THE EFFECT OF MUSLIM WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN HAUSA FILMS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Islam is seen as restrictive in terms of women participation in social and economic activities outside their home. In western societies, the mere mention of “women and Islam” triggers a chain of thought, which includes buzzwords like “veiling, oppression and subjection.” Islam appears to be a patriarchal, authoritarian system, which is endured by women, but in which they have no say. Barbara and Creevey argue that “throughout West Africa, Islam has had the greatest impact on women’s lives among those who were converted earliest and who were relatively isolated for centuries thereaer
from with other culture.” 1 Suggest that the more longer Islam is present the more it will annihilate pre-Islamic customs favourable to women and the more subordinated women will become. To the contrary, many Muslim scholars tend to dismiss this claim and deny that Islamic tenets on women are oppressive. They counter-pose the indignity women are suering
in societies of other regions with the advancement of women, as permitted in Islam and conclude that Islam lays their true liberation. Amina Wadud denies the claim that Islam established a patriarchal society or female subordination.
One of the argument pointed out was that long before other civilizations revolved the issue of whether or not women had souls or should be entitled to basic rights, Islam gave rights and freedoms that were considered revolutionary to women more than hundred years ago. Islam as a religion has a comprehensive package of rights for women which includes the right to enter into contracts and legal agreements; the right to earn an income and dispose her property as she wishes, the right to express her opinions on all issues private or public; the right to education; the right to inherit and be inherited by her next of kin; the right to contribute to the development of the society in all spheres. It has become incontrovertible and thoroughly
documented that in gender relations; women occupy an inferior position all over the world. The results of a recent Gallop poll on equality between the sexes, broadcast on the Cable News Network (CNN) show that “there is nowhere in the world where women are considered to be equal to men” (CNN,2002). Referring to findings from contemporary research on the condition of women, Abati (2002) says: Based on concerted research the conclusion has long been reached that women are de-centred, de-natured sub-species of humanity; harassed by culture, intimated by politics and subsumed in helplessly patrilineal and patriarchal structures which pamper the male ego. The ‘decentralization’ or marginalization of women and their
disadvantaged position are at the root of the global movement for the empowerment of women, or ‘the women agenda’. Generally characterized by various indices of underdevelopment, women in countries like Nigeria are more desperately in need of empowerment than their counterparts in other parts of the world. In Nigeria, for instance, the forces which relegate women to the background are formidable. They include poverty, illiteracy, religious and cultural prejudices and, in particular, male chauvinistic tendencies manifested in diverse patrilineal and patriarchal practices against women (Abati 2002, Kukah 2002; Okunna 2008) and the elimination of stereotypical and negative images of women which shape public opinion and
attitudes towards women and undermine society’s confidence in them. Of particular importance in this regard is the need to improve the portrayal of women in the communication media or film industries which are powerful vehicles for moulding public opinion and determining people’s perceptionof social reality. Cognizant of this power of the media, the Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 2000) highlights the communication media as a ‘critical area of concern’ – “one of the ten major obstacles to women’s progress, and an area in which extensive strategic action must be taken if equality is to become a reality” (Gallagher, 2000). With this recognition of the communication media as a
critical area of concern in women’s role, it becomes really worrisome that the media in Nigeria are still dominated by stereotyped portrayal of gender relations and negative images of women. A good example is the portrayal of women in home video films, a medium which has taken the Nigerian media scene by storm in recent times. The explosion in the number of local video films is truly astounding. As Aihe (2002) points out, conservative estimates indicate that at least one video film enters the market every week. According to him, “The result is that in a single year since the past three years, more than three hundred local films have been pumped into the Nigerian market.” Among people who are sympathetic towards the struggle for women’s role in the film, this proliferation and the popularity of these films have heightened fears that the little gain that might have been made in this struggle is being eroded by the internalization of the negative images of women by the large audience of local home video films.
