Rastafari Reasoning and the Rasta Woman: Gender Constructions in the Reshaping of Rastafari Livity

Abstract

Royster reviews Rastafari Reasoning and the Rasta Woman: Gender Constructions in the Reshaping of Rastafari Livity by Jeanne Christensen.

Rastafari Reasoning and the Rasta Woman: Gender Constructions in the Reshaping of Rastafari Livity AUTHOR: JEANNE CHRISTENSEN PUBLISHER: LANHAM, MD: LEXINGTON ISBN: 978-0-7391-7573-6, PRICE: HARDCOVER, $24.00

REVIEWER: D. ROYSTER

The book Rastafari Reasoning and the RastaWoman draws from ethnographic research on various "houses" of the Rastafarian movement without the intention to make generalizations, but to place an emphasis on women because "Rastawomen often had to struggle to become full partners in the movement" (p. 4). The text functions as a primer for both scholars and lay audiences to intellectually engage with the external struggles of the Rastafarian movement in response to Western hegemonic expansionism and modernization and their internal struggle in terms of gender equity.

Christensen begins the book with a descriptive narrative of the African Diaspora in the New World by way of English colonialism as a "double death" through slavery which first broke the enslaved social ties away from Africa and the cultural capital needed to affirm their identity and second the prolonged process of dehumanization as involuntary immigrants. Although Christianity was introduced to Africans in Diaspora in the West through the context of slavery with the intent to foster an ideal work ethic for slaves; Africans instead re-appropriated Christian symbols and accounts into means for survival and ultimately empowerment. Furthermore, the exercise of syncretic religiosity became the norm as Africans in the West practiced traditional African spirituality in secret at night. In the context of Jamaicans of African descent, rituals and beliefs which derived from their ancestor's instructions included healing rites and a variety of other means for cultural preservation with the intent to provide resistance against the coercive powers and to serve the community.

Throughout the text, Christensen exposes root causes of Rastafarian culture's androcentric malefemale relations. The author debunks the myth of enmity between men and women of African descent which produced mistrust and provoked such men to resort to control tactics against such women as a way of life. Nevertheless, the book primarily addresses the struggle that Rasta women endure as wedged between the effects of "mental slavery" best described as the psychological denial of one's natural identity and the "gender restrictions" placed on them from some sectors within the Rastafari movement. Such women embody the challenges of the consequence of such liberation. Societal in-group responses frequently attempt to negate feminine assertiveness and progressive quests for change. The author draws parallels between Rastafarianism and feminism as having common ground in terms of resistance against old norms of passive acceptance of gender subordination.

A unique feature of the book exists in its comparison of Rastafarianism to Christianity. The most significant common ground between the two traditions lies in the idea of how segments of Christianity embrace black-nationalism like the Rastafarian movement. Just as Christianity contains a plurality of denominations and ideological paradigms, Rastafarianism contains multiple branches or houses which contain significant variations in terms of its accompanying normative gender roles.

The book presents the Five Dimensions of Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) as a foundational blueprint for what would become of the Rastafarian millenarian movement which soon followed. "The Rastafari turned away from the paternalism of the middle class in Jamaica toward their true 'father' in Africa. They expressed this withdrawal by advocating repatriation to Africa or an alternative reality for themselves in Jamaica" (53). The alternate reality functions as an eschatological trajectory that aims for either secessionism. In other cases egalitarianassimilation becomes preferred with the exception that such practice exist only pragmatically in terms of economic survival, nevertheless when assimilation occurs the allegiance does not rest with England, the colonized conditions of Jamaica, but ultimately with Africa. Collectively, the Rastafarian way prefers selfemployment, independence from the colonial system, and the ability to maintain one's identity including through the occupation.

Scholars and lay readers alike should expect to gain insight into the reality of the Rasta experience, Africanderived religiosity, liberation theology and feminism within the Afro-Caribbean context. In addition, Christensen stresses that the arts played a role in more than mere entertainment but contained political implications in the tradition of the Rasta culture, pan-Africanism, Black Nationalism or a combination of the three. The central theme of Rastafarian culture's literature and music entails protest, resistance, self-determination, and racial solidarity.

The book lacks an explanation of how slavery in the Caribbean differed from that in the U.S. by the idea that the conditions in the Isles of the Caribbean were overall more favorable for the survival of African culture. However, Rastafari Reasoning and the RastaWoman provides readers with a glimpse of the challenges women face within the Rasta women in terms of social status, economic opportunities, and micro-level power restrictions and how such women have transcended such invisible barriers with respect to the same restrictive but sacred heritage.