I’ve never referred to any women as hens – Dickson

“I place a very high premium on the women of St Vincent and the Grenadines,” he insisted. “I would not use any derogatory statement to describe any female in this country!”

Referring to a comment he made at the New Democratic Party’s (NDP) rally at Redemption Sharpes two weeks ago, Noel Dickson is refuting that he made an inappropriate reference{{more}} to women – after receiving much backlash from persons on social media and talk radio.

“I see this whole political thing as a… cock fight… So, in that context, I’m saying he is already Leacock. And if any hen come across, he will take care of that hen because he is Leacock. I never thought about any female; that’s far from my mind,” explained Dickson, the NDP candidate for South Windward.

“If you listen to the clip and you hear the tone of my voice, you will realize it’s a joke – kicksing around in closing my statement,” he stated to SEARCHLIGHT.

At the rally, which took place on Sunday, September 6, Dickson said: “You just cannot go wrong when you support the Major St Clair Leacock… He will take care of any hen that comes around, because he is Leacock!”

Dickson said that while he acknowledges that his use of ‘hen’ (a female fowl) was taken by others to mean ‘women’, it is “unfortunate that that sort of interpretation was given to it.”

“I’ve never referred to any woman as hens. People placing their own interpretation on it, and I refuse to accept other people’s interpretation as mine.”

Dickson further mentioned that with the nation currently going through a “politically charged” period of time, individuals will “look for the simplest of things that a person says and put whatever spin they want on that.”

However, president of the Unity Labour Party’s (ULP) Women’s Arm René Baptiste and ULP candidate for West Kingstown Deborah Charles are convinced that Dickson’s comment referred to women, and are displeased with such.

In an interview with SEARCHLIGHT, Baptiste expressed her disappointment that someone who is hoping to win the public’s vote would make such a “below the grade” comment.

“When people speak about women, they must remember their mother is a woman, grandmother, their aunt – they may even have daughters,” she pointed out. “It’s dishonourable to make those kinds of remarks. Parliament is for honourable people!”

Additionally, in reference to the NDP’s all-male slate of political candidates, Baptiste further mused: “I think it indicates that they are not able to attract women who would wish to run on their ticket.”

At the ULP’s rally at Redemption Sharpes last Sunday, September 13, Charles also weighed in on the matter.

“Since it seems that the gang of men on the NDP side can’t tell the difference between woman and the hen, I see it as my job – indeed, my duty – to enlighten them here tonight…”

Quoting a poem from William Butler Yeats, Charles recited: “May God be praised for woman that gives up all her mind. A man may find in no man, a friendship of her kind that covers all he has brought as with her flesh and bone, nor quarrels with a thought because it is not her own.”

She further noted that in the Bible, it is said that King Solomon “grew wise” through talking with his queens.

“So newsflash, Dickson – Vincentian women are queens, not hens! Know yuh place and stop trying to force Leacock on the women of Central Kingstown – they don’t want him!”

Describing the NDP’s general behaviour as “the haze of yellow hate”, Charles proposed that it seems to be marked in “dislike, disdain, and a total disregard and disrespect for the women of this country.”

“Dickson, recognize that the next time you go out hunting for men for Leacock, and you come across a woman, a daughter, an aunt, a granny or a teacher, Dickson remember you’re looking at a woman, not a fowl!”

In his interview with SEARCHLIGHT, Dickson also said that he finds it “interesting” that when a ULP candidate referred to women as “three for ten” at a rally at Calliaqua some time ago, no fuss was made about it.

“That to me is degrading the ladies out there as cheap as that. In those bars and thing you get a deal, three beers for $10, so it’s like you get a discount… and nobody take it to school!” he lamented.

“We have to be consistent. If we are gonna look at one issue… and find it insultive (sic)… then we have to be above board in every context.”

Moreover, Dickson asserted that there are more serious issues that politicians and members of the public should be focusing on, rather than this “non-issue”.