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100 
 

Pum Pum Rule Jamaican Dance: An Analytic 
Response to the Inability to Recognize Female 

Sovereignty in Dancehall 
Leslie-Ann Fullerton 

 

“All I want to be is a Jamaican Dancehall Queen.   If this is not possible, I will be 
satisfied writing about women in Jamaican dancehall.”  - Leslie-Ann Fullerton. 

Leslie-Ann Fullerton was born and raised in a Christian home in Jamaica.  She 
later became a dedicated lover and participant of Jamaican dancehall as a 
dancehall “mogela” [model], which played an instrumental role in informing this 
essay.  Leslie-Ann is currently a 4th year student at the University of Toronto 
pursuing a double major in Caribbean Studies and Political Science.  She was the 
2012-2013 president and is currently the 2013-2014 Co-President of CARSSU.  In 
reading this essay, Leslie-Ann hopes that the reader takes the advice of 
Chimamanda Adichie and beware of “The Dangers of Telling a Single Story” about 
a people and its culture.  She implores the reader to look at women in Jamaican 
dancehall from a positive perspective.  

 Jamaican music has had a close relationship with expressing 
the island’s various socio-economic and political stages. In Chude-
Sokeis’s work, POST-NATIONALIS GEORGRAPHIES: Rasta, 
Reggae, and Reinventing Africa,1 the author traces Jamaica’s 
societal changes through music.  This includes analyzing the 
relationship between post-nationalism, Rastafarianism, Dancehall, 
and women response to these phenomenon.  Particularly, the 
emergence of dancehall introduced a rise African women 
participating in overt sexual expressions that was considered 
indecent.   In this light, dancehall was rejected by the “ideological 
underpinnings of the elite culture”2 and their desires to mold 
nationalism in Jamaica into a replica of European model.   As a 
result, dancehall songs are considered slack if it addresses sexuality 
in an “indecent or crude manner,”3 and because it “openly defied 

                                                           
1 Chude-Sokie, Louis, 1994. “Post-Nationalist Geographies: Rasta, Ragga, and 

Reinventing Africa.” The African Arts, (UCLA: James S. Coleman Published) Vol. 

27, No. 4, pp. 80-84+96  
2 Stolzoff, Norman C. 2000 “Wake the Town and Tell the People: Dancehall 

Culture in Jamaica.” (North Caolina: Duke University Press) p.68  
3 Stolzoff, Norma. C. 2000 “Wake the town and Tell the People: Dancehall 

Culture in Jamaica.” (North Carolina: Duke University press, 2000) p.104 



LESLIE- ANN FULLERTON 
PUM PUM RULE JAMAICAN DANCEHALL 

 

101 
 

protestant”4 moral values and code.  Consequently, those who 
participated in dancehall, particularly female patrons, were 
perceived as “loose—or “slack” [as is described] in the Jamaican 
vernacular.”5 This resulted in women in dancehall to be labeled 
subjected to sexual objectification by male dancehall artist.  This can 
be attributed to a class dichotomy where working class dancehall 
participants reject “Judea-Christian ideals”6 by embracing dancehall 
while the upper echelons subscribed to it.   Another way to view this 
phenomenon is appreciating the fact that through dancehall, women 
transformed themselves from occupying peripheral positions to 
creating spaces of “affirmation and power” 7 in dancehall through 
sexual expressions.  This dichotomy also renders observers unable to 
appreciate working class women actively creating a space where they 
are seen and heard in Jamaica’s post-independent atmosphere.   
Foundation female dancehall artist Lady G, Lady Saw and Tanya 
Stevens will be juxtaposed against their male counterparts to 
highlight their response to chauvinism in dancehall, and how women 
created a liberating space for themselves in dancehall where they 
could be been and heard on their terms.  This paper does not aim to 
romanticize dancehall by playing ignorant to misogynistic elements 
nor to its sexual objectification of women. Despites the persistence of 
these negative aspects, the focus of this paper is to analytically 
respond to the inability of observers to recognize female presence in 
Jamaican Dancehall as one of empowerment, liberation, and 
sovereignty.   

The Evolution of Dancehall 

 Jamaica’s polarized vision for nationalism placed women in 
pre-constructed spaces, while dancehall afforded women the 
freedom to their own space through sexual expression.  After 
decolonization, Jamaica’s elite and middle class initial idea for 
nationalism was heavily invested in “Judeo-Christian values,”8 which 

                                                           
4 Stolzoff, Norma. C Wake the Town and Tel the People. 105 
5 Cooper, Carolyn. 2004 “Lady Saw Cuts Loose:  female fertility Rituals in 

Dancehall” in Sound Clash: Jamaican Dancehall Culture at Large.” (New York: 

Palgrave Publishers) p. 355 
6 idib 
7 Chude-Sokie, Louis, 1994. “Post-Nationalist Geographies: Rasta, Ragga, and 

Reinventing Africa.” The African Arts, (UCLA: James S. Coleman Published pp. 82 

 
8 Cooper, Carolyne. “Lady Saw Cuts Loose” Female Fertility Rituals in Dancehall” 

in Sound Clash: Jamaica Dancehall Clture at large” 2004 



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dictated the proper conduct for Jamaicans.   In addition, the elites 
and middle class Jamaicans wanted European "high arts of 
literature, sculpture, and classical music” to be entrenched in 
Jamaica’s nationalism.9  Essentially, Jamaica’s racially stratified 
elites and middle class wanted to perpetuate the “European 
culture”10 that persisted after decolonization in 1962.   

