GENDER ISSUES IN NOLLYWOOD MOVIES

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GENDER ISSUES IN NOLLYWOOD MOVIES

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Although media messages are imbedded with a ‘preferred reading’ audience interpretations of the texts are dependent upon individual assumptions and social contexts (Hall, 1980). Hall further outlined three dominant types of media reception as “the dominant or hegemonic reading; negotiated or partial; and the oppositional reading”. Hall in McQuails (2010) further accepted that intended meaning is built into (encoded) symbolic content in both open and concealed ways that are hard to resist, but recognized the possibilities for rejecting or re-interpreting the intended message. In line with this, the possibility exist of Nigerian women, having multiple and ambivalent readings of their identities. Men and women internalize women’s portrayals in the movies; while men tend to see nothing

Sequel to Hall’s conception, Azeez (2010)’s reception study, found striking disparities on ways wrong with the representations of women in films and wish such to continue unmodified for the reinforcement of Nigerian culture; women, contrarily perceive the portrayals in negative lights. While men adopt dominant or preferred readings of women’s portrayals and accept the representations in the films as reality, women felt otherwise. Similarly, in Amobi (2013)’s study of how female Nollywood actors, students and lecturers of the university of lagos and Ibadan, make sense of the sexist and stereotypical representations of women in Nollywood films and whether and how their social contexts shape their interpretations, found Nigerian female audiences oppositionally receiving and interpreting their representations in Nigerian home videos.

Since these two reception studies are heavily weighed on the literate receivers, this present study encompasses all Nigerian women from different backgrounds and from a different geo-political zone, South East, in order to have a more comprehensive result of how women negotiate their identities in Nollywood films. These existing gaps in the literature is what this study intends to fill in order to either refute or corroborate existing studies as well as the interpretations of these films as popular culture by the women. For, as Lewis (1990) and Van Zoonen (1994), observe, if we are concerned with the meaning and significance of popular culture in our contemporary society, with how culture or media work ideologically, we need to understand not only media texts, but also how they are received and understood by their audiences. Consequently, beyond the Nigerian women’s level of acceptance or otherwise of gender based portrayals in Nollywood, this present work goes deeper to couch the nature and level of effects of these portrayals on women.

It is instructive to also note that since the Nigerian women and children form the majority of the audience of these films, women’s negotiation of the meanings inherent in these films would help discover how these films inform their identities and interpretations of who they are and how they relate with one another. Such understanding, as pointed out by Azeez (2010, p. 201) could help in predicting the influence of the images of women in the media, on gender identity and behaviours of female audiences; provide a basis for analysis against theories of media and gender identity formations, particularly as they are related to how Nigerian audiences interpret the images of women in Nigerian home video films. This is because with the popularity of movies laced with reinforcements of women’s negative images and limited role in society, the societal

gains in the struggle for women’s emancipation can be eroded.

Therefore intention of this work is to expand the Nigerian women’s perception and responses to gender based Nollywood movies through a study of Women in southern eastern Nigeria. The goal is to contribute to literature in gender identity and reception studies which is still in its embryonic stage in Africa. Much of the literature in this area are predominantly from developed societies causing a gap on alternative responses from other regions, which might throw more insight in cultural differences that intersect and influence women interpretations to media messages.

1.2 Statement of the problem

1.3 Objectives of the study

Essentially, the specific objectives include the following:

1. To establish Nigerian women’s level of exposure to gender based Nollywood movies.

2. To determine Nigerian women’s perceptions and disposition to gendered portrayals in the

movies.

3. To explore their responses as well as the extent at which they may have been affected by

such portrayals.

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