Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Here Every Creed, and Race, and Size?

Here every creed and race, (and SIZE?) have an equal place, so may God bless our nation?

This is a line from the Trinidad and Tobago national Anthem (minus the size line), but it give way to a debate that is being discussed on my favorite blog of all time. Trinidad Carnival Diary.

(Read the debate here.)

http://www.trinidadcarnivaldiary.com/2008/07/question-and-answer-with-band-leader_23.html

In Trinidad Carnival Diary’s weekly, “Ask a Band Leader” series, the question of variety in size and ethnicity of models used during the mas band launches and on their websites is broached, which produced some very interesting responses.

One response from a young lady was of particular interest to me. This is her direct quote.

"Does anyone think that those very very skimpy costumes are made for plus sized masqueraders? That alone should tell certian bodies (pun intended) that the band is not for you, find a band with more cloth if you have more extra pounds carrying around. it is harsh but reality is if you weigh 200lbs why you want to be in a costume designed for a woman 120lbs? The designer has a vision of how their mas wants to look and who says that the plus sized masquerader has to be accommodated just because she wants to fit into a costume that is obviously not appropriate? if you want to wear the skimpy costume loose some pounds!from ash Wednesday you have enough time to hit the gym if you know you want to play in a two piece and some beads.and all this hating on skinny chicks no one talks about. I am kinda fed up of people wanting to play in the hottest skimpiest band when they should be looking at trini revelers or mc farlane with loads of cloth to cover their bodies."

I agree with this young lady that not every costume is for everybody, and this does not solely apply to plus sized people. We as women of ALL sizes have to take responsibility for how we present ourselves whether it is on the road for carnival or the in the work place. For instance, the skinniest large breasted women may have a tendency to shy away from halter type bras because of the pressure that the weight of their breasts put on the back of the neck, causing discomfort.

Would this skinny woman have the right to ask the bandleader to make adjustments for her? ABSOLUTELY! And that right to ask is reserved for everyone INCLUDING plus sized woman.

(Please note. I also feel that it is absolutely within the band leader’s right grant or to deny that request, it is their band after all.)

I cannot speak for other plus sized women, but I can say if a particular band leader decided to deny the request, it would be fine with me. As I stated in my introductory post, it would let me know where NOT to spend my hard earned money. It would just be a matter of me exercising my consumer power and not giving that band my business. But what I have found over the years is that many of these bands leaders are less concerned about the size of a woman’s waistline, and much more interested in the size of her wallet!!! For some, they may see the plus sized adjustments as a win/win situation. They buy beads and fabric for cheap in bulk, and can slap on another $600 - $1200 TT for their adjustment troubles. Plus size beauty is happy, and so is the mas camp’s bank account. (SMILE)

As to loosing some pounds from Ash Wednesday… that is a very good suggestion. However, for some people, no matter how many pounds they loose, Genetics is the powerful offspring of Mother Nature. When she wields her mighty DNA wand, many of us cannot simple say, “ABRACADABRA”, and send the big butt of mummy, the large breasts of Tantie Merle, or the little pooch belly of Great Grandma Dinah off into oblivion. As a side note, I also want to point out, that I AM an advocate for exercise but with an emphasis of exercising for HEALTH. Anyone can crash off pounds, but at what expense to their overall health? Hence, I encourage ALL women to be kind to and to celebrate their bodies and work with what we have. And while you are working it….WERK IT WELL!!!

I am saddened that this young lady is fed up of people like me wanting to play in skimpy bands. So much for sister hood eh? When will the time come when we will begin to advocate for one another as women, and not let something as small and unimportant as a costume divide us when worldwide our children are dying, wars are waging, and the earth is wasting away.

I want to be very clear that my opinion on this subject goes BOTH WAYS. I too, cannot stand to hear the Plus size beauties "hate" on the smaller girls. PLEASE DO NOT participate in this behaviour ladies. To hear women diss and hate on each other, is not only unattractive on all body types, it is downright counterproductive. No one wears intolerance well; it is not a cute accessory.

For those of us who are Trinbagonians, let us begin to not sing the words of our anthem in vain, but to sing them with sincerity, that us THE WOMEN, will be the ones to advocate for every creed, race, ( and SIZE), to have an equal place…. AND MAY GOD BLESS OUR NATION!

Till next time.

Be safe. Be well. Be beautiful!
Voluptuous Masquerader
http://plusandproud.blogspot.com
Voluptuous.masquerader@gmail.com

3 comments:

afro chic said...

Many comments on that post by Saucy left me with my mouth open.

I couldn't even formulate my thoughts correctly to address the comments that I thought were outright WRONG.

Starting from the bandleader and everyone who commented and "misunderstood" (whether deliberately or not) what was being asked by a POTENTIAL masquerader to boot! And it hasn't been asked once or twice before, it's been asked many times by diff rent people, which means it is a concern.

Davica said...

I am saddened not shocked by the mentality of some people. Yuh cayh blame them though they live what they learn and 120lbs is what is acceptable skinny for them and in the eyes of the world. To people who made those comments I hope yuh arse get big when you get older and then come back and tell us what it feels like. Big is BEAUTIFUL no matter what!!!!

Bands should cater for the curvier women because not everyone has the same shape and size. Costumes should be designed to cater the straight, apple and pear shapes or at least provide some alternative.

The group u cater for is small and you not going to capitalise on profits by only catering for them. At least that might cut the cost of costumes with other section options. Think about it!!

Maria said...

sexytoobadtrinijam and afro chic. the 'group' of 'skinny' women that some bands 'cater' to, is unfortunately not as small as you think. It's the 115lb to 155lb group. And if the designer wants his costume portrayed a certain way, thats his right. If yuh cyah fit in the costume, yuh cyah fit in the costume. Simple. And i'm pretty sure that de band not going to buss if you decide to 'spend your hard earned money elsewhere'.