Popular Culture

Representations of women in popular music can reinforce or challenge stereotypes. Pathways researchers, Akosua Adomako and Awo Asiedu, researched the changing representations of women in Ghanaian popular culture. They analysed the gender content of the lyrics of 250 Ghanaian popular songs from the 1950s to the present. Their textual analysis showed that the messages contained in these songs were often negative, portraying women as sex objects, or as fickle and jealous.