Media and Gender Inequality in Nigerian Politics

Abstract

Media and Gender Inequality in Nigerian Politics Desmond Ekeh Abstract This paper investigates the role of the media in promoting gender discrimination and inequality in Nigerian politics. It argues that the male domination of Nigerian politics, which reproduces gender inequality, is anchored on societal patriarchy as a cultural logic, but, orchestrated and reinforced by media stereotypical portrayal of female politicians as unequal with their male counterparts in the Nigerian political sphere. The study uses a corpus of sociological and media communication theories to advance the argument that the media reinforce the cultural-patriarchal social structure which „narratives‟ women as subordinates, weak, inferior and subservient to their male counterparts; and this engenders gender inequality and affects how the society perceives women and their participation in politics. It examines media coverage of the 2015 presidential election in Nigeria; with the aim to compare the level of coverage given to the female presidential candidate in contradistinction to the male candidates. It content analyzed two purposively selected national news papers in Nigeria – THISDAY and The Guardian. The study examined data generated from news mentions in these two newspapers for a specific period of 28 days in proximity to the election. It concludes that media role affected how the electorate perceives the female candidate in the election. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/ijgws.v6n2a6