ENTITY · PERSON
Donna P. Hope
Well supported
Jamaican cultural-studies scholar at the University of the West Indies, Mona, and founder of the Dancehall Archive and Research Initiative, whose books 'Inna di Dancehall' (2006) and 'Man Vibes: Masculinities in the Jamaican Dancehall' (2010) analyse identity, gender and masculinity in dancehall culture.
At a glance
- Type
- person
- Confidence
- Well supported
- Era
- Open era →
Connections
Debate & reception
How people argued about the music — praise, criticism and public debate. See all debate & reception →
debate
Video vixen culture in dancehall: creative opportunity and visibility or exploitation and typecasting?
Jamaican video vixens and the trade press covering them have documented two neutral positions on the role. Some, including performers who have parlayed video work into recording careers, frame it as a legitimate craft and entry point offering visibility, income and a degree of choice over which bookings to accept. Others point to the absence of standard contracts, inconsistent pay, and a lingering 'eye candy' typecasting inherited from the wider video-vixen phenomenon that first took shape in US hip-hop. Neutral framing; no verdict. Sources: Jamaica Star; DancehallMag; Wikipedia entry on the video vixen phenomenon.
Stance: creative opportunity, visibility and a career pathway vs exploitation, informal working conditions and typecasting
debate
Women behind the mic: equal airtime for female selectors and broadcasters?
Jamaican and diaspora broadcasting produced pioneering women on air - Ranking Miss P became the first host of a dedicated reggae show on BBC Radio 1, and Elise Kelly has held a marquee IRIE FM slot for decades - yet commentators have long noted that selecting and radio hosting in reggae and dancehall remain fields where men vastly outnumber women. Some point to these visible examples as evidence of real opportunity; others argue that a handful of prominent names does not equal parity across stations, sound systems and countdown shows. Neutral framing; no verdict. Sources: Wikipedia (Ranking Miss P); dancehallreggaeworld.com (Elise Kelly profile); Donna P. Hope, scholarship on gender in dancehall.
Stance: visible pioneers as evidence of real opportunity vs a broadcasting field still numerically dominated by men