 On the other hand, Rastafarianism wanted Jamaica’s 
nationalism project to be reflective of black consciousness.  
According to Chevannese, not only were Rastafarians actively 
resistant to “dominant oppressive” structures, but they were also 
advocates of Pan-Africans11 consciousness in Jamaica.  The 
popularity of reggae music provided a space for Rastafarians to 
express their socio-economical and political frustrations both locally 
and internationally.  The most notorious example of this 
phenomenon is Bob Marley the Wailers who critiqued Jamaica’s 
oppressive structure and expressed Pan-African sentiments in songs 
like “Back to Africa,” and “Rasta Waan Go Home”12 as a means to 
escape inequality.  Unfortunately, Jamaicans grew increasingly 
frustrated with the country’s socio-economic and political inequality, 
and began to reject Rastafarian music and it aim to repatriate to a 
“paradise in Africa.”13 Particularly, the African Jamaican working 
class community became more invested in “having the best time 
possible here and now with their chosen space being in the 
dancehall,"14 The watershed of Rastafarian of consciousness and the 
prominence of reggae music was marked by the death of bob Marley 
and the “stoning of Bunny Wailers,15 who was the last living member 
of the Wailers in the late 1980s.  This created a space where 
dancehall could take form and mature.  As Dancehall became 
prominent, graphic sexual expressions by males became one of its 
characteristics. What came as a surprise and discontent for some was 
that the rise of dancehall music also came with the females taking 
part in the live theatre of dancehall.  

                                                           
9 Stolzoff, Norma.C “Wake the Town and Tell the People”. P. 68 
10Stolzoff, Norma.C “Wake the Town and Tell the People”. P. 65 
11 Chevannes, Barry. Rastafari (New York: Syracuse University Press.1994) p, 

17. 
12 Chude-Sokei, Louis. 1994 POST-NATIONALIST GEOGRAPHIES Rasta, Ragga, 

and Reinventing Africa. p80.  
13 Stolzoff, Norman. C. wake the town and tell the people 99. 
14 Idib 
15 Chude-Sokie Po idib 



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103 
 

 While the elite’s vision of nationalism excluded Jamaica’s 
working-class women, black nationalisms and Rastafarianism 
tended to limit women’s voices and bodies to “some kind of 
revolutionary propriety.16  This can be seen in the supportive but 
limited role played by the I-Trees in Bob Marley and the Wailers.17  
Both elitism and Pan Africanism had pre-constructed ideas of 
nationalism; ideas that the working class women did not create for 
themselves.  In the end, the emergence of dancehall unintentionally 
achieved a sexual awakening of the black working-class women in an 
attempt to escape the limits of superimposed ideologies.  It is in this 
context that the working class women became active in creating their 
own space through sexual expressions in dancehall with a “power 
that feared both” Jamaica’s elite, middleclass, and Pan Africanist. 

Early Stage of Dancehall 

Despite the growing prominence of lyrics oriented 
toward women's sexuality and economic power in the 
1980s and early 1990S, they were still subjected to 
traditional gender ideologies.18  

What appears to be frequently missing from discourse similar to that 
of the above are women’s resistance to the constraints of gendered 
roles and how to it transformed dancehall.  The 1987 song, “Round 
Table Talk,”19 is one of the first songs that challenged gender roles in 
dancehall.  Papa San and Lady G’s collaboration in the song 
juxtaposed traditional and modern understandings of gendered 
roles. In the below excerpt, Lady G’s defiantly challenged this static 
and dated gendered mold as she transfers the gender roles duties to 
spouse becomes independent. This creates a conflict in the 
relationship.  The lyrics are as follows: 

                                                           
16 Chude-Sokei, Post-National Geographies. Rasta, reggae, and Reinventing 

Africa P.82. 
17 Idib 
18 Stolzoff, Norman, C. Wake The Town and Tell the People” p. 106. 
19 Papa San,ft Lady G. “Round Table Talk” 

1987.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UrnGOJhz_I 



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104 
 

Lady G 
One time gone you use to tell mi weh 
fi do 
Chu mi neva did a work and want fi 
please yuh, 
But now mi a work and you naaw do 
nutt’n 
Just tan inna di yaawd and help do 
supp’n 
I gwine give you a list from start to 
finish 
Stop bite yuh finga nail and start to 
practice  

