Rise of the ‘homo erotica’? Portrayal of women and gender role stereotyping in movies: analysis of two Nigerian movies

Abstract

Over time, the role of mass media as agents of socialization has attracted an array of criticisms from different segments of the society. To social psychologists, the images portrayed in the mass media, often times, alter people’s perception of social realities and are believed to play significant roles in stimulating anti-social behaviours such as crime, delinquency and violence. To critical feminists, the mass media are seen as agents of male chauvinism, systematically deployed for the perpetuation of a male dominated socio-cultural, political and economic order through the portrayal and continuous reinforcement of negative gender role stereotypes of women. This study is therefore designed to analyse the forms and pattern of portrayal of women and gender role stereotypes in selected Nollywood movies. Two movies – Ije (2012) and Mr. and Mrs. (2012) were selected using purposive sampling technique and content-analysed. Findings revealed that women were generally portrayed in the movies as sex objects and objects of erotic gaze for men, domestic servants, “the weaker sex”, “the wicked mother-in-laws” and working class women as insubordinate wives and uncaring mothers, among other negative forms of portrayals. It also found that the forms of portrayal and stereotypes of women in the movies reviewed fit into and can reinforce widely held social beliefs and gender role expectations from women in the larger Nigerian socio-cultural environment.

Keywords: women, portrayal, stereotyping, framing, social cues