The Influence of popular music on sexual violence in Nigeria

Authors

  • Oluwatosin John Ibitoye Kwara State University

Keywords:

music, gender, sexual violence, sexual objectification

Abstract

In recent times, cases of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) such as rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment have risen exponentially in Nigeria and these call for urgent attention of stakeholders and sundry. On this backdrop, this study accesses the contribution, influence and impacts of music to this menace with the view of proposing a panacea to this moral decadence and inhumane culture which has crept into our social construct. Our arguments are discussed within the framework of Fredrickson and Robert’s Objectification theory (1997); a framework for understanding, researching, and intervening to improve women’s lives in a sociocultural context that sexually objectifies the female body and equates a woman’s worth with her body’s appearance and sexual functions. Through a critical review and analysis of the texts of selected songs from six (6) popular Nigerian musicians, our findings reveal the objectification of the women gender as a tool for sexual gratification, cheap marketing strategy, and proliferation of obscenity and immoral conducts in the society. Having been proven that the society is a product of its music, popular musicians therefore make the female gender vulnerable and susceptible to the rising sexual violence scourge in our society. For this reason, this study accentuates the need for appropriate government regulatory bodies to step up efforts in screening and censoring every music (audio and audiovisual) that goes into the media, with the aim of controlling and monitoring the distribution, exhibition and marketing of music especially that which promotes sexual content and the stereotype of a gender as sex tool.

Author Biography

Oluwatosin John Ibitoye, Kwara State University

Department of Performing Arts, Kwara State University

Downloads

Published

2022-12-19

How to Cite

Ibitoye, O. J. (2022). The Influence of popular music on sexual violence in Nigeria. Journal of Creative Arts, Communication and Media Studies, 1(1), 20–37. Retrieved from https://journal.ku.ac.ke/index.php/JCCM/article/view/306

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