Papa San’s Response 
Lady G a dis you wah dis? 
Mi is a Mr.! 
Mi look like a mistress?  
You ever si mi inna frock?  
You ever si mi ina slip ? 
Mi nuh wear make up nor put on 
lipstick 

 

As Lady G proceeds to give Papa San the list of house chores she 
expect him to complete—since she is now working and he “naaw do 
nutt’n,” which implies Papa San is unemployed—she openly 
challenged the status quo of gendered roles in Jamaican dancehall.  
Feeling “disrespected” Papa San initiates an argument in protest, 
during which both reveals their infidelities and ends the relationship.  
This song was groundbreaking. Not only did it show women rejecting 
the constraints of gendered roles it also showed women being 
sexually autonomy in their refusing and choosing partners.  

The Rise of Female Power in Dancehall. 

It is important to admit that dancehall is extremely sexual. 
This is the core reason it appeals to its audience.  One of the earliest 
and most persistent arguments against dancehall was based on its 
slack and indecent content.  According to Stolzoff, the growing 
discontent with dancehall was seen in the elite’s rejection “African 
working class social practices and the articulations in dance halls.20 
These “social practices and “articulations” in dancehall referred to 
dancehall’s highly sexually suggestive dances compounded by the 
fact that the messages expressed in dancehall were done in ‘Patois’ or 
‘Patwa’21 (Jamaican dialect) which was a characteristics of lower 
class Jamaicans.   

                                                           
20 Stolzoff, Norman.C . Wake the town and Tell the People,p. 68-77. 
21 Stolzoff, Norman.C . Wake the town and Tell the People,p. 65 

  



LESLIE- ANN FULLERTON 
PUM PUM RULE JAMAICAN DANCEHALL 

 

105 
 

Once female presence in dancehall became more prominent, 
they began to liberate themselves from the images of sexually 
accommodative and docility that was constructed by male artist. 
Take for instance this excerpt from Lady Saw’s, controversial but 
nevertheless, legendary song “The Sycamore Tree”22 which is as 
follows:                                 

Cho: 
it was under the sycamore 
tree 
A bwoy waan mi bow  
An mi tell him fi flee… 
the sun stop shinin for 
me… 

Verse 1: 
Yuh used to drop yuh hint an 
mi think yuh did a gyow 
But mi a goody goody an mi 
never know how 
Furthermore mi never 
deserve fi bow… 
So mi naw mek nuh bwoy … 

Verse 3: 
Mi love yuh but mi still 
have mi pride 
Mi a gal wi gi yuh all di 
wickedest ride… 
But a one mic mi chat pon 
Ah mi studio mic… 
 

 

In this song, Lady Saw debunks the sexually accommodative 
image of women in dancehall music. By refusing to 
“bow”23(Jamaican vernacular for oral sex), Lady Saw asserts her 
authority in determining what she is and is not willing to do sexually. 
This is a far cry from the earlier portrayal of women by male artists 
as, ‘sexual objects’24 that fulfilled their sexual desires without 
reservations.  She does, however, reassures her partner that even 
though she “nah go bow,” her capabilities to give him “di wickest 
ride”25 remains unfettered.  As far as the above excerpt illustrates, 
“dismissing” Lady Saw as a “mere victim of patriarchy …[who 
is]…robbed of all agency”26 seems to be an incomplete and lethargic 
analysis of the artist and her contribution to the dancehall industry.  
Moreover, in her collaboration with Spragga Benz in the making of 
the song “Back Shot Mi Love,”27 while Spragga Benz clearly prefers to 
be “pan top” in the missionary style, Lady Saw clearly exhibits all her 

                                                                                                                    
 
22 Lady Saw, 2001 My Way 

Lyrics”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UrnGOJhz_I 
23 Jamaican vernacular for giving oral sex. 
24 Chude-Sokei, 1994 Post-National Geographies. Rasta, reggae, and 

Reinventing Africa. 83  
25 Jamaican vernacular for satisfactory sex. 
26 Cooper, Carolyne. Lady Caw Cuts Loos. 355 
27Spagga Benz, Lady Saw“Back Shot Mi love” 2001.Way 

Lyrics”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UrnGOJhz_ 



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106 
 

agencies by being vocal about which position will provide her with 
the maximum sexual satisfaction.   

