6 - Using Transnational Soap Operas to Redefine Beauty in Cameroon
Corresponding Author(s) : Delphine Gwanvalla Ngehndab
Africa Development,
Vol. 43 No. 1 (2018): Africa Development: Special Issue on: (Re)making bodies – The Structures and Dynamics of Aesthetics and Aspirations in an Evolving Africa
Abstract
This article elaborates on the different ways in which some market women in Bamenda, Cameroon, use transnational soap operas to redefine their understanding of beauty. The liberalisation of the audio-visual sector in Cameroon engineered a rise in television stations and an increase in the importation of soap operas causing television stations to constantly search the African-based rental agencies for quality programmes. To increase viewership, imported soap operas from the rest of the world like the Philippines, Brazil, India, China, and Thailand are broadcast on both private and national televisions capturing the attention of mainly women who watch these soap operas at home and at their market sheds. Some women love soap operas and the characters within so much so that their consumption is not without consequence on their daily appearances. From the application of lipstick, foundation, facial powder, nail vanish, dress and hair styles, and skin bleaching, foreign soap operas construct the cultural identities of local women who emulate the appearances of their preferred characters with the justification that appearances in soap operas are modern and contemporary. This article argues that the frequent broadcast of foreign soap operas pressures some local women to remake their bodies in attempts to resemble many of the female protagonists. A multimethod of data collection was utilised to collect data on the various meanings some selected market women in Bamenda make from their consumption of foreign soap operas. Both political economy and cultural studies are employed to capture the cultural exchange between the local and the global.
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- Allen, R. C., 1995, To be Continued–: Soap Operas around the World, New York: Routledge.
- Appadurai, A., 1990, Disjuncture and difference in the global culture economy, Theory, Culture, and Society, 7 pp. 295-310.
- Bhabha, H., 1994, The Location of Culture, New York: Routledge.
- Chisholm, N.J, 2001, Fade to White: Skin Bleaching and the Rejection of Blacknes, [Electronic Version], The Village Voice, http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0204/chisholm.php. 10 September 2016
- Coetzee, V., Fauerber, J.J., Lefevre, CE, Perrett, DI, 2012, African Perceptions of Female Attractiveness, PLoS One, 7(10): e48116 doi: ID. 1371/journal. pone.0048116.
- Dahlgren, P., 1998, Cultural Studies as a Research Perspective: Themes and Tensions, London: Routledge.
- De Certeau, M., 1984, The Practice of Everyday Life, University of California Press, Berkeley.
- Durkin, K., 1985, Television and sex-role acquisition 1: Content British Journal of Social Psychology, (24) 101-113.
- Ebi, N. J., 2009, The structure of succession law in Cameroon: finding a balance between the needs and interests of different family members, Ph.D. thesis, University of Birmingham.
- Ekukole, R., 2013, Delphine.Ngehndab@brunel.ac.uk: Follow-up Questions. 08/02/2013
- Engeln-Maddox, R., 2006, Buying a beauty standard or dreaming of a new life? Expectations associated with media ideals, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, pp. 258-266.
- Echu, George, 2013, The language question in Cameroon, Linguistik online, 18(1).
- Fairclough, Norman, 1989, Language and Power, London.
- Fenton, N., 2007, Bridging the Mythical Divide: Political Economy and Cultural Studies Approaches to the Analysis of the Media, Sage Publications, 4(9).
- Ferguson, M. and Golding, P., 1997, Cultural Studies in Question. London: Sage.
- Fiske, J., 1989, Understanding Popular Culture, New York: Routledge.
- Fonjong, L., 2001, Fostering women’s participation in development through Non- governmental efforts in Cameroon, Geographical Journal, 167(23) pp.223-234.
- Geraghty, C., 1991, Women and Soap Opera: A study of Prime-Time Soaps, Cambridge: Polity Press.
- Goheen, M., 1996, Men Own the Fields Women Own the Crops Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
- Kraidy, M. M., 2005, Hybridity, or the Cultural Logic of Globalization, Temple University Press.
- Liebes, T. and Katz, E., 1993, The Export of Meaning: Cross-Cultural Readings of Dallas, Cambridge: Polity Press.
- Lull, J., 2000, Media, Communication, Culture: A Global Approach, Cambridge: Polity.
- Murdock, G., 1995, Across the great divide, Critical Studies in Mass Communications, 12(1) pp. 89-94.
- Nyamnjoh, F. B., 2007, Africa’s Media Democracy & the Politics of Belonging, Pretoria: UNISA PRESS.
- Pieterse, J. N., 1996, Globalisation and Culture: Three Paradigms, Economic and Political Weekly, 31 (23):1389-1393.
- Singhal, A., & Svenkerud, P., 1994, Pro-socially shareable entertainment television programs: A programming alternative in developing countries, The Journal of Development Communication, 5(2), pp. 17-30.
- Sones, M., 2002, Beauty, Fashion and the Coolidge Effect, Beauty Worlds: The culture of beauty. Retrieved October,12, 2016 from the World Wide Web: http://www.beautyworlds.com. 30 November 2016.
- Syed, MD. A, and Hamzahm, A., 2012, Imagining Transnational Modernity in Contemporary Malaysia: Malay Women’s Asian Soap Operas and Moral Capabilities. Journal of Asian Women, Vol. 28(1).
- Syed-Azalanshah, M.D., 2011, Soap Opera as a Site for Engaging with Modernity Amongst Malay Women in Malaysia, Malaysian Journal of Media Studies, Vol. 13 (1) pp.17-36.
