it's a problematic area and i, for one, often writing about this stuff in big-ass posh (liberal) newspapers etc, find it tough to deal with. i agree with jess that it needs to be questioned and called out (which i do all the time) but, personally, i've heard almost enough on the subject for a little while. fact is, this debate is not going to stop me loving this music because a large part of my relationship with dancehall is *in spite* of itself and will continue to be for quite some time, because, i've said it before and i'll say it again, jamaica is extraordinarily unlikely to immediately fall in line with the standard tolerances of europe and the US as soon as it is told while every other standard, economic especially, is wilfully kept so far behind by the world bank and "developed" economies screwing it at every turn (this is very very relevant so please don't anyone tell me it's not). it's true, bands like TOK, who are close to major global success, and artists like sizzla, can't expect to work on the world stage and not be judged according to the rest of the world's ethics but, as we've seen with sizzla lately, dancehall really can live without the rest of the world (cf his comments to robbo ranks on 1xtra: just because the uk government refuses to grant me a visa, it's not going to stop me hating gays. i don't care about the rest of the world, jamaica is what matters to me and i can survive as an artist just fine right here.) change will be a long, slow process and dependent on a number of factors other than jamaicans being told "it's wrong; stop it!". it is starting, though; just check out artists like ce'cile coz it's my bet that someone like her - a jamaican with different ideas - will hold a lot more influence than all the peter tatchells in the world.