Female Representation in Select Films of Frank Rajah Arase: Evidence of Male Chauvinist Tendencies in the Ghanaian Film Culture

Authors

  • Osakue S. Omoera Osakue Stevenson OMOERA, Ph.D. Department of English and Communication Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Nigeria Email: omoera@yahoo.com; osakueso@fuotuoke.edu.ng Scopus ID: 56052398700; ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1086-7874 Web of Science ResearcherID R-7440-2019 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1086-7874
  • Charles C. Okwuowulu Alex Ekwueme Federal University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2021.287

Keywords:

Ghallywood, Feminine voyeurism, FRA, African culture, African film, Gender

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.

Author Biography

Osakue S. Omoera, Osakue Stevenson OMOERA, Ph.D. Department of English and Communication Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Nigeria Email: omoera@yahoo.com; osakueso@fuotuoke.edu.ng Scopus ID: 56052398700; ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1086-7874 Web of Science ResearcherID R-7440-2019

Osakue is an expert in mass media, theatre and communication studies.

References

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Published

2021-07-14

How to Cite

Omoera, O. S., & Okwuowulu, C. C. (2021). Female Representation in Select Films of Frank Rajah Arase: Evidence of Male Chauvinist Tendencies in the Ghanaian Film Culture. CINEJ Cinema Journal, 9(1), 14–41. https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2021.287

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 1 (2021): Spring 2021

Section

Articles

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