 Tanya Stephens is also another female artist who has 
challenged misogyny in dancehall and has defined women’s space in 
dancehall.  In Tanya Stephens 1996 ”You Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet,”28 
she calls into question the tendency for Jamaican males to associate 
over-exaggerated genital size and overexertion of sexual capability to 
being good lovers.  This is highlighted when Tanya Stephens’ song is 
place in the same space with that of male artist Little Lenny’s 1992 
“Bum Flick Pan Mi dick.”29  In this light, it is not difficult to imply 
her song tends to counteract Little Lenny’s idea of good love making, 
even though they were released four years apart. Below is a 
juxtaposition of Little Lenny and Tanya Stephens’ songs: 

Little Lenny: Bum Flick Pan mi Dick! 
1992 
Intro: Calling Callin all stamina worker 
Female custom brokers 
Heart Taker, Buddy breakers, 
Tantalizing whiner… 
 
Verse 1: 
Bum flick pan mi dick young gal 
Come skin out yah a wayay wayaw Rpt) 
Uhhhhhh! Yuh hear di young gyal a 
bawl 
When she get up the nine inch tall… 
My name, My name, calling out fi di 
sweetest pain… 
Gydiup Gydiup like she deh pan a 
donkey’s back… 
= Tears a shed but she still want it.. 
Every ram mi ram  di gal bawl out 
Mi buddy long like Mt. Everest…. 
The length weh mi have can buss up 
any middle… 

Tanya Stephens: Yuh Nuh Ready Fi 
Dis Yet! 1996 
Intro: Oi Mr Mention  
Ask Yuhself this question  
Unno say unno a don man  
An a unno run the program, the 
program  
Verse 1:  
Have yuh ever stop to think wha mek a 
gal cheat  
have you ever ask her if she likes how 
yuh dweet  
 Yuh need to check yuhself before yuh 
start kiss yuh teeth. 
Have yuh ever wonder what mek a girl 
cum  
A woman fus fi satisfy before yuh say 
yuh done…  
Most a unno full of pure self praise  
Hot fire dey yah but the wood naw 
blaze  
God haffi work a miracle fi mek the dead 
raise  
Round dem up and lock dem up di days  

                                                           
28 Tanya Stephens, “You Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet” Mad House Label, Jamaica 1996. 
29 Tanya Stephens, Yuh Nuh ready Fi Dis Yet Boy” Madhouse Label, Jamaica. 

1996 



LESLIE- ANN FULLERTON 
PUM PUM RULE JAMAICAN DANCEHALL 

 

107 
 

In the introduction to Little Lenny’s above song, he is heard 
rounding up random prospective “female Buddy Breakers”30 who 
may be interested in taking part in his bedroom riding sessions—
riding session because of his reference to a galloping “donkey.”  Once 
a partner is located, he proceeds to request that she becomes a 
gymnast by “Bum [in the air and] flick [so that she lands] pan mi 
dick” ready to begin copulation. The song becomes unnerving when 
he acknowledges her discomfort as “sweet tears,” which is partly due 
to the length of his manhood—of which he boast can “buss up any 
woman’s middle” section.   

 This understanding of lovemaking is standardized in 
Jamaican dancehall. In this light, Tanya Stephens’ song becomes 
pertinent because she questions Jamaican men’s sexual hubris. By 
enquiring if they really do know “how fi make a girl come,” while at 
the same time asking if a women has ever told him “she likes how 
him dweet”(or in other words makes love), Tanya Stephens 
highlights sexually incompetent men who subscribe to Little Lenny’s 
sentiments regarding sex. She also shows how their incompetence 
has influenced their sexually selfishness and over enthusiasm about 
the size of their genitals and their sexual performance. Tanya 
concludes that this kind of confidence is due to “pure self praise,” 
which has not been validated by external reviewers.  She then issues 
a final blow to chauvinism in dancehall by observing that “God have 
to work a miracle to make the dead—malfunctioning genital—raise” 
in the event of a prospective sexual encounter.  This highlights their 
sexually uselessness. In the words of Stolzoff, this marked the 
phenomenon where woman performer whose expression of sexual 
agency …threatened the dancehall status quo.31  

 The pertinence of Tanya Stephens’ song in relation to the 
sentiments expressed in Little Lenny’s “Bum Flick” should not be 
overlooked.   It speaks to the shift in power dynamic between male 
and female artist in dancehall. This is because during the process of 
creating their own space in dancehall based on their rules, women 
became liberated to the point where they could now reprimand 
misogynistic sentiments about sex without fear of backlash. Tanya’s 
above song was released in 1996, at a time when women’s presence 
in Dancehall became overwhelming powerful.  So much so, that an 

                                                           
30 “Buddy” is Jamaican vernacular for the male genital.  
31 Stolzoff, Norman.C . Wake the town and Tell the People,p.  106 



CARIBBEAN QUILT | 2013 

 

108 
 

entire industry was created to foster to the “Dancehall Diva’s32” need. 
The dancehall fashion industry has evolved to a point where women 
are now the engines of the machinery that runs dancehall. 

