Hypermasculinity in Nollywood Films (2015-2017)

The study set out to examine the extent to which hypermasculinity traits are portrayed in Nigeria Nollywood films (2015-2017) and the various dimensions of their portrayal. The specific objectives of the study were, among others, to identify hypermasculinity traits projected in select Nollywood films; and identify the dominant framework of hypermasculinity projected in select Nollywood films. To achieve these objectives, five corresponding research questions were stated and three hypotheses proposed. The study was predicated on stereotype theory, social role theory and gender hierarchy theory. The explanatory sequential mixed method was adopted in this study: integrating both content analysis and in-depth interviews in a bid to link findings from quantitative and qualitative approaches. The code sheet was used to record depictions of hypermasculinity in 350 Nollywood films which were selected out of the 3863 films produced within the span of this study. The researcher was guided by the various content categories and units of analysis that are indicative of hypermasculinity in the selected Nollywood films. The quantitative data were analyzed using charts and tables, as well as regression Analysis and ANOVA. Regression was used because it suits the nature of this study as the researcher set out to predict the correlation between the demographics of the males and their tendency to exhibit hypermasculine traits; whereas the qualitative data were analyzed using the inductive approach. The discussion of findings was done by interspersing the analysis from the quantitative data with the inductive analyses of the qualitative data in relation to each of the five research questions. The research found that, among other things, Nollywood films significantly sold hypermasculine ideologies as a collective characteristic of the male human and the most prominent traits in Nollywood films are other hypermasculine traits (mean = 4.27 and std = 4.54) (including aggression, impulsivity, risk-taking, ambition, egotistic, etc.) and toughness as emotional self-control, and there were more gender equitable traits [t(8953) = 234.952, P < .005] than non-gender equitable traits [t(1496) = 93.461, P < .005] in the select films. Based on the findings, it was recommend that, among other things, Nollywood should enhance the quality of articulation and dialogue in the Nigerian films and avoid padding up some unnecessary actions to fill timeline and elongate the duration of the film, and by so doing, increasing the frequency of hypermasculine traits.