THEY cut across the racial and cultural divides – those gyrating, gesticulating contortionists who get on stage in places of public entertainment and replicate formerly unimaginable positions of the sex act so explicitly, that they leave nothing to the imagination.
No wonder so many marriages are going on the rocks, because the average housewife cannot begin to compete with the sensational acrobatics on public display, which may or may not be doable, but which send wrong signals on the priorities of adult relationships, and to the young adults in societies.
And the lyrics of the songs, many of them sung by women, who certainly cannot be used as role models, because they announce that they are primarily objects to appease men’s lust, mere receptacles for incidental spermatozoa – these lyrics go beyond the suggestive.  They are tasteless, vulgar, demeaning to the feminine gender, and destructive to the psyche.
What is absolutely sad is that these songs (sic) are sung by young children, and everyone is aware that sentiments are absorbed best through songs.  The lewd gyrations are also mimicked by youngsters, even toddlers.  Parents, who either do not know or do not care of the effects of these actions on the psychological make-up of their children, are often amused at this simulation of the sex act by their little ones.
So how does a young child recognise that they are in imminent danger of being sexually abused if such a scenario within the framework of what is supposed to be his/her secure environment – their home, or their school, hallmarks normal family activity?  One step beyond may not seem at all strange or wrong to a sexually exploited child.
There is a local television station which churns this bilge out relentlessly, day in and day out and, believe it or not, it is probably the most-watched television channel.  And when mom and dad are watching, so are the children.
What was encouraging during the children’s Mashramani activities this year was a marked change from the lawlessness and lewdness of the previous years, when the children were encouraged to mimic the adults, to well-choreographed items that were a delight to behold, and which far surpassed anything the adults put on display – which most often were themselves – in all their glorious mountains of shaking rolls of fat.
What was absolutely horrifying one year was the item adjudged the winner in the singing category.  With all the songs, so well sung, carrying relevant messages of safe sex, stop the abuse, etc, the winning entry epitomised all that is degenerate in the society.
Maybe we need to look at the backgrounds of our judges and their priorities in life.
Mashramani is the one event that fully embraces the Guyanese nation in totality, and whatever is portrayed, at least through an official mandate, must be reflective of where we are as a society.
While one does not want to be categorised as a morals police, it is certainly essential that we determine where we want to go as a nation and not emulate the formations that celebrations in other lands assume if they are destructive to the national psyche and identity.
Guyana’s identity and strength are rooted in the diversity of its peoples’ cultures, but each of those cultures is by and in itself grounded in strong moral ethos and resonances, peculiar to themselves, but with a common thread that uplifts the human spirit.