kanaval is celebrated with bands, music, and parades. Kanaval also encourages masks and costumes, similar to many other Carnivals around the world. Furthermore, sexually suggestive dancing is condoned, and it music is often equally, if not more, sexually suggestive. Music is an essential to Kanaval, and many bands are able to gain exposure through their participation in Kanaval. Additionally, music is essential to another type of festival in Haiti, Rara.

toc =Rara = Rara is another festival that takes place in Haiti, however, its celebrations typically begin on Ash Wednesday and come to an end the weekend of Easter. Haitians refer to Rara as “Vodou taken on the road” (Daniel, 2011). Rara is considered a festival of music, and it relies on music to tell the stories of Haiti’s history, while defining and performing gender roles, neighborhood frontiers, and mystical rituals (Gordon, 2013).



Music
Music is central to Rara, as it is a music festival, and it is how themes of sex, gender, and sexuality are expressed. During this festival, music satirizes political topics and Catholicism (McAlister, 2002). The humor of innuendo is popular in Haitian culture and is its own type of speech, called //betiz// (McAlister, 2002). //Betiz// is part of Rara lyrics and contains sexual speech, obscenity, and vulgarity, which are tolerated and encouraged by the state. During Rara, people are encouraged to swear, drink publicly, and sing vulgar songs.

Rara music satirizes religion with lyrics that discuss misogyny, adultery, and prostitution. These lyrics, while performed by both men and women, often come from a male perspective and will describe genitals and sexual acts (McAlister, 2002). Lyrics that come from a female perspective assert that women have sexual rights.

//Betiz// lyrics, in an effort to offset sexism and sexual violence, will commonly refer to women’s genitalia and the beauty of them. In Creole, there are three words that come up frequently in //betiz//: koko, krèk, and langèt. Koko generally means vagina, whereas krèk and langèt are used to describe the clitoris (McAlister, 2002). //Betiz// songs demonstrate value of female genitalia, namely the size and shape of the vulva and clitoris, and the amount of pubic hair.

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Gender and Sexual Expression
During Rara, there are certain themes of gender and sexual expression. Kanaval and Rara in general are more masculine festivals than other Carnivals, such as Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil’s Carnival. Rara, in particular, acknowledges two types of men: the gwo nèg (big man) and the ti nèg (small man). Gwo nèg are the men in society who have wealth and can access resourses, whereas the ti nèg are the men in society who are unemployed, dependent, and socially devalued (McAlister, 2002). The ti nèg uses //betiz// to express his opposition to his often complex conditions of life (McAlister, 2002). Additionally, the ti nèg uses Rara music to denigrate adulterous women and prostitutes of Haitian society. Even though //betiz// demonstrates the value of female genitalia, //betiz// also commonly demonstrates that “undomesticated female sexuality” must be refused (McAlister, 2002).

However, during Rara, women do show their skin, their slips under their dresses, and some will even show their pubic hair (McAlister, 2002). While //betiz// is used to fight “undomesticated female sexuality,” women use Rara as a way to assert their sexuality and their rights as sexual beings (McAlister, 2002).

According to McAlister (2002), Haitian majority classes have a range of sexualities and gender practices. While homosexuality is typically frowned upon, Kanaval and Rara are one of the few times in which gay men and women may be openly gay with more security than they would have outside of these festivals. For example, there are some bands made up of mainly masisi (gay men) who cross-dress in makeup and long dresses. Masisi come from Vodou societies that have gay congregations (McAlister, 2002).

=Protections from Social Sanctions = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There has been critique from wealthier Haitians who believe Kanaval is obscene, disorderly, and challenges the politics and religion of the nation. However, for those who are in the festivals, either actively participating or watching, there is a protection. The state will only intervene to control “delinquent narrativity” (Averill, 1994). People who attend are encouraged to lage ko-w (let go of yourself) through music and movement (Averill, 1994).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In music, //betiz// is a form of “the privileged outspokenness of Carnival that might even come to constitute a kind of national politics in societies in which direct commentary might be treasonous” (McAlister, 2002). Kanaval allows for attendees to use music in a way that might be seen as treasonous outside of the festival. Additionally, the use of sexual innuendo is encouraged in music, particularly in Rara music. Kanaval is about transgressing the norm (Gordon, 2013), and those are who there encourage that.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Submitted by Sarah Diamond

=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">References = <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Averill, G. (1994). Anraje to Angaje: Carnival politics and music in Haiti. //Ethnomusicology//, 38(2), 217.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Daniel, Y. (2011). //Caribbean and Atlantic Diaspora Dance : Igniting Citizenship//. Urbana, Ill: University of Illinois Press.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">McAlister, E. (2002). //Rara! Vodou, Power, and Performance in Haiti and its Diaspora//. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Gordon, L. (2013). Kanaval. //Radical History Review//, (115), 169-183. doi:10.1215/01636545-1724760