As many examples of field research have demonstrated, many women withdraw from themselves because of the functions imposed upon them by their biology. Women have traditionally had very little control over the integrity or the appearance of their bodies. As outlined by Suzanne Marchand in her research note, women have always been subject to a strong measure of social control and even today, their physical characteristics determine, in spite of them, how they are initially evaluated by others. Confronting and fighting these stereotypes is the reality faced by a majority of women today. Even under the guise of humour, certain opinions and attitudes are tenacious, as shown in the article by Pauline Greenhill et al.
Jokes express in a humourous manner the difficulties still prevalent in male- female relationships.
However, these relationships have changed, at least in appearance. Society has evolved in such a way as to break down traditional barriers separating women's and men's roles, with the result that men and women find themselves more often in the same interactive context. The distinction between tradition and modernity no longer necessarily corresponds to that between rural and urban society, as was often taken for granted in the past. Spontaneous singers in their country of origin, these women have had to adapt to a context which dictates a different lifestyle in their new environment. An interesting point is that the religious interdictions surrounding voodoo songs in Haiti do not survive in Montreal, where Haitian women have reintegrated these songs into their repertoires.