<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Who will counsel the girls?</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Michael Burke
Thursday, September 21, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=80 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Michael Burke</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Have you ever seen the teenage girls who are out on the streets in and around New Kingston at night soliciting men for sex? The same is true in other towns in Jamaica. Some women have been known to scold their grown daughters by saying that "is time yu start fe ketch man and bring home some money".<P class=StoryText align=justify>Indeed, the young prostitute is the hardest person to counsel. Perhaps she has had a wide range of men hiring her services. And as far as she is concerned, if a man is not having sex with her, then he is doing it with some other prostitute or young girl. So my question is: Who will counsel the girls?<P class=StoryText align=justify>Yes, the boys are marginalised. And yes, a whole heap of things should be done about it. In no way do I wish to underscore the problems facing the young sons of our soil. But while the boys should share part of the blame for teenage pregnancies, in many instances the girls are to be blamed.<P class=StoryText align=justify>While in the past the boys were mostly to be blamed, I daresay that the tables have turned. Today it is the girls who are pushing the boys into having sex. And many of the boys are asking over and over why they always get the blame. From what I can see, they are right to ask the question. Remember this is 2006, not 1976 or 1956.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Casual sex in Jamaica has been prevalent ever since slave owners raped slave women. At the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 (31 years before emancipation in 1838), the slaves were encouraged to produce as many children as possible. The stud slave was given respect and was rewarded. So was the fertile slave woman.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Indeed, the slave woman who could not reproduce was called a mule - which was most derogatory. For those who do not know, a mule, which is a cross between a horse and a donkey, cannot reproduce. These habits have continued down to the present.<P class=StoryText align=justify>It had been the practice of the people in the upper and middle classes to have their sons practise sex with domestic helpers. Some would carry them down to a famous guesthouse on Hanover Street in the old days. But in all of this, males did the advancing while females used feminine intuition to attract men.<P class=StoryText align=justify>All of that has changed. The real change started during the Second World War when the men in the United States and in Europe went to war. This meant that the jobs normally done by men had to be performed by women. And when the men came back from war, the women decided that they would keep their new-found status. By the 1960s the Women's Liberation Movement was born.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In the days when women were treated like slaves to men, there was a need for women's rights. Today, by and large in the West, women now have all the rights that they could ever want. The subliminal messages on most of the entertainment shows on television push the notion of the aggressive woman. This may be one reason why the girls today are so pushy for sex.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The days when it was not considered ladylike for the woman to make the advance are long gone as far as our Jamaican society (mired in Western values) is concerned. Apart from some advertisements on television, there is the internet with its consistent message of pornography.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Not
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Michael Burke
Thursday, September 21, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=80 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Michael Burke</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Have you ever seen the teenage girls who are out on the streets in and around New Kingston at night soliciting men for sex? The same is true in other towns in Jamaica. Some women have been known to scold their grown daughters by saying that "is time yu start fe ketch man and bring home some money".<P class=StoryText align=justify>Indeed, the young prostitute is the hardest person to counsel. Perhaps she has had a wide range of men hiring her services. And as far as she is concerned, if a man is not having sex with her, then he is doing it with some other prostitute or young girl. So my question is: Who will counsel the girls?<P class=StoryText align=justify>Yes, the boys are marginalised. And yes, a whole heap of things should be done about it. In no way do I wish to underscore the problems facing the young sons of our soil. But while the boys should share part of the blame for teenage pregnancies, in many instances the girls are to be blamed.<P class=StoryText align=justify>While in the past the boys were mostly to be blamed, I daresay that the tables have turned. Today it is the girls who are pushing the boys into having sex. And many of the boys are asking over and over why they always get the blame. From what I can see, they are right to ask the question. Remember this is 2006, not 1976 or 1956.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Casual sex in Jamaica has been prevalent ever since slave owners raped slave women. At the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 (31 years before emancipation in 1838), the slaves were encouraged to produce as many children as possible. The stud slave was given respect and was rewarded. So was the fertile slave woman.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Indeed, the slave woman who could not reproduce was called a mule - which was most derogatory. For those who do not know, a mule, which is a cross between a horse and a donkey, cannot reproduce. These habits have continued down to the present.<P class=StoryText align=justify>It had been the practice of the people in the upper and middle classes to have their sons practise sex with domestic helpers. Some would carry them down to a famous guesthouse on Hanover Street in the old days. But in all of this, males did the advancing while females used feminine intuition to attract men.<P class=StoryText align=justify>All of that has changed. The real change started during the Second World War when the men in the United States and in Europe went to war. This meant that the jobs normally done by men had to be performed by women. And when the men came back from war, the women decided that they would keep their new-found status. By the 1960s the Women's Liberation Movement was born.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In the days when women were treated like slaves to men, there was a need for women's rights. Today, by and large in the West, women now have all the rights that they could ever want. The subliminal messages on most of the entertainment shows on television push the notion of the aggressive woman. This may be one reason why the girls today are so pushy for sex.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The days when it was not considered ladylike for the woman to make the advance are long gone as far as our Jamaican society (mired in Western values) is concerned. Apart from some advertisements on television, there is the internet with its consistent message of pornography.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Not
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