Victim Or Villain....

The April 19th concert at the prominent Club Zen featured spotlight celebrity Akon. Without any doubts, promoters expected that fans by the thousands would flock to all four levels of the club to adore the Hip-Hop star. Indeed, Akon did quite a show; one which harbours controversies to this date. However, the controversies did not merely surround the behaviour of the Grammy nominate. Fourteen year old Danah Alleyne was also encompassed in the stir-up of lewd dancing. Some people lashed out at Akon saying that Danah had fell victim of a sexual predator who bore a disguise as a luminary, while others seemed unbothered by the incident saying that it is the norm of Trinidadians in a fete. As time passed, the teen became the prime subject and Akon eventually faded from the topic. Was Danah a victim of assault and on-stage embarrassment by an artiste or was she a villain in a fete?

Like any other teenager, Danah was simply attempting to enjoy the вЂ?teeny bopper’ life: вЂ?liming’ with friends, consuming alcohol, experimenting with drugs and partying. As a teen, one would long for freedom that has no limits. Some teens are fortunate enough to enjoy limitless parental control while others may have restrictions with regards to their freedom. In either case, the level of freedom may be considered insufficient, thus the reason why teens want more freedom to do things. They do not want to hear what is right or wrong. They simply want their way; and that is how a teen may always try to вЂ?take a yard when given an inch’. I strongly believe that is the nature of adolescents. The social urges drive and influence them such that they would do almost anything to get their way, like Danah вЂ" just a teen participating in a social event which is a norm in today’s society. However, it is the parents who need to oversee our teens and guide them onto the right path and not allow them to follow the wrong path. As parents we must exercise certain levels of control over these youngsters because at such a tender age they are vulnerable and fragile. Danah was vulnerable to participate in such event and her fragility caused her embarrassment. She would have known that the incident would be jeering at her.

On the other hand, nothing is wrong with being a teen and doing the things teens do. In Danah’s case what was wrong was the fact that Danah lied to her father and misled him to believe that she would have been at a particular location when in fact she had no plans of being there. What was even worst was that Danah managed to pull off a �stunt’ that granted her access into an adult nightclub to participate supposedly in mature recreation which was to be performed by an international icon. Furthermore it was presumed that the club had a responsibility to the general public to hinder entrance of underage people. But did the club fall short in its duties? Did Danah give the bouncer a little �tip’ to gain her entrance? It is hard to believe that she would clamber a wall or crawl through a fence to get into the club. Nonetheless, it does not make much difference whether or not the club had fulfilled its duties because Danah seems to be accustomed to gaining entrance into these mature adult recreational facilities. At least those who had personal interactions with her would tend to agree.

The pressures of being the daughter of a pastor may have been significantly nerve-racking for Danah. Why? Everyone would expect her to trace her father’s footsteps. She is not supposed to be feting and partying, dressing as though she is posing for Playboy and certainly she is not supposed to be simulating sex acts. At least those followers of her father and other religious people would agree. However, we live in a cosmopolitan society. We are mixed; our culture, religion, ethnic, tribes and nationality fabricate a mixed society. Consequently, there is an invasion of various types of practices and norms that enter the atmosphere of this mixed society and conversely, most religions prohibit such practices and norms. We Trinis love to fete. We hear the great Akon is expected to land on our soils for a concert; who would not want to see him? Well definitely the younger generation would scuttle to Zen to adore Akon and that is merely what Danah did.

On the other hand, if you are a pastor’s daughter, one would expect you to have a certain level of social conduct. It is understandable that as a teen you would want to do the teenage stuff but dressing like a prostitute then lying to Daddy about going to an adult club where you portray sexual simulations with a superstar is not exactly normal teen socializing. Society is already on a stake, that is, it seems that way to those who believe that there is more to life than dressing in very little clothes, feting, wining and drinking until dawn. Moreover, Danah should have set an example for her peers. Self respect is very hard to earn but easy to lose. At that point in time Danah did not seem to realize that she was being stripped of her respect. Moreover if the show had not been revealed to the public but was left as a �whatever happens there remains there’; Danah would not have felt disrespected and embarrassed. However if she has little respect for herself when she dresses with earthiness and �dry-humps’ a songster on stage, she should at least have the respect for the well renowned religious leader that her father is. As a pastor’s daughter, one can be pardoned from mistakes such as interacting with the opposite sex or ditching school but embarrassment towards one’s father by allowing one to be the centre of such �entertainment’ is, without a doubt too much to be pardoned for.

It is the norm of us Trinis to dress the way Danah had dressed on that night, exposing excessive skin. It is even more normal to clothe in attire that partly or almost completely reveal private body parts. For crying out loud, if you stepped into a club clad in a kaftan (Arab dress) it may not be much of a surprise if you get kicked out of the club. Moreover, in institutions and facilities whereby dress-codes are in effect, those codes include skin exposition which can allow some very vile attire. On the whole, whether religion, parents or people who prohibit this type of clothing, it is has become a custom in society. Every where we go, it is accepted. Maybe, the intensity of skin exposure and vulgarity would depend on the

...