COSMETIC surgery is a growing trend among women. However, reggae singer Etana has come out blazing against the practice in her latest single The Way I Are (Natural Woman).
“We don’t need to try to fit into narrow stereotypes of how a woman should look. We should not objectify ourselves to please men. So we’re going to create a dance video for women, appreciating the way they are for The Way I Are; it is a celebration of culture, ethnicity and womanhood,” she said Released in June, The Way I Are is produced on the Freemind Music.
Etana said plans are underway to shoot a video to promote the single in the Caribbean and the wider diaspora, by using the song to make a statement about the body image of women.
“I am going to do a dance video with women from all over the Caribbean doing their different indigenous dance moves, to show the beauty of the female form. L’Antoinette Stines has a dance group developed by dance groups all over the Caribbean; they are trying to link the Caribbean dance groups together and show the strength of the Caribbean woman, a movement I support,” she said.
“We are going to do an official video to further promote the song using images from the dance video as well as images of me performing the song,” she continued.
Stines is the founder of 32-year-old dance troupe, L’Acadco.
Etana (given name Shauna McKenzie) won Female Vocalist of the Year, Song of the Year for I Rise, and the Marcus Garvey Humanitarian Award for her charity work at last year’s International Reggae and World Music Awards. She is known for hits including I Am Not Afraid, I Rise, Wrong Address and Better Tomorrow.