Out of Many, One People? Representations of Female Masqueraders in the Jamaica Carnival on Facebook

Abstract

Like many Caribbean-style carnivals, the Jamaican carnival parade is dominated by women, and their representations in the media are controlled by the photographers who dictate how they are presented on social media platforms such as Facebook. Using a framework on representation and power in the media, the paper posits that photographers uphold hegemonic ideas about women's bodies when they decide who is featured in their Facebook photo albums. A content analysis examined images of the 2015 carnival parade from three Facebook albums and found that photographers preferred women who were slim, light skinned, outfitted in the skimpiest costumes, and engaged in a standing pose. These findings contradict Jamaica's national motto "Out of Many, One People" that promotes the idea of an all-inclusive society, but ignores the social stratifications that are rooted within the former plantation society. These divisions along the lines of ethnicity and class are ultimately translated to performance spaces where carnival, a cultural import, is positioned against dancehall which is Jamaica's primary cultural product.