We have lost our feminine side

THE EDITOR, Madam:

THE LATE Edna Manley and Lady Gladys Bustamante were very much loved public figures who displayed what now seemed a missing trait from our Jamaican society – feminine qualities. Michelle Fondin, in How to Nurture Your Feminine Side, (Chopra, February 19, 2016), says that “It is a special gift. It makes us softer, gentler, kinder, nurturing, more compassionate, and naturally loving.”

Sound systems and public transportations assault shoppers and commuters with sexually provocative lyrics without protest, for example, Alkaline’s Side Chick.

“So many things baby I wanna tell yuh ...

Like yuh p...y suh tight baby I gotta tell yuh ...

I wanna tell yuh, baby a me fi tell yuh

Whether a f..., whether a money Tell me weh yuh want honey Yuh seh fi send a pic

Me full yuh phone a pic a me b...y.”

In the political dance of futility (Jamaica Observer, November 2, 2022), I highlighted a description of the society by the director of public prosecutions (DPP), Paula Llewellyn, who said, “We are operating in an atmosphere were ... civility is being overwhelmed on occasion by this coarseness and crassness that seems to be the order of the day, at every level, and what is so tragic is that in the people who ought to know better are not aware.”

Our culture now denies the truth that we all share energy that is both male and female, and that the female provides additional balance in creating a compassionate society.

Think Tank (European Parliament) in a 2016 article, ‘Vulnerable social groups: Before and after the crisis’, identifies vulnerable social groups as “groups of people considered to be at risk of poverty or social exclusion because of physical disabilities, age factors, ethnic origins, lack of housing, or substance abuse”. The loss of emotional intelligence and caring for the vulnerable are feminine traits rooted in the ability to nurture.

Our political leaders no longer practise integrity, and our institutions that give oversight to the vulnerable and financial investments operate through coarseness and crassness, the result of the loss of feminine qualities.

Our nation, and especially our women, need to take time out to reconnect and reclaim the feminine side.

Let us all be challenged in the lyrics of songwriters Bobby Austin and Curt Sapaugh:

“You got to try a little kindness Yes, show a little kindness Just shine your light for everyone to see

And if you try a little kindness Then you’ll overlook the blindness Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets.”

DUDLEY MCLEAN II