The soca hit, Kick Een She Back Door, by Onyan and the Burning Flames has garnered much opposition from women's groups and feminists in the Caribbean since its 2012 release. Organizations such as Red Thread, Women Against Rape (WAR) and Code Red For Gender have all argued that the song's lyrics advocate violence against women and rape. There have been calls for its banning in the band's native Antigua, as well as in Guyana, Grenada and most recently, Trinidad & Tobago.
The song seems to be gaining more popularity in T&T in recent months although it was released more than a year ago. I don't have any questions about the song's violent nature - I'm not even sure sexual innuendo is an accurate description. Yet, the recent petition calling for a ban on the song in T&T has me asking, Why? Why this song in particular?
My contention with the call for the ban is this: what about all the
other songs that advocate violence against women, rape, hyper-masculinity and reinforce dangerous gender stereotypes more subtlety? Don't these songs collectively have as much
influence as this one overtly violent song?
