The Commodification of the Female Body in the Akamba Pop Music

Abstract

This paper interrogates the objectified and commodified images of women constructed in the Akamba pop songs, especially those selected for this study. It analyses how these construed femininities offer a gender imbalance between men and women. From this standpoint, the paper discusses the various representations of gender and the significance attached to the gendered implication. The paper interrogates the images of women and their underlying meanings. The key goal is to examine how pop artists use imagery as a linguistic resource to foreground representations of gender while using the female body as the point of reference. Guiding the discussion is Luce Irigaray’s postulation on the male gaze and how it psychologically oppresses women using language. The article uses qualitative methodology whereby Ten Akamba pop songs are purposively sampled and sourced from YouTube. Sampled songs were transcribed, translated, and analysed for language use. The songs were interpreted using intersectionality and Luce Irigaray's postulation on gendered language. The paper's premise is to map out areas of women's marginalisation in Akamba pop songs. The article, therefore, examines how gendered inscription delineates women as sexual objects and commodities of male power