WHY WE CANT SEE PAST BOLT’S DRESS

Over the past few weeks, a Virgin media ad featuring Usain Bolt has been creating quite a stir among Jamaicans. In the ad Bolt plays, his infant son, a teenager, his grandfather, himself and his wife. Personally, I find the ad funny and it delivers the message about the product he is selling – super fast broadband.

If there is any fault it could be that Bolt’s powerful brand to a great extent overwhelms the product he is selling but some Jamaicans would not have picked up the humor or that Bolt eclipses the broadband because they have been unable to get past the dress.

I shared the ad on my Facebook page and initially people responded by saying it was funny. To some it was funnier than it was to others who responded. Later on there were others who added a whole new dimension. To them the ad emasculates Bolt. How so? Because he wore a dress.

As the days passed, a video of an old interview done by Oprah with comedian Dave Chapelle surfaced. In it, the comic postulates that there is a plan afoot to emasculate black men who have become famous by putting them in dresses. He even told the queen of talk show hosts that they even tried it with him once and he refused. Good for him. That video was now being used to demonstrate why the Virgin ad was an attempt to emasculate Bolt. To others, it was a sign that Bolt was secretly gay. I had to laugh because it is a twisted view of how we define masculinity.

Back in September 1995 Amblin Entertainment released a film called To Wong Foo. In the film that was distributed by Universal Pictures and made US$47 million at the box office, Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo and Wesley Snipes played three drag queens who embark on a road trip. In the almost 20 years since that film was released, I can’t recall a soul accusing the late Patrick Swayze, one of the most masculine white men in modern Hollywood of being gay, nor did they describe Wesley “Blade” Snipes, one of the most masculine men period, of being gay or being emasculated because he wore a dress and make up for the role. He also had to raise the pitch of his voice several octaves.

I must admit that didn’t like the film much but it was not because the men were dressed as women. I just thought the story was weak and to be truthful I am more of an action buff. There have been other instances in the history of entertainment when men have played women in film and not just black men. Dustin Hoffman, for example, a respected white male actor played a woman in the film Tootsie back in 1982. Did that role emasculate him? I don’t think so as not only did it raise over US$177 million at the box office, it also earned 10 Academy Award nominations including Hoffman’s nomination for Best Actor in a leading role.

What is different about Bolt’s role in the commercial and the roles played by Swayze, Snipes, Leguizamo, and Hoffman ? It’s all make believe. But for some of us, Bolt in a dress is a bit too much so there has to be some sinister motive behind his decision to do so. What I have found is that there is a lot of insecurity among us as a people. The ‘grandpa’ Bolt is portrayed as a dirty old man with many girlfriends, yet we hear nothing about that. Instead we focus on the dress as if to suggest that Bolt in a dress defines who he is.

To the contrary, Bolt’s masculinity is not so fragile so as to be shattered just by him putting on a dress, even if it was done electronically via CGI. A strong man does not or should not feel the need to prove his manhood every time he steps out of this house but in this country where men, shave their eyebrows, bleach their skin and wear super-tight pastel-coloured pants that hang below their buttocks, we surely have a strange way of defining masculinity. But as a letter writer recently pointed out, it may be time for us to put our house in order. In the letter titled’ ‘Bolt man enough to strut his stuff” published by the Daily Gleaner the writer in reference to the furore created over the ad, states ‘beating up our women, hiding from our children and dodging our responsibilities are what we are known for. And nowhere is masculinity to be found in all that.”

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13 Responses to “WHY WE CANT SEE PAST BOLT’S DRESS”

Dennis Jones says:

January 17, 2014 at 2:13 pm

We are very confused and conflicted, see http://jamaicapoliticaleconomy.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/jamaica-where-the-sun-sets-in-the-east-bitcoin-drag-queens-voting-rights/ Much confusion of image and reality. But, we have also to realise that we have created demons in our minds that will stalk us. I know that Usain Bolt is also a baby running with men, and a senior citizen too, so why does he need 3 more people to do the relay… Really?
Putt says:

January 18, 2014 at 5:13 am

It is full time Black People get over their confused notion of Masculinity! Unfortunately, this is not a problem confined to Jamaicans, as Black Americans are also a part of the confusion. No one raises questions about Masculinity when a Black man goes about producing 10 children with 7 different mothers; because to be a breeder is a show of Masculinity, but a man wearing a dress is a disgrace to ones manhood: RUBBISH!
This culture is one rooted in sexism, in which women are seen as inferior and nothing more than sex object. As such for a woman to wear a suit, that is a show of strength, but for a man to wear a dress, that is a show of weakness.

