Women in Local Language Media in Ghana: History, Political Economy, Content
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Date
2025-02-24
Authors
Fofie, Ivy
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Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
This dissertation addressed a blind spot in feminist media history, political economy, and media women’s relationships with gender, sexuality, and media economy both historically and contemporaneously. It used multiple methods hinged on historical studies, feminist studies, and media studies, underpinned by a postcolonial and decolonial framework, to understand women’s adjudicator roles in male-dominated cultural institutions such as the media. First, it historicized local language advice show hosts who worked in media immediately before and after the liberalization of the Ghanaian airwaves and placed them within feminist media history. Then, it analyzed the content of contemporary shows through the lenses of gender and sexuality to understand their decolonial feminist praxis. Finally, it appraised the political economy of women’s media, making a case for the role of the audience in women’s social justice work in Ghana and in the global south.Findings suggest that historically, women working in advice shows, although they did not explicitly identify as feminists, espoused feminist ethos as adjudicators between state-mandated institutions and women and children. Their approach to gender and sexuality largely pre-empted a feminist decolonial future despite periods of forced heteronormative and unprogressive gender and sexuality discourse. Consequently, contemporary advice program hosts demonstrate radical feminist activism in its nuanced form, which is consistent with contemporary African feminist organizing, albeit with some problematic discourses. The study also found evidence of other mediating factors, such as age, ethnicity, and religion, that both empower and disrupt women’s activist work. Finally, the study found that women show hosts collaborate with herbal and aphrodisiac medicine advertisers to create the very problems they purport to solve and count on the revenue they generate through hyper-sexualized and over-sensational content to fund their programs and media organizations. The study, therefore, used a positive case of the role of the audience to suggest a blueprint for funding women’s media in global south contexts for maximum feminist impact. While critiquing women’s overall engagement with gender and sexuality, the research also argued that women’s media has the potential to make meaningful contributions provided they receive the right gender-sensitive training from feminist stakeholder organizations. Theoretical contributions to decolonial African feminisms are also discussed.
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Keywords
decolonial theory, gender, history, political economy, radio, sexuality