Band launch season is in full swing. Sections are being sold out, people are complaining that costume prices are TOO DAM HIGH. However while the masses are getting excited for March 2014, a persistent little stink of ugly keeps rearing its head…band discrimination
Yea I said it,DISCRIMINATION,dressed up in bedazzled frontline bra of “EXCLUSIVITY.”
It has come to my attention that bands are fighting for the “it crowd” and are being selective on who they “allow.” Committee members want a certain look and social class to represent their band. To translate you can’t appear “rough.” Under the veil of exclusivity some bands even hold invite only private viewings and registration. Let Facebook commentators on the popular Trinidad Carnival Diary page tell it, the defined “look” bands are chasing after ultimately comes down to a certain skin tone, and economic standing (middle to upper class).
Many people justify this practice claiming it’s nothing more than a “marketing strategy,” after all brands are entitled to hone in on their target market right?
Call it what you want but excluding someone on the basis of their economic standing and or appearance is discrimination. Ex: When a bouncer turns away a “fat chick” at Marquee, said chick can sue on the basis of discrimination.
Many people fail to see it as such mainly because discrimination based on a person’s physical attractiveness has become a societal norm. Let’s face it to some (as crazy as it sounds), it’s not real discrimination so long as the “pretty people” from each race is represented right? The aesthetic undesirables will just have to deal with it. This seems to be the mindset that allows this practice to occur.
A lot of folks are readily buying into this strategy because the privilege of being hand selected validates their self worth. “Band X” chose me, “Designer Y” chose me to be in her frontline! We all tryna get chose right? I totally understand.
I’m not knocking you if that’s your thing but you’ll never catch the kid trying to feign acceptance from anyone.Carnival for me is about letting yourself go, having the best vibes with NO pretenses. When looking for a band I only need three very SIMPLE things 1) good vibes 2)above and beyond customer service 3)abundance of top shelf drinks on the road that never run out. It’s that easy.
As much as Trinidadians claim that Carnival is about jumping up together as one, that in itself has become ironic.
For those unfamiliar with Carnival the 101 video below does a good job of capturing ALL aspects of Carnival culture…
