Consistent with your slavery effects hypothesis, my island of Saba is both the most LGBTQ-friendly Caribbean island by a very wide margin, and also has a very different history with slavery than most other Caribbean islands, because it’s too steep, rocky and has too poor of soil to allow for monoculture agriculture. These conditions allowed for subsistence farming, but not for profitable crop production on Saba—meaning slavery wasn’t profitable here, either.
A good comparison to test this hypothesis would be to compare Saba (pop. 1900) and St.Eustatius (pop. 2700), which is 16 miles away, also a Dutch special municipality, comparably religious, but St. Eustatius was a major slave-trading way station.
Also, while there are Dancehall songs that endorse homophobic violence, anal sex (with women) is absolutely celebrated in many Dancehall and Soca songs. A Caribbean denunciation of “sodomy” may be condemning homosexuality, but that also could be read as criticizing the popularity of heterosexual anal sex.*
Finally, you seem loathe to attribute any of the Caribbean’s homophobia to importation of West African cultural values—but West African cultures are also very homophobic and endorse violence against gay people. You tie that African homophobia to the influence of modern Christian movements there, but isn’t it likely that anti-gay religious teachings took root because of an underlying anti-gay culture? Enslaved west Africans brought to the Caribbean could have brought more deeply anti-gay attitudes with them, and have that influence today’s culture, in the same way that west African rhythms influence Dancehall tunes today.
It is hard to tell without knowing more about context, but the 2017 Human Rights Watch photo about the badness of “sodomy” could be about why you shouldn’t have anal sex *with your girl,* an argument akin to what the more Western sounding authors of the Wordpress post linked here are saying. (It could, of course, also be homophobic. Or both.) “Sodomy” does get used to refer to heterosexual anal sex in the Caribbean, though.
“Sodomy” does not get used to refer to cunnilingus, which is also celebrated in Caribbean music—and also does not have the element of violence. The Mighty Sparrow’s “All Saltfish Sweet” is an early Calypso example.
Also I thought I should mention: The influence of Indian (here meaning Asian Indian, not indigenous Caribbean) culture on Caribbean culture is underappreciated by people who don’t live here. But many indentured servants from India were also imported to the Caribbean, obviously influencing food culture (this is why there are so many curries in Caribbean cuisine) and surely influencing other aspects as well. I don’t know if you want to pursue that line of inquiry when you’re looking into the homophobia of the Caribbean, but I think it’s worth considering.
Absolutely—but I don’t think Jamaica’s exceptionally violent homophobia argues against the possibility of Indian influence. And “black” does not mean that one has exclusively African ancestry; mixed race ancestry is more common in the Caribbean than it even is in the USA. So, to use a current American example, Kamala Harris is identified as Black, which is not wrong, but her mother is Indian, and her father is Jamaican (and African-ancestry/Indian ancestry pairings are common in Jamaica.) The most pop culturally famous Black Jamaican, Bob Marley, is also of mixed ancestry, with a white father.
I think that the potential for Indian influence on homophobia in the Caribbean today does not detract from the other hypotheses you’re pursuing, but might supplement them.
Fascinating as usual, Alice.
A few observations:
Consistent with your slavery effects hypothesis, my island of Saba is both the most LGBTQ-friendly Caribbean island by a very wide margin, and also has a very different history with slavery than most other Caribbean islands, because it’s too steep, rocky and has too poor of soil to allow for monoculture agriculture. These conditions allowed for subsistence farming, but not for profitable crop production on Saba—meaning slavery wasn’t profitable here, either.
A good comparison to test this hypothesis would be to compare Saba (pop. 1900) and St.Eustatius (pop. 2700), which is 16 miles away, also a Dutch special municipality, comparably religious, but St. Eustatius was a major slave-trading way station.
Also, while there are Dancehall songs that endorse homophobic violence, anal sex (with women) is absolutely celebrated in many Dancehall and Soca songs. A Caribbean denunciation of “sodomy” may be condemning homosexuality, but that also could be read as criticizing the popularity of heterosexual anal sex.*
Finally, you seem loathe to attribute any of the Caribbean’s homophobia to importation of West African cultural values—but West African cultures are also very homophobic and endorse violence against gay people. You tie that African homophobia to the influence of modern Christian movements there, but isn’t it likely that anti-gay religious teachings took root because of an underlying anti-gay culture? Enslaved west Africans brought to the Caribbean could have brought more deeply anti-gay attitudes with them, and have that influence today’s culture, in the same way that west African rhythms influence Dancehall tunes today.
*It might be important to note that that heterosexual anal sex being celebrated is not always consensual, which I think may be in line with your slavery/sexual violence hypothesis. A very popular Carnival song, “Kick in she back door” is explained with a link to the video and text of the lyrics here: https://redforgender.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/kick-in-she-back-door-violence-against-women-takes-road-march/
It is hard to tell without knowing more about context, but the 2017 Human Rights Watch photo about the badness of “sodomy” could be about why you shouldn’t have anal sex *with your girl,* an argument akin to what the more Western sounding authors of the Wordpress post linked here are saying. (It could, of course, also be homophobic. Or both.) “Sodomy” does get used to refer to heterosexual anal sex in the Caribbean, though.
“Sodomy” does not get used to refer to cunnilingus, which is also celebrated in Caribbean music—and also does not have the element of violence. The Mighty Sparrow’s “All Saltfish Sweet” is an early Calypso example.
Also I thought I should mention: The influence of Indian (here meaning Asian Indian, not indigenous Caribbean) culture on Caribbean culture is underappreciated by people who don’t live here. But many indentured servants from India were also imported to the Caribbean, obviously influencing food culture (this is why there are so many curries in Caribbean cuisine) and surely influencing other aspects as well. I don’t know if you want to pursue that line of inquiry when you’re looking into the homophobia of the Caribbean, but I think it’s worth considering.
That’s a good point, but I think Jamaica stands out for its violent homophobia, principally from young black men.
Absolutely—but I don’t think Jamaica’s exceptionally violent homophobia argues against the possibility of Indian influence. And “black” does not mean that one has exclusively African ancestry; mixed race ancestry is more common in the Caribbean than it even is in the USA. So, to use a current American example, Kamala Harris is identified as Black, which is not wrong, but her mother is Indian, and her father is Jamaican (and African-ancestry/Indian ancestry pairings are common in Jamaica.) The most pop culturally famous Black Jamaican, Bob Marley, is also of mixed ancestry, with a white father.
Rastafarianism, the religion founded by Bob Marley, is explicitly virulently homophobic. It’s also clearly influenced both by Judeo-Christian ideas and imagery, and by Hindu ideas. (See more here: https://bigthink.com/articles/the-untold-indian-heritage-of-bob-marley/ )
I think that the potential for Indian influence on homophobia in the Caribbean today does not detract from the other hypotheses you’re pursuing, but might supplement them.