The Sexual Objectification of Women in the Nigerian Entertainment Industry
Main Article Content
Abstract
The growing prevalence of pornography coupled with the influence of patriarchy on the Nigerian entertainment industry has made the objectification of womanhood a perceptible feature of films and musical videos produced by Nigerians. Using secondary sources and critical observations, this paper, attempts to illustrate the phenomenon of women’s sexual objectification in the Nollywood and Nigerian music industry. The paper defines the concept of women sexual objectification in the context of media production arguing that objectification is revealed by the types of camera angles and positions used in depicting women in filmic and pop video productions. The use of close-ups or medium range shots emphasizing the sexuality and sumptuousness of female characters in films or pop-videos are some of the techniques used by apologists of women’s sexual objectification. Sexual objectification thus entails making women characters in a filmic or musical production the object to be looked at or the spectacle to enjoy. The paper also shows how the sexual objectification of womanhood is manifested in selected Nollywood films and musical videos by Nigerian popular artistes. In the light of the selected pop videos and films, the paper argues that the types of camera movements and angles deployed in most Nigerian pop videos and Nollywood films are in line with the male gaze theory. These camera movements and angles systemically help depict the woman as a spectacle in itself as well as a sexual object. They also project the man as the reader of the meaning while “relegating” the woman to the status of the bearer of the meaning.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright Notice
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.Penulis.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (Refer to The Effect of Open Access).
References
Barber, J. (2017). “Objectification of Women in the Media”. Media and Change, 24(4), 55-67.
Endong, F. P. (2019). “Pornography and Objectification of Women in Nollywood Films: A Study of Nigerian Actresses’ Perception of Acting Sex and Nudity Scenes”. Journal of International Women' s Studies, 20(2), 58-72.
Endong, F. P. (2018). “Selfie-Objectification as a Facet of Social Media Craze among Youths in Nigeria: A Socio-Cultural Discourse”. In Bahardi Bozoglan (ed) Psychological, Social and Cultural Aspects of Internet Addiction, (pp. 236-252), Hersey: IGI International, ,
Enengedi, V. (2020). “Pornography Takes over Nollywood”. Net Nigeria. Retrieved January, 2020 from http://thenet.ng/pornography-takes-over-nollywood/
Gbenga, D. (2020). “I am not a Porn Star but Many People see me as a Prostitute – Nollywood Actress”. Pulse. Retrieved February 3, 2020, from https://www.pulse.ng/entertainment/movies/nollywood-porn-star-says-shes-a-porn-star- and-not-a-prostitute/7ekg33y
Green, L. (2000). “Pornographies”, Journal of Political Philosophy, 8(1), 27–52.
Gruber, E. (2011). "Adolescent Sexuality and the Media". Western Journal of Medicine, 17(5), 105-112.
Kant, I. (1963). Lectures on Ethics, New York: Harper and Row Publishers,.
Kite L. & Kite L. (2014). “Selfies and Self-objectification: Not-so-Pretty Picture”. Beauty Redefined. Vol. 34, no. 2, Retrieved June 14, 2016 from http://www.beautyredefined.net/selfies-and-objectification/
Langton, R. (2009). Sexual Solipsism: Philosophical Essays on Pornography, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Murphy M. (2013). “Girls Explain the Difference between Porn and Nudity in Half an Hour (NSFW)”. Feminist Current vol. 42(3), 34-47.
Nussbaum, M. (2007). “Feminism, Virtue, and Objectification”. In R. Halwani (ed), Sex and Ethics: Essays on Sexuality, Virtue, and the Good Life, (pp. 49–62), New York: Palgrave Macmillan, ,.
Prager, D. (2016). “Yes, Men View Women as Sex Objects”. Girls and Women Studies, 17(3), 100-103.
Shalin, H. J. (2018), Selfie as a Mode of Social Media and Work Space Research, Hersey: IGI Global.
Soble, A. (2002). Pornography, Sex, and Feminism, London: Prometheus books,.
Suggest, P. (2020). “ The Objectification of Women in Advertising. How advertising often Treat Women as Commodities”. The Balance Careers. Retrieved January 3, 2020, from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/advertising-women-and-objectification-38754
Waters, S. (2018). “Selfie, Beauty and Objectification”. Radically Visible, issue, 17,.6-8.