Dancehall Fashion Industry 

 While no women became sound system disc jockeys (DJ), 
they did however create a fashion industry that catered to women of 
the dancehall.  Based on Stolzoff’s account, this was partly due to the 
layout of the dancehall venue,33 which placed the DJ and his sound 
system on the perimeter of dancehall. This afforded dancehall 
participants the room to display their fashion and dance moves34 in a 
competitive nature. This was the space that women in dancehall soon 
took and created a space for competing and displaying their erotic 
dancing and ‘X-rated fashions,’ which attracted and maintained the 
crowd's attention. 35  

 This dancehall ambiance was successfully recreated in the 
1997 movie ‘Dancehall Queen.’ It was also successful in capturing the 
independent, strong spirit of Jamaican women36 in the dancehall 
scene on an intimate level.  Just like many Dancehall Divas, Marcia 
(the main character) was a single mother who worked as an ‘Igla’ (i.e. 
street vender).  Living in a “poverty stricken risk inner city”37 
community in Kingston, Jamaica, Marcia enters in the Dancehall 
Queen competition in order to win the prize cash out of necessity. 
She entered the competition, defeated the reigning dancehall queen, 
and wins the cash prize, but most importantly, she become famous 
after she was crowned Dancehall Queen. This movie is important 
because not only did show that any women could become a 
Dancehall Queen, but also because it informs the public of the work 
(designing clothes, hair, nails, and make up) that goes into creating a 

                                                           
32 Stolzoff, Norman.C . Wake the town and Tell the People,p. 109 
33 idib  
34 D’Elia, Suzan 2002, Speech:214 Rhetoric of Dancehall Music ( Women’s 

Fashion in Jamaican Dancehall.  

http://debate.uvm.edu/dreadlibrary/delia02.html 
35 35 Stolzoff, Norman.C . Wake the town and Tell the People,108 
36 Susan D’ Elia, 2002. Speech:214 Rhetoric of Dancehall Music (Women’s 

Fashion in Jamaican Dancehall)   

http://debate.uvm.edu/dreadlibrary/delia02.html 

 
37 Boston, Thomas, D. 1997.  The Inner City: Urban Poverty and economic 

development. P.190. 



LESLIE- ANN FULLERTON 
PUM PUM RULE JAMAICAN DANCEHALL 

 

109 
 

“Dancehall Diva.”38 At this time, women’s sovereignty in dancehall 
became undeniable. Essentially, since it showcased the economy of 
Jamaican dancehall.    

 Creating the dancehall queen persona is a collaborative 
efforts. Point in case, Jamaica’s first and most memorable Dancehall 
Queen, Carlene Davis, who rose to dancehall royalty from not so 
humble beginnings through a series of dancehall competitions 
between other dancehall divas39 in the 1990s.  A dancehall queen 
must embody dancehall fashion, dancing and, most importantly, 
attitude. In Chakca Demus and Pliers 1998 music video for their 
song “Murder She Wrote,”40 dancehall queen Carlene exhibited all 
three qualifications.  In the video, her entire outfit was gold: wig, 
over sized jewelry, small bra like blouse with ‘Ali Baba’ like sleeves, 
batty rider41 and gold knee high boots to complete the look. No doubt 
that number was a result of dancehall’s emerging fashion industry.   

 One of the most infamous designers to emerge from 
Jamaican dancehall was the Ouch Crew42who was fundamental in 
the creation of dancehall’s unique style.  With laces, straps, leather, 
sequins and chiffons materials, the Ouch Crew was one of the first 
groups to provide creatively outrageous and revealing women’s 
dancehall fashion of the 1990s as a commodified brand.  As a result, 
pieces from the Ouch brand are to be on display in Manhattan 
dancehall fashion Museum.43  As dancehall evolved over the years so 
did its fashion, as there was a moving away from shockingly 

                                                           
38 Stolzoff, Norman.C . Wake the town and Tell the People,p108 
39 Idib 
40  Chacka Demous, Pliers, 2000. Murder she wrote. (Decce, Spectrum).  
40 D’Elia, Suzan 2002, Speech:214 Rhetoric of Dancehall Music ( Women’s 

Fashion in Jamaican Dancehall. 

http://debate.uvm.edu/dreadlibrary/delia02.html 

 
41 Lewis, Linden. 2003. (The culture of gender in the Caribbean” (Florida: 

University Press of Florida). P 232 
42Campbell, Curtis: August 11, 2012The Jamaica Star (Ouch says Dancehall Has 

Lost its Culture) . http://jamaica-star.com/thestar/20120811/ent/ent1.html 

 
43 idib 



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110 
 

outrageous to fashionably outrageous ‘glammed’ up fashion that is 
know known as “swagerrific.44”  

 Modern designers emerged within the last decade to 
represent the new fashion demands in dancehall.  On one hand, 
modern designers like Melissa Dunkley of MDiz Collection,45 Martin 
‘White Sky’ Miller, and Dexter “3D” Pottinger46 has played a pivotal 
role in redefining dancehall’s fashion from mere nudity to couture 
nudity.  According to The Jamaica Star writer, Tanya C. Ellis, these 
designers pieces explore the “creations of cliché designer wear, so 
those like the D&G, the Dior's and the Prada's are now featured 
prominently on the front line at major events”47 while at the same 
time maintaining its dancehall’s flavour.  “[P]encil skirt” she 
continues, “has become the new best friend of these patrons, as they 
have come to realize that beautifully tailored fitting skirt allows 
them…to be utterly 'naked' but entirely covered,”48 which has 
allowed them to maintain sex appeal modestly. 