- “The World Factbook”, n.d. accessed from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2213.html. 18 August 2016.
- Thompson, J. B., 1995, The Media and Modernity: A Social Theory of the Media. Cambridge: Polity Press.
- Todd, L., 1983, “Language Options for Education in a Multilingual Society: Cameroon”, In: Kennedy, Chris (ed): Language Planning and Language Education, London: 160-171.
- Tomlinson, J., 1999, Globalization and Culture. Cambridge: Polity Press. Tomlinson, J., 1991, Cultural Imperialism, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
- Touré, K., 2007, Telenovelas Reception by Women in Bouaké (Côte D’Ivoire) and Bamako (Mali) Visual Anthropology, 20 pp. 41–56.
- Werner, J. F., 2007, How women are using television to domesticate globalization: A case study on the reception and consumption of telenovelas in Senegal, Visual Anthropology, 19(5), 443-472.
References
Allen, R. C., 1995, To be Continued–: Soap Operas around the World, New York: Routledge.
Appadurai, A., 1990, Disjuncture and difference in the global culture economy, Theory, Culture, and Society, 7 pp. 295-310.
Bhabha, H., 1994, The Location of Culture, New York: Routledge.
Chisholm, N.J, 2001, Fade to White: Skin Bleaching and the Rejection of Blacknes, [Electronic Version], The Village Voice, http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0204/chisholm.php. 10 September 2016
Coetzee, V., Fauerber, J.J., Lefevre, CE, Perrett, DI, 2012, African Perceptions of Female Attractiveness, PLoS One, 7(10): e48116 doi: ID. 1371/journal. pone.0048116.
Dahlgren, P., 1998, Cultural Studies as a Research Perspective: Themes and Tensions, London: Routledge.
De Certeau, M., 1984, The Practice of Everyday Life, University of California Press, Berkeley.
Durkin, K., 1985, Television and sex-role acquisition 1: Content British Journal of Social Psychology, (24) 101-113.
Ebi, N. J., 2009, The structure of succession law in Cameroon: finding a balance between the needs and interests of different family members, Ph.D. thesis, University of Birmingham.
Ekukole, R., 2013, Delphine.Ngehndab@brunel.ac.uk: Follow-up Questions. 08/02/2013
Engeln-Maddox, R., 2006, Buying a beauty standard or dreaming of a new life? Expectations associated with media ideals, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, pp. 258-266.
Echu, George, 2013, The language question in Cameroon, Linguistik online, 18(1).
Fairclough, Norman, 1989, Language and Power, London.
Fenton, N., 2007, Bridging the Mythical Divide: Political Economy and Cultural Studies Approaches to the Analysis of the Media, Sage Publications, 4(9).
Ferguson, M. and Golding, P., 1997, Cultural Studies in Question. London: Sage.
Fiske, J., 1989, Understanding Popular Culture, New York: Routledge.
Fonjong, L., 2001, Fostering women’s participation in development through Non- governmental efforts in Cameroon, Geographical Journal, 167(23) pp.223-234.
Geraghty, C., 1991, Women and Soap Opera: A study of Prime-Time Soaps, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Goheen, M., 1996, Men Own the Fields Women Own the Crops Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Kraidy, M. M., 2005, Hybridity, or the Cultural Logic of Globalization, Temple University Press.
Liebes, T. and Katz, E., 1993, The Export of Meaning: Cross-Cultural Readings of Dallas, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Lull, J., 2000, Media, Communication, Culture: A Global Approach, Cambridge: Polity.
Murdock, G., 1995, Across the great divide, Critical Studies in Mass Communications, 12(1) pp. 89-94.
Nyamnjoh, F. B., 2007, Africa’s Media Democracy & the Politics of Belonging, Pretoria: UNISA PRESS.
Pieterse, J. N., 1996, Globalisation and Culture: Three Paradigms, Economic and Political Weekly, 31 (23):1389-1393.
Singhal, A., & Svenkerud, P., 1994, Pro-socially shareable entertainment television programs: A programming alternative in developing countries, The Journal of Development Communication, 5(2), pp. 17-30.
Sones, M., 2002, Beauty, Fashion and the Coolidge Effect, Beauty Worlds: The culture of beauty. Retrieved October,12, 2016 from the World Wide Web: http://www.beautyworlds.com. 30 November 2016.
Syed, MD. A, and Hamzahm, A., 2012, Imagining Transnational Modernity in Contemporary Malaysia: Malay Women’s Asian Soap Operas and Moral Capabilities. Journal of Asian Women, Vol. 28(1).
Syed-Azalanshah, M.D., 2011, Soap Opera as a Site for Engaging with Modernity Amongst Malay Women in Malaysia, Malaysian Journal of Media Studies, Vol. 13 (1) pp.17-36.
“The World Factbook”, n.d. accessed from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2213.html. 18 August 2016.
Thompson, J. B., 1995, The Media and Modernity: A Social Theory of the Media. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Todd, L., 1983, “Language Options for Education in a Multilingual Society: Cameroon”, In: Kennedy, Chris (ed): Language Planning and Language Education, London: 160-171.
Tomlinson, J., 1999, Globalization and Culture. Cambridge: Polity Press. Tomlinson, J., 1991, Cultural Imperialism, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Touré, K., 2007, Telenovelas Reception by Women in Bouaké (Côte D’Ivoire) and Bamako (Mali) Visual Anthropology, 20 pp. 41–56.
Werner, J. F., 2007, How women are using television to domesticate globalization: A case study on the reception and consumption of telenovelas in Senegal, Visual Anthropology, 19(5), 443-472.