COURSE TITLE: MEDIA,GENDER & DEVELOPMENT

TOPIC: GENDERED MEDIA ANALYSIS

COURSE CODE: CSJN 404

GROUP 3

SUB GROUP 5

GROUP MEMBERS

1. PEARL NAAKINGBI LARYEA- BACS23274

2. KEZIAH TAKYIWAA MANU- BACS23270

3. PATRICIA SASU DANQUAH- BACS23296

4. RUTH EWEREKO - BACS23151

5. ELIZABETH SHOMMEY BAAFI- BACS23054

Gender roles and gender stereotypes have been portrayed in the media over the years.

Traditional gender roles and stereotypes as to what a man or woman should be like, sound

like and act like are being shown in the media through music videos, films, books and other

forms of media. Media refers to the means of communication that transmit information, ideas

and entertainment to a wide audience. It encompasses various forms of such as television,

radio, newspapers, magazines, books films, internet platforms and social media. The concept

of media involves the production, distribution and consumption of content that influences

public opinion and facilitates the exchange of information within society (O’Shaughnessy &

Stadler,2011).

Linking O’Shaughnessy & Stadler’s definition or take in the media to gender roles and

stereotypes, one can say the media has been essential in the spread od stereotypes.

Stereotypes are cognitive structures that contain the perceiver’s knowledge, beliefs and

expectations about human groups, (Fiske, 2002).

An example of a media content showing stereotypical gender roles pertaining to men is a

Nigerian movie produced by One and two films production in 2022 titled “Deep State’’ , at

the beginning of the movie the heroine who is played by Bimbo Ademoye and her fiancé who

is played by Uzor Azukwe are having a conversation where the man proposes and the lady

raises her concern about a policy in their place of work where married couples cannot work

together in the same company and this requires one of them to quit. Since the lady earns

more in the current company where she works as compared to the man, she suggested he look

for another job which got the man angry by that suggestion even though it was a logical and

good suggestion.
Society has dictated how a man is supposed to be like and what he should be, in this movie

the stereotype that a man should be the breadwinner of the family is being fed to consumers

of the media.

Immediately the lady brought the suggestion of him quitting and looking for another job in a

different company he asked ‘’what do you mean by that’’? He asked how am I supposed to

take care of you, how can I quit my job when I am the head of our intended home? A few

more minutes into the movie they were having a conversation again and he made a statement

about him making decisions because he is a man, he was very assertive and his voice was

always loud as compared to the woman. The media is implying that a man is supposed to

make decisions, be breadwinner, supposed to be well built and look masculine and this feeds

into the stereotype perpetuated by society over the years.

In the second media, a Nigerian movie title ‘Two Can Also Play’, which was produced

in2023 by ChinneyLove Eze Tv portrays a woman who is apparently a housewife taking care

of her children all by herself and all through out that scene the man was not in sight, she was

in a bonnet and a bathrobe and was moving around the kitchen making food for her children

to take to school. She barely has anytime for herself, in another scene she was asking her

husband for some money to by a cloth for her best friend’s wedding and the husband said she

can’t even go to the wedding because she has to watch the kids. The stereotype of a woman

making sure the house is clean and cooking, feeds into the movie, the husband did not help in

anyway either. Even when the woman went to the market and left the kids at home, the man

called her to come back and he was even yelling on the phone whereas the woman was soft

spoken and swallowed everything hook line and sinker. The media portrayed the woman as a

submissive person, who is supposed to obey her husband, take care of her home and not to

have a life outside her home.

The gender message being conveyed in both media choices is that women are expected to

clean, cook, be subservient, and be soft spoken, while men are expected to be commanding,

the family's breadwinner, and the head of the household. The appearance of both genders

plays a significant influence in the gender role stereotype when examining how both genders

behave in the various media that were chosen.

REFERNCE LIST

1. O’Shaughnessy. M & Stadler. J (2011) Media and Society: An Introduction.

2. Fiske.S (2002) Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination.

3. Deep State (2022) One and Two films production: YouTube

https://youtu.be/2pxyu_jZ1hw

4. Two Can Also Play ( 2023) ChinneyLove Eze Tv: YouTube

https://youtu.be/puiNIQGDsjg