Phyllis Thomas, News Editor
"Man fi have nuff gal an' gal inna bungle
Gal from Rema an' gal from Jungle...
- Beenie Man
PRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson has obviously bought into the 'gal in a bungle' male perception and has taken it a step further. He, by his claim, has created the environment for men to have "more gal dan anything else".
I hear people saying those utterances were so unlike him. There are others who feel that they were calculated that he said so deliberately to take the heat off his administration for the crime situation which has so overwhelmed the country, and the economic worries which have us on the brink of bankruptcy.
Another explanation is that Mr. Patterson was merely appealing to the masses talking their language to whip up support for a party which is running out of steam, even among its supporters.
Mr. Patterson told supporters at the People's National Party's 65th Annual Conference at the National Arena that under his leadership, "More people have running water, more people stop use kerosene, more people have electricity and more man have gal dan anything else".
Whatever his motivation for making that statement, its effect was to cheapen and insult women.
Let us examine it closer.
The use of the word gal is disrespectful to women. It "sketelised" all of us. In other words, it makes the women of Jamaica a set of grazzmites to use another vernacular which refers to loose women. (Grazzmite, incidentally, is supposed to be some kind of parasitic animal with habitat among the grass, known as grass mites, but given the Jamaican's propensity for verbal creativity or bastardisation even, we end up with grazzmite).
Normally the word gal is used in a derogatory fashion to put women in their so-called place bring them down. Even women use it as a cuss word when angry with other women like "dutty gal". In the inner city it's strictly gal.
Local artistes seem to forget the word 'girl' although sometimes gal is endearing to some women similar to when the man sends his right fist into her face. Her response is: "Im love mi".
And where the lyrics of some of the songs clearly indicate praise of women, for example, "Gal yu a lead, yu know sey yu a lead..." Bounty Killa; and "Gal yu neva kill noh pickney from yu born yet..." Elephant Man and Bling Dawg, others are crude like one declaring: "A gal screw up har face like 'W'..."
They use the word gal similarly to how the rappers talk about their "whoa" (whore) or their bitch.
More people have water... electricity... and more man have gal... That objectifies women. We are no longer seen as persons, but a thing and we are categorised among the things that men should have, or which they claim as their possession.
It defies morality and decency the more gal a man has, the bigger the status, the more powerful he is. This, in a country which claims to embrace and celebrate family.
It encourages irresponsibility among men, many of whom, already, epitomise unscrupulousness.
It makes a mockery of Mr. Patterson's own values and attitudes goals for the country which he claims to be dear to him.
All round, it sends the wrong message.
Mr. Patterson said that he was misunderstood. Monday he apologised saying: "Certainly my respect for women in our society is absolutely beyond question and I would like, straight up and directly, to withdraw that remark and state clearly that I meant no offence or no insinuation that women were not equal and had a very significant contribution to make to the nation at this time." But he also said he was misunderstood. I know our illiteracy rate is high but we're not all a bunch of fools. What is there to misunderstand?
An argument on the street is that he is, indeed, being misunderstood and quoted because he did not say he gave men more gal. But that he gave more men gal. As far as I am concerned, "six a one half a dozen a de other". If more man have gal "than anything else" it means that more man have "nuff gal". The term "than anything else" qualifies and quantifies the word "gal".
By no stretch of the imagination could I see anything endearing about the words gal, whore and bitch even when I turn them upside down. So when Mr. Patterson said what he said last weekend I just couldn't believe it. When the story came to my desk on Saturday I knew that the reporter got it right because it was on tape. When it was aired on television Monday night I started looking for the flask of white rum in Mr. Patterson's hand.
For sure, he and his administration had been disrespectful to the Jamaican people in general, throughout the 13 years that they have formed the Government, in how they run the country. But Mr. Patterson has never been publicly disrespectful to the Jamaican women.
On Saturday he lamented what he said was Jamaican's lack of respect for him despite all he has done for them. But as one writer said in a letter to the Editor, you have to earn respect. And that is always going to be difficult when there is blatant disregard for people and when women are referred to as gals.
The arena erupted in laughter at the remark last week.
It isn't funny, really.
Comments? You can e-mail me at phyllis.thomas@gleanerjm.com
