Love v. Marriage

JAMAICA

Every time me 'member Charlie Water come in my eye. When me 'member them moonshine nights, Water come in my eye. Now me pickney*come born so pretty, And no papa for see, Charlie sail to England and left me-- Water come in my eye.

--Jamaican calypso

The last time heads were counted, the figures showed that seven of every ten Jamaicans were born out of wedlock. But who cares? Each May, during Baby & Child Week, every child, legitimate or illegitimate, is welcome to compete in the baby beauty contest; the only distinction is that winners whose parents are married get a bonus. Harking back to African tradition, many women in Jamaica cheerfully prove themselves by producing a healthy child before expecting island males to consider them seriously as wives. Yet even then, Jamaican men tend to vanish magically when marriage is mentioned.

To convince Jamaica's good-time Charlies of the error of their ways and reduce the ranks of illegitimate "pickneys" is the major concern of an articulate, honey-skinned feminist named Beth Jacobs. Born 41 years ago, and one of six children, she is now a member of the island's Legislative Council, the wife of a doctor popular among the island's U.S. tourists, and the mother of two. Beth Jacobs is first of all in favor of marriage; secondly, she proposes to cut the rate of illegitimate births by contraception. The ideals of Planned Parenthood, U.S.-style ("Every child a wanted child"), baffle many a Jamaican sire, but the Beth Jacobs Clinic does its best to spread the word. Last week Mrs. Jacobs was on her way to the International Planned Parenthood Federation's sixth international conference in New Delhi to report on the results.

She has won some support. Says a pretty young seamstress: "What Beth wants is no more unwed mothers running around here, shoving pickneys off on old grandmothers to raise." But one island matron sniffed that "Beth Jacobs is just teaching single girls how to use contraceptives." Bishop John J. McEleney warned the Roman Catholic 6% of the population against the clinic. Occasional signs chalked on walls say, "Birth control is a plan to kill Negroes."

Beth Jacobs intends to keep trying, but she admits the job is hard. "Even unwed mothers," she sighs, "left to face their ordeal alone, would rather have had their fling and pay the price than be good spinsters with no love life at all."

* Jamaican for pickaninny, which is U.S. Southern for pequeno, which is Spanish for small.

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