  On the other, the hair, make up and nail technicians has 
played a complementary role in creating the dancehall look.  In Anna 
Alissa short documentary on ‘YouTube’ by the name of “Street Side 
Salon,”49 she shows women getting the dancehall at Mathew’s Lane, 
Down Town Kingston, Jamaica.  The clip shows hair of several of 
different colours being assembled in styles and glued on women’s 
head.  In another section, the nail technicians are recorded  putting 
on nail lavishly decorated nail tips on customer’s fingers while other 
staff members of the Street Side Salon are viewed attaching on lashes 
and eyebrows on different customers.  The nature of these styles 
screams dancehall and is designed for women who subscribe to the 
social practices of dancehall.  Admittedly, there are solons located in 
he upper echelons of Jamaica. However, the adornment services that 
these salons provide tend to be a bit too tamed for dancehall, and are 
more suitable for the club scenes, not dancehall. 

                                                           
44 Urban dictionary (A person’s style; the way they walk, talk, dress). 

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=swagger 
45http://styleweekjamaica.blogspot.ca/2009/05/mellisa-dunkleys-

collection.html 
46 Ellis, Tanya. The Jamaica Star: The Changing Image of dancehall (January 19, 

2008) http://jamaica-star.com/thestar/20080119/ent/ent4.html  
47 Ibid 

 
49 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te4PkUrAVJM 

 



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111 
 

 Dancehall dancing has, as well, evolved from its original 
state.  One of dancehall queen Carlene’s legacies is Jamaica’s 
internationally acclaimed Dancehall Queen Completions.  Jamaica 
has had several Jamaican dancehall queens such as Mad Michel, 
Keivea, Stacey, and Latisha,50 but there was one unlikely Jamaican 
dancehall queen.  Originally from Japan, Junko won the Dancehall 
Queen competition in 2002 at a time when dances moves like 'Log 
On', 'Zip it Up', 'Angel Dance', 'On Line', 'Screechy', and 'Drive By'51 
was popular in dancehall.  Since then, international competitors 
have entered the competition in an attempt to be crowned Jamaica’s 
Dancehall queen.  Dancers with associate degree in performing Arts 
like “Dance Expressions has won Jamaica Cultural Development 
Commission (JCDC) nationals for dance, speech and drama every 
year,52 for several years, but is also active on the dancehall scene.   
Dance Expressions can be seen in Mr. Vegas’ song, “Bruk It Dung”53 
doing extensive pelvic thrusting with unbelievable precisions and 
speed, and head top dancing.”54  Moreover, after a night of displaying 
fashion and dance moves, one of the beneficial aspects of dancehall 
is late night jerk chicken with two slices of bread and a cup of soup to 
replenished dancehall patrons.  This is another industry that is 
derived from female presence in dancehall, as women tend to be the 
one cooking and selling these delights.  

An Observer’s Oversight 

 In Carolyn Cooper’s “Lady Saw Cuts Loose,” she response to 
American anthropologist’ Obiagele Lake accusations that Lady Saw 
“internalizing sexist norms,”55 and in so doing, has perpetuated the 
victimization of women in dancehall. While Suzan D’Elia hold’s that 
“the average Jamaican woman is not interested in the level of 
sophistication that American or European women are concerned 
with.”56 This paper tends to be more supportive to Cooper’s 

                                                           
50 Henry, Krishna. 2002http://jamaica-

star.com/thestar/20060623/ent/ent1.html 
51 Ibid 
52 Asher, Kesi, 2005 http://jamaica 

gleaner.com/gleaner/20051014/ent/ent6.html 
53 Mr. Vegas. 2012 (Mr. Vegas Music/ VPAL) CD Reggae. 
54 Stol Stolzoff, Norman.C . Wake the town and Tell the People,p110 
55Cooper, Carolyne. Lady Caw Cuts Loos. 355 
56 D’Elia, Suzan 2002, Speech:214 Rhetoric of Dancehall Music ( Women’s 

Fashion in Jamaican Dancehall. 

http://debate.uvm.edu/dreadlibrary/delia02.html 



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explanation.  According to Cooper, Lake’s understanding of Lady 
Saw is a result of her “unseasoned American ear”57 which lacks the 
cultural priming of Jamaican female sexuality from an historical 
perspective.  Cooper’s responded by making an historical argument 
claiming Lady Saw is a “woman who knows the power of her own 
sexual appeal…and…speaks the truth about her society.”58  Cooper’s 
argument finds its base in making the connection to African 
Jamaican’s historical relationship with the understanding of sex and 
unconstrained sexuality to have been extended beyond the bounds of 
colonialism.  

