Barbados: Serving All Kinds of Fabulous Liberation

[spicysista]

Barbados Crop Over Festival is a liberating space for women of all shapes and sizes
Noel Walker
,
Yahoo Lifestyle•August 21, 2018





“Oh, she’s scandalous,” a friend said aloud, referring to me, after one would-be carnivalista asked me what to expect on our trip to Barbados Crop Over Festival — the Caribbean island’s annual six-week festival, which consists of parties booming with calypso and soca music and street fairs flowing with flavorful food and arts to celebrate a 200-year tradition honoring the end of the sugar cane season.

“It’s … fun.” The words gradually rolled off my tongue as I stood there baffled about why she would say such a thing. Was it the costume she’d seen me don in the past? Was it the way my wined [danced] like a snake in Instagram Story videos filmed during carnival in Jamaica months ago? Was it the dancing with both women and men?? Was it because a lot of skin was openly shown in public? Or was it the mere fact that she just didn’t understand Caribbean culture?



It was hard to believe she didn’t get it. It was even tougher to accept her comments as humorous rather than backhanded. I felt as if she had put me in the “scandalous” box, where one is also labeled as shameful, dishonorable, and sinful. But Caribbean women — and people from all backgrounds who participate in carnival festivals — are often subjected to this cruel judgment.

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“The perception the U.S. has of Caribbean carnivals shows their ignorance and disdain of African-derived culture and festivals,” says Kai Barratt, a lecturer and carnival scholar at the University of Technology, Jamaica.

More amazing pictures and full article, here: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/barbados-crop-over-festival-liberating-slideshow-wp-215145872.html

The pictures posted here are ones that I've found from previous festivals. Check out the amazing folks who choose to celebrate in their current skin. Learn to celebrate life in your skin, as you are, right now!