WOMEN IN NIGERIAN MUSIC VIDEO: WHAT UNDERGRADS THINK
Abstract
Nigerian music videos have in recent time become hugely popular as a leading entertainment source among young people in the country. However, the images of women portrayed in these videos have been a source of controversy particularly given their sexualised nature. Consequently, this study investigated how university undergraduates perceived the portrayal of women in music videos. The population of study was the undergraduate students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, South-East Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was designed for collecting data from 400 respondents selected as the study sample. After the analysis using simple percentages and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, it was discovered that the portrayal of women in skimpy clothes and erotic dance moves in some Nigerian musical videos evokes in the minds of university undergraduates highly sexualised images of women. Findings also indicate that while there is a significant difference in the way male and female undergrads perceive the nature and possible impact of women’s portrayal in the Nigerian music videos, the manner of women’s representation in these music videos are unlikely to influence the self-image of the female respondents who in the main saw these images of women as un-dignifying, debasing and not representative of the character and role of women in the Nigerian society. One of the conclusions drawn by the study is that as the undergrads, particularly the female respondents, are critical of the portrayal of women in Nigerian music videos, there is the likelihood that the gender ideology inbuilt in these videos would have little effect on these audience members.
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