 One reason why subscribers of Western understanding of 
sexuality tends to be unable to interpret women in Jamaican 
dancehall as appositive  form of  sexual expression may be found in 
analyzing their historical understanding of female sexuality.  
According to Carol A.B. Warren, “medical control of female sexuality 
is part of our western cultural heritage, involving both the woman’s 
physical body and her social place.”59 This “space” includes the 
“marriage bed, the house hold, and private spaces” 60during the 
Victorian age. In more specific terms, a woman was suspected of 
suffering from the sickness known as “hysteria,” if she was “gnashing 
of teeth, rolling of eyes, loss of voice, and choking.”61 It is useful to 
note that some of these characteristics are now known to be 
expressions of fatigue or frustration. As a cure for hysteria, the 
doctors believed that applying “genital stimulatory treatment [to] 
causes orgasm, and thus released the retained matter62 from the 
woman. This form of treatment was, however, mired in the 
controversies of “Judeo-Christian” narratives, which believed this 
approach was altogether too sexual, not very clerical63 and was 
eventually stopped. Clearly, Warren’s work shows that the West has 
a strong history in the sexual repression of women.  This provides 
one reason why it is problematic to superimpose on Jamaican 

                                                                                                                    
 
57 Cooper 57 Cooper, Carolyne. Lady Caw Cuts Loos. 365 
58 Cooper, Carolyne. Lady Caw Cuts Loos. 367 
59 Warren. A.B. Carol. 2004. Genetal surgeries and stimulation in Nineteenth 

Century Psychiatry (Emeral Publishing group Limited) 165. 
60 Ibid 
61 Warren, Carol A.B Warren, 2004 "GENITAL SURGERIES AND STIMULATION IN 

NINETEENTH CENTURY (by Elsevier Ltd.All rights) p. 69 
62 Warren. A.B. Carol. 2004. Genetal surgeries and stimulation in Nineteenth 

Century Psychiatry (Emeral Publishing group Limited) 165. 
63 ibid 



LESLIE- ANN FULLERTON 
PUM PUM RULE JAMAICAN DANCEHALL 

 

113 
 

dancehall diva’s a Western perspective of what constitutes for correct 
and decent sexual expressions. 
  

Another reason why observers fail to recognized female 
sovereignty in dancehall is that it has tendencies to encourage 
“covert and overt violence against women.”64  On Sunday, September 
10, 2010, The Jamaican Observer reported that Bounty Killer “used a 
hammer to beat”65 his companion in the head.  He was charged for 
assault, but the case was eventually “thrown out”66 due to a lack of 
evidence.  Another example of violence against women is Tracey 
Bennett’s and Captain Barkley’s murder. They were killed by Tracey’s 
estranged ex-husband on Saturday, October13, 2012 in New York.67  
Though this happened in New York, Captain Barkley was a Jamaica 
dancehall artist and both were dancehall patrons.  Though these two 
examples did not take place in the dancehall arena. They are, 
however, connected with dancehall and are examples of what can 
transpire in dancehall, perhaps not in practice, but more so in 
principle. 
  

In conclusion, this paper aims to analytically respond to the 
inability to recognized female sovereignty in dancehall through 
sexual expressions. The fact that the dancehall arena was the first 
place Jamaican working class woman68 actively created a space for 
themselves s in a post-independent atmosphere made this a place of 
liberation from societal constraint.  Even though foundation female 
artist provide social commentary of Jamaica’s inequalities, they have 
and continued to be viewed as “consistently slack and indecent.”69  

                                                           
64 Paul, Annie. Brathwaite, Kamau. 2007.Caribbean Culture: Soundings on) 378 

Braithwaite 
65 http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Bounty-Killer-arrested-

again_7977043 

 
66 Harison, Crystal.The Jamaica Star (Bounty Killer's 'Hammer' Case Thrown Out) 

 http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=26128 

 
67THE JAMAICA STAR, SUNDAY OCTOBER 14, 2012 (Captain Barky shot dead 

J'can deejay and female companion cut down in Bronx motel parking IN BR 

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Captain-Barkey-shot-dead_12749400 

 
68 Stolzoff, Norman.C . Wake the town and Tell the People,p109 
69 Cooper, Carolyne. Lady Saw Cuts Loos.362. 



CARIBBEAN QUILT | 2013 

 

