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SEXY in the Caribbean
I was engaging in one of my favorite activities – people watching.
From the balcony at Excellent City Mall in Port of Spain, from
a seat at Grantley Adams International, from a discreet vantage
point at the Blue Coral building in Castries, I was watching the
eyes of men track women. I was stealthily following those wondering,
wandering eyes; the Bond girls had nothing on me (well
except maybe that trademark belted bikini, but let’s not get sidetracked).
Some eyes evaded me behind sunglasses and under
the down-curved visors of caps. But many eyes were blatantly
shaded with desire, admiration, curiosity, more desire, and obviously
other things which I lacked the instrument to interpret. As I surveilled,
I imagined a constellation of red laser dots where these trained gazes targeted
the female anatomy and I was indeed grateful for protective gear.
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, they say. And who are these elusive
beholders that I’d been covertly observing? In this case – our Caribbean
men. After playing maco (which by the way is a valid ethnographic
method), I questioned three hundred men hailing from Jamaica, at the
crest of the archipelago, all the way down to mainland Guyana. Call it
zafè moun, but I wanted to know! I needed to know what Caribbean men
found sexy in their women, barring the North American ideals which are
presented in the media daily. Of the men I spoke to, many were eager to
share, some wanted guaranteed anonymity, but all had some great things
to say about us Caribbean
belles. Here’s the Sexy
Scoop…
Physically feat
 That junk in the trunk
appears to be nothing
short of booty – a treasure!
Over one quarter
of the men identified it
as the sexiest body part. The heavy T-bumper, apple bottoms, the bam
bam – by any name it still refers to a proud Caribbean derriere. Curves,
breasts, and face follow.
Damn those genes!
The information I’m about to disclose
does not warrant you emptying your closets
and dashing wildly to the mall. Be a
smart recessionista, and work with what
you’ve got.
I declare that Caribbean women should
wear the pants in their relationships! And
this is in no way about emasculation; it’s
just that our guys really seem to love their
women in pants. The most popular forms
mentioned were jeans and shorts, and
they were preferably tight and white. And
despite the ‘leave a little to the imagination’
notion, more guys chose skimpies
above skirts and dresses. Skimpies include
carnival costumes, swimsuits, short skirts
and wrap skirts.
Kiss n Makeup
- 58% ‘I Prefer no Makeup’
- 38 % ‘I Don’t Mind a Little’
- 4% ‘I Like Makeup on a woman’
No surprise there. Most of the men preferred
a natural girl. Makeup wreaks havoc
on their clothes (providing evidence of
sneakiness), and men worry about who
lurks under that mask if you’re always
made up. The most disliked cosmetics
seem to be face powder and colorful/
over the top eye makeup and lipstick. Lip
gloss, eyeliner and nail polish were generally
considered fine.
Slim = Sexy ?
In the US, size 0 is in and women there
are struggling to attain or maintain this
weight to be relevant. Most of the guys
I questioned (80%) did not believe that
a woman had to be slim to be sexy. This
further proves that they really love those
curves. Besides, how exactly do you fit
a Caribbean derriere into a size double
zero?
However, many guys did wish to comment
on obesity as a growing problem.
They advised women to pay attention to
their diets, exercise routines and general
health.
Importance of Looks
The magic number is 6.6, a little passed
the halfway mark in the looks department.
In choosing a soul mate most of the guys
would prefer an above average looking
woman. Most men made sure to mention
that other characteristics were more important
though. In the words of a particular
gentleman, “After beauty fades, what
keeps us men going is the intelligence,
sense of humor, support and just the natural
flavor of a Caribbean woman.”
Too much Pressure!
 Most men felt that the women were being
pressured by the North American media
to be a version of the “blonde, blue eyed,
stick figures.” 35% of those questioned,
however, felt that there was no media
pressure and some went on to comment
that Caribbean women should aspire to
the ideals presented on television and
magazines.
Keep It Real
There was great consistency in the comments
or pieces of advice to Caribbean
women. The majority said‘Be yourselves’
‘Keep it real’ ‘Stay natural’ and ‘Love
yourself ’. This may be an indication that
our men like women who are comfortable
in their own skins.
So the espionage is done (for now), the
mission is completed and these are my
findings. Simply put, we are sexy to our
Caribbean men without any drastic overhauls
and with a dash of confidence.
While we continue to find flaws and pick
at imperfections, they’re picking us up on
their radars and are loving the view. 
- Pilaiye Cenac- Come lime with me at http://pilaiye.wordpress.com/
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