6 - Locating Kenyan Media in Anti-Rape Discourse: A Feminist Critique
Corresponding Author(s) : Lyn Ossome
Africa Media Review,
Vol. 21 No. 1-2 (2013): Africa Media Review, Volume 21, n° 1 & 2, 2013
Abstract
The tendency in most African media to sensationalise sexual and gender-based violence abstracts this issue from the reality of its prevalence, and at the same time averts critical engagement with the social, political and economic contexts within which sexual violence occurs in society. This paper applies a critical feminist analysis to media coverage of sexual violence that has been observed during key moments in Kenya’s political history. The paper draws from representations of sexual violence reported in the media at various epochs during Kenya’s transition from colonialism and authoritarianism towards democracy and elections, and through these narratives, attempts to construct a theoretical framework within which the relationship that exists between women in Kenya and the (democratising) state might be analysed. The paper shows that anti-rape discourses were produced in the media but served different purposes than that of pursuing a feminist agenda, depending on the imperatives of the time in Kenya’s historical political development.
Keywords
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)BibTeX
- African Women and Child Feature Service (2009), Media Coverage of the 2007 Post-Election Violence in Kenya, The Gender Mainstreaming Perspective: A Study of Media Monitoring, Available at: http://www.awcfs.org/dmdocuments/reports/The%20Gender%20Mainstreaming%2 0Perspective%20Study%20-%20Draft%20Report.pdf (accessed on 08 October 2013)
- Anderson, M.D., 2010, ‘Sexual Threat and Settler Society: “Black Perils” in Kenya, c.1907-30’, The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, Vol. 38 (1): pp. 47-74.
- Antje, D., ‘Women’s Organisations in the Post-Conflict Situation in Kenya – Recovering Social and Political Spaces’, University of Bayreuth, pp. 14–15, < http://www.nai.uu.se/ecas-4/panels/41-60/panel-60/Antje-Daniel-Full-paper. pdf> (accessed 03 September 2012).
- Arnold-Ratliff, K., Picture Imperfect: A documentary reveals the damage mainstream media does to women, O Magazine, October 2011, p. 56.
- Brown, S., 2001, ‘Authoritarian leaders and multiparty elections in Africa: how foreign donors help to keep Kenya’s Daniel arap Moi in power’, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 725-739. Commission of Inquiry into the Post-Election Violence (CIPEV) report, available at http://www.dialoguekenya.org/docs/PEV%20Report.pdf.
- Coronel, S., 2002, The Role of the Media in Deepening Democracy, from http:// unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/UN/UNPAN010194.pdf (accessed 02 September, 2012).
- Daily Nation, 16 July 1991, in Hirsch, F.S. (1994:1040).
- Hirsch, F.S., 1994, ‘Interpreting Media Representations of a “Night of Madness”: Law and Culture in the Construction of Rape Identities’, Law and Social Enquiry, Vol. 19(4): pp. 1023-1056.
- Golding, P. and Murdock, G., 2000, ‘Culture, Communications and Political Economy’, in J. Curran, M and M Gurevitch (eds.) Mass Media and Society, London: Arnold.hooks, b., 1994, Outlaw Culture:
- Resisting Representations, New York: Routledge.
- Kenya Stockholm Blog, 2009, ‘The Daily Nation’ and ‘Raila’s Stolen Presidency’, http://kenyastockholm.com/2009/03/23/the-daily-nation-and-stolen- presidency/Lloyd, M., 2007, Judith Butler, Cambridge: Polity Press.
- MacKinnon, C., 1987, Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
- MacKinnon, C., 1988, Surviving Sexual Violence, Cambridge: Polity Press. Marcus, S., 1992, ‘Fighting Bodies, Fighting Words: A Theory and Politics of Rape Prevention’, in J. Butler & J. Scott, eds., Feminist Theorize the Political, New York: Routledge.
- Meehan, R.E., and E. Riordan, 2002, Sex and Money: Feminism and Political Economy in the Media, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
- Mitchell, R.P. and J. Schoeffel, 2003, Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky, London: Vintage Books.
- Nzomo, M., 1993, ‘The Gender Dimension of Democratization in Kenya: Some International Linkages’, Alternatives: Global, Local, Political, Vol. 18(1): pp. 61-73.
- Ogola, G., 2011, ‘The Political Economy of the Media in Kenya: From Kenyatta’s Nation-Building Press to Kibaki’s Local-Language FM Radio’, Africa Today, Vol. 57(3): pp. 76-96.
- Ossome, L., 2011, Negotiating Feminist Spaces: Structural Dynamics of Sexual Violence, Politicized Ethnicity and Gender in Kenya’s Democratic Transitions, unpublished PhD thesis research proposal, Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand.
- Smart, C. & B. Smart, 1978, ‘Accounting for Rape: Reality and Myth in Press Reporting’, in C.
- Smart& B. Smart, eds., Women, Sexuality and Social Control (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Steeves, L.H., 1997, Gender Violence and the Press: The St. Kizito Story, Monographs in International Studies, Africa S. No. 67.
- Straight, B., 2009, ‘Making Sense of Violence in the “Badlands” of Kenya’, Anthropology and Humanism, 34(1): pp. 21-30.
