Sexual Objectification of Women in Selected Kipsigis Popular Songs of Kenya

Abstract

Songs perform key roles in the society such as entertainment and education but can project certain ideologies and stereotypes. This study examined the objectification of women in selected Kipsigis popular songs. The researcher purposively picked 15 songs from speakers of Kipsigis popular artists, 30 respondents and five composers. An interview schedule was used to obtain the relevant information from the respondents and composers of the songs. The study was guided by Politeness Theory by Brown and Levinson (1978). The results of the study indicated that artists objectify women as instruments, female sex organ as food and a place while sexual intercourse is portrayed as a journey, war and work to mitigate their offensiveness. It is believed that the findings of this study would be of great significance in information dissemination to the media, schools and churches in censuring and sensitization of songs that objectify women. Also, the results of this study is expected to be instrumental in mitigating offensive expressions that cause harm and shame to the listeners of Kipsigis popular songs through proper interpretation of words and phrases that objectify women.