114 
 

Unfortunately, Lady Saw’s reputation of being ‘slack’ has masked the 
strength and insight she displayed by tackling issues of infertility in 
her song “No Less Than A Woman,”70 which is a topic that has been 
an elephant in Jamaica’s room for too many years.  As stated by 
D’Elia,  “although the dancehall scene is a male dominated one, it is 
the female, like a queen, who reigns supreme.” 71  
  
 If women’s presence is void in a dancehall session, no one 
will remain in the party.  In addition, dancehall provides female 
participants with opportunity for economic mobility by becoming a 
dancehall artist, dancehall diva, dancehall queen, dancehall dancers’ 
and even dancehall cooks.  One reason why the idea of women 
achieving liberation and empowerment in dancehall is difficult to 
accept from outside observers is because of the different 
understanding of sex and sexual expressions.72 These observers 
tends to look at women in dancehall as victims of sexual objects 
while not being able to see how women’s response to these 
understandings has changed the discourse in dancehall. A third 
reason is the possible abuse that women can experience in the 
dancehall, but if one is truthful, one will admit the prospect of this 
possibility in any industry.   Perhaps if there were a departure from 
the practice of measuring dancehall women and their willingness to 
sexually express themselves in reference to European women, then 
the point of contention would become less rigid. 
 
 
 

 

 

  

                                                           
70 Lady Saw, “No Less Than a Woman” 

2007http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ggirUh6Jmo 
71 D’Elia, Suzan 2002, Speech:214 Rhetoric of Dancehall Music (Women’s 

Fashion in Jamaican Dancehall).   

http://debate.uvm.edu/dreadlibrary/delia02.html 

 

 

 



LESLIE- ANN FULLERTON 
PUM PUM RULE JAMAICAN DANCEHALL 

 

115 
 

CITATIONS 

Alissa, Anna.  December 3, 2010. Street Side Salon. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te4PkUrAVJM 

 

Asher, Kesi, October 14, 2005  Jamaica Gleaner, Dance Expressions 

speaks body language”  

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20051014/ent/ent6.html 

 

Boston, Thomas, D. 1997.  The Inner City: Urban Poverty and economic 

development. 

Campbell, Curtis: August 11, 2012The Jamaica Star (Ouch says 

Dancehall Has Lost its Culture). 

http://jamaica-star.com/thestar/20120811/ent/ent1.html 

 

Chude-Sokie, Louis, 1994. “Post-Nationalist Geographies: Rasta, Ragga, 

and Reinventing Africa.” The African Arts, (UCLA: James S. Coleman 

Published) Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 80-84+96  

Cooper, Carolyn. 2004 “Lady Saw Cuts Loose:  female fertility Rituals in 

Dancehall” in Sound Clash: Jamaican Dancehall Culture at Large.” (New 

York: Palgrave Publishers) 

 

Ellis, Tanya. The Jamaica Star: The Changing Image of dancehall 

(January 19, 2008) 

 http://jamaica-star.com/thestar/20080119/ent/ent4.html  

 

Harison, Crystal.The Jamaica Star (Bounty Killer's 'Hammer' Case 

Thrown Out) http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=26128 

Henry, Krishna. 2002 The Jamaica Star: “Junko makes Japan dance” 

http://jamaica-star.com/thestar/20060623/ent/ent1.html 

Lewis, Linden. 2003. “The culture of gender in the Caribbean” (Florida: 

University Press of Florida). P 232 

 

Stolzoff, Norma. C. 2000 “Wake the town and Tell the People: Dancehall 

Culture in Jamaica.” (North Carolina: Duke University press, 2000) 

p.104 

  



CARIBBEAN QUILT | 2013 

 

116 
 

Paul, Annie. Brathwaite, Kamau. 2007.Caribbean Culture: Soundings 

on) 378. 

 

The Jamaican Star: September 19, 2010. “Bounty Killer Arrested Again:  

Deejay Accused of eating Girlfriend”. 

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Bounty-Killer-arrested-

again_7977043 

 

THE JAMAICA STAR, SUNDAY OCTOBER 14, 2012 (Captain Barkey shot 

dead J'can deejay and female companion cut down in Bronx motel 

parking IN BR http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Captain-Barkey-

shot-dead_12749400 

 
1Lady Saw, “No Less Than a Woman” 2007 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ggirUh6Jmo 

 

Urban dictionary (A person’s style; the way they walk, talk, dress). 

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=swagger 

 

Sytle week Jamaica. May 14 , 2009. 

http://styleweekjamaica.blogspot.ca/2009/05/mellisa-dunkleys-

collection.html 

 

Warren, A.B. CAROL "GENITAL SURGERIES AND STIMULATION IN 

NINETEENTH CENTURY PSYCHIATRY", (ed.) Marcia Segal, Vasilikie 

Demos, and Jennie Jacobs Kronenfeld, in Gendered Perspectives on 

Reproduction and Sexuality (Advances inGender Research, Volume 8), 

Emerald Group Publishing Limited.  

 

 

 

 