- Wanyeki, L.M., 2008, ‘Lessons from Kenya: Women and the Post-Election Violence’, Feminist Africa, Issue 10: pp. 91-97.
- Watkins, S.C. and R.A. Emerson, 2000, ‘Feminist Media Criticism and Feminist Media Practices’, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, Vol. 571: pp. 151-166.
- Weekly Review, 19 July 1991, in Hirsch, F.S. (1994:1041) Yo ng, M.I., 1980, ‘Socialist Feminism and the Limits of Dual Systems Theory’, Socialist Review, Vol. 10 (2/3).
References
African Women and Child Feature Service (2009), Media Coverage of the 2007 Post-Election Violence in Kenya, The Gender Mainstreaming Perspective: A Study of Media Monitoring, Available at: http://www.awcfs.org/dmdocuments/reports/The%20Gender%20Mainstreaming%2 0Perspective%20Study%20-%20Draft%20Report.pdf (accessed on 08 October 2013)
Anderson, M.D., 2010, ‘Sexual Threat and Settler Society: “Black Perils” in Kenya, c.1907-30’, The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, Vol. 38 (1): pp. 47-74.
Antje, D., ‘Women’s Organisations in the Post-Conflict Situation in Kenya – Recovering Social and Political Spaces’, University of Bayreuth, pp. 14–15, < http://www.nai.uu.se/ecas-4/panels/41-60/panel-60/Antje-Daniel-Full-paper. pdf> (accessed 03 September 2012).
Arnold-Ratliff, K., Picture Imperfect: A documentary reveals the damage mainstream media does to women, O Magazine, October 2011, p. 56.
Brown, S., 2001, ‘Authoritarian leaders and multiparty elections in Africa: how foreign donors help to keep Kenya’s Daniel arap Moi in power’, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 725-739. Commission of Inquiry into the Post-Election Violence (CIPEV) report, available at http://www.dialoguekenya.org/docs/PEV%20Report.pdf.
Coronel, S., 2002, The Role of the Media in Deepening Democracy, from http:// unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/UN/UNPAN010194.pdf (accessed 02 September, 2012).
Daily Nation, 16 July 1991, in Hirsch, F.S. (1994:1040).
Hirsch, F.S., 1994, ‘Interpreting Media Representations of a “Night of Madness”: Law and Culture in the Construction of Rape Identities’, Law and Social Enquiry, Vol. 19(4): pp. 1023-1056.
Golding, P. and Murdock, G., 2000, ‘Culture, Communications and Political Economy’, in J. Curran, M and M Gurevitch (eds.) Mass Media and Society, London: Arnold.hooks, b., 1994, Outlaw Culture:
Resisting Representations, New York: Routledge.
Kenya Stockholm Blog, 2009, ‘The Daily Nation’ and ‘Raila’s Stolen Presidency’, http://kenyastockholm.com/2009/03/23/the-daily-nation-and-stolen- presidency/Lloyd, M., 2007, Judith Butler, Cambridge: Polity Press.
MacKinnon, C., 1987, Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
MacKinnon, C., 1988, Surviving Sexual Violence, Cambridge: Polity Press. Marcus, S., 1992, ‘Fighting Bodies, Fighting Words: A Theory and Politics of Rape Prevention’, in J. Butler & J. Scott, eds., Feminist Theorize the Political, New York: Routledge.
Meehan, R.E., and E. Riordan, 2002, Sex and Money: Feminism and Political Economy in the Media, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Mitchell, R.P. and J. Schoeffel, 2003, Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky, London: Vintage Books.
Nzomo, M., 1993, ‘The Gender Dimension of Democratization in Kenya: Some International Linkages’, Alternatives: Global, Local, Political, Vol. 18(1): pp. 61-73.
Ogola, G., 2011, ‘The Political Economy of the Media in Kenya: From Kenyatta’s Nation-Building Press to Kibaki’s Local-Language FM Radio’, Africa Today, Vol. 57(3): pp. 76-96.
Ossome, L., 2011, Negotiating Feminist Spaces: Structural Dynamics of Sexual Violence, Politicized Ethnicity and Gender in Kenya’s Democratic Transitions, unpublished PhD thesis research proposal, Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand.
Smart, C. & B. Smart, 1978, ‘Accounting for Rape: Reality and Myth in Press Reporting’, in C.
Smart& B. Smart, eds., Women, Sexuality and Social Control (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Steeves, L.H., 1997, Gender Violence and the Press: The St. Kizito Story, Monographs in International Studies, Africa S. No. 67.
Straight, B., 2009, ‘Making Sense of Violence in the “Badlands” of Kenya’, Anthropology and Humanism, 34(1): pp. 21-30.
Wanyeki, L.M., 2008, ‘Lessons from Kenya: Women and the Post-Election Violence’, Feminist Africa, Issue 10: pp. 91-97.
Watkins, S.C. and R.A. Emerson, 2000, ‘Feminist Media Criticism and Feminist Media Practices’, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, Vol. 571: pp. 151-166.
Weekly Review, 19 July 1991, in Hirsch, F.S. (1994:1041) Yo ng, M.I., 1980, ‘Socialist Feminism and the Limits of Dual Systems Theory’, Socialist Review, Vol. 10 (2/3).