Abstract
There has been constant resonance of feminine image misrepresentation in most narratives since the (re)invention of video-films in Nigeria, Ghana, and indeed across the African continent. In spite of the binary struggle between the (presumed) chauvinist filmmakers and their feminist counterparts, masculinity always (re)emerges in new forms or topoi to dominate femininity. Consequently, there seems to be a paradigm shift on the (mis)representation of women that reinforces Laura Mulvey’s sexual voyeuristic objectification of the feminine gender as reflected in near-nude costumes as well as sexually larded scenes that are common sights in African films, particularly those from Ghana. Employing the historical-analytic and observation methods, this article examines three selected films: The Maid I Hired (2010), Why Did I Get Married? (2007) and To Love a Prince (2014) by Frank Rajah Arase (FRA), an African filmmaker of Benin (Edo) extraction who largely operates in the Diaspora, to foreground and highlight the voyeuristic imprints in Ghanaian films (Ghallywood), which tend to demean the feminine gender in the context of African culture that hegemonizes the male folk.
Highlights
This journal is published by the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh as part of its D-Scribe Digital Publishing Program and is cosponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Press
Employing the historical-analytic and observation methods, this article examines three selected films – The Maid I Hired (2010), Why Did I Get Married? (2007) and To Love a Prince (2014) – by Frank Rajah Arase (FRA), an African filmmaker of Benin (Edo) extraction who largely operates in the diaspora, to foreground and highlight the voyeuristic imprints in Ghanaian films (Ghallywood), which tend to demean the feminine gender in the context of African culture that hegemonizes the male folk
In much of Africa, patriarchy is so entrenched that there are parts of meats reserved only for the male gender. One of such parts is the gizzard of a chicken which is exclusively reserved for the male folk and women who dare to eat it are punished by the existing patriarchal laws
Summary
There seems to be a shift in the representation of women that reinforces Laura Mulvey’s sexual voyeuristic objectification of the feminine gender as reflected in near-nude costumes as well as sexually larded scenes that are common sights in African films, those from Ghana. (2007) and To Love a Prince (2014) – by Frank Rajah Arase (FRA), an African filmmaker of Benin (Edo) extraction who largely operates in the diaspora, to foreground and highlight the voyeuristic imprints in Ghanaian films (Ghallywood), which tend to demean the feminine gender in the context of African culture that hegemonizes the male folk.
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