But the reality is men have been wearing dress for centuries; in Shakespearean era, only men were allowed to perform in plays and so they also played the female roles. In addition, White men have been wearing dress in Hollywood movies for over a century and I do not see White men claiming their masculinity is being threatened; only Black men. It is clear Black men’s slavery experience still have them to be super defensive of their masculinity; but I will suggest they begin to see productivity AND accountability as signs of masculinity and not a matter of being macho.
It takes a real man to wear a dress! So kudos to Bolt.
Maude Cooper says:

January 18, 2014 at 10:54 am

Lord have mercy! You mean that in this day and age there are still Jamaicans who are so narrow minded that they cannot differentiate between fiction and reality, and believe that only straight men wear jacket and tie? Boy! A lot of work needs to be done here. Do they even know that only a small fraction of cross dressers is gay and the majority are really heterosexual?
djuice says:

January 18, 2014 at 1:29 pm

How has no one realized yet that Bolts head was superimposed onto to body of a woman? Just as it was for the baby and the child.. He never wore a dress..We are a truly confused group of part time supporters.
Grace McLean says:

January 19, 2014 at 12:22 pm

I notice that there are many persons who find it funny to see Usain wearing a dress in the Ad. I wonder though if it were Asafa or some other Jamaican athlete instead of Bolt, if the ad would have been considered funny. I am sure you would have heard persons saying that the athlete did it for the money. Some perhaps would have said that Usain would never be seen wearing a dress, as ‘him big already’.
elijah muhammad says:

January 21, 2014 at 9:51 am

You are missing the bigger picture of a system that wants to push an agenda, and does it by setting trends. A black man in a dress sends the wrong signal to our children, The puppet master is at play.
B morris says:

January 23, 2014 at 6:35 am

What about some African tribesmen, Fijians or Muslim men walking in the community or going to the mosque in skirts and frocks? Are they also part of the big plan to deny the Black Man’s Masculinity? Boy, The Puppet Master can sure come up with some tricks !!!
Intel signs says:

January 24, 2014 at 10:30 pm

Why do we expect anything else from a populous that is highly uneducated, undereducated, intolerant, provincial and replete with muted misogyny. Actors, prince charles, Maori warriors… The ignorance is sad
jeff says:

February 1, 2014 at 1:13 am

I don’t think so people should criticize Usain Bolt for wearing a woman dress as for me he’s acting as a comedian and it’s just for a commercial purpose . We ,as black men we have have a mentality problem USain is not the first man in the planet earth who wear a female dress so the more you people criticize The legend, is the more he’s making millions millions, millions of dollards so I don’t think so he should be crucified for acting as a comedian. BLESS GENERAL BOLT!!! CONTINUE BIG UP JAMAICA.
dallo says:

February 2, 2014 at 11:14 am

i don’t care what anybody says, this dress thing is a no no.

i don’t know how this whole situation developed, but if bolt agreed to this fiasco, then my worst fears have come through and they have gotten to him.

the blind media babies can prattle on all they want, but one of the biggest shame in america is that practically all the really big black money earners in sports and entertainment have all sold their souls to the devil.

the few who’ve balked at the idea have been white balled, a la dave chapelle.
Harvel N. Peter Brown says:

February 20, 2014 at 9:29 am

I am troubled by some of the comments and descriptive terms used to describe Jamaicans. Thanks to djuice I went to take a look at the video and notice that Usain’s head was actually superimposed on a female’s body (or so it seems). Whether or not it was is neither here nor there. I think everybodt should calm down and slow down – chill!!!
Bbukki Marshall says:

February 23, 2014 at 11:52 am

Let the foolish dogs bark at the flying birds. Pwa ha ha ha ha ha ha.
rick says:

February 25, 2014 at 1:44 pm

when some of you “great hero Dudus” was found dress as a woman to hide from police. Where was the outrage. You hypocrites. Bolt is trying to make a honest living , through talent , honesty and dignity.