Daily Sun and the ‘Sun Girl’ practice: Challenging the stereotypical portrayal of female gender in the media

Abstract

Daily Sun’s Sun Girl practice has continued over the years in Nigeria without any identified form of pressure from the academia or gender activists. This study, thus, interrogates the damage the practice portends for the image of the female gender. Volumes of related literature have been reviewed to situate the study within the existing body of knowledge. Hinged on the framing theory, the study contends that within the feminist struggle, the Sun Girl practice frames the female gender in a manner that makes women look materialistic, hedonistic and defocused. The practice also objectifies women, thereby increasing their ‘invisibility’ in the society. The study recommends progressive portrayal of women in the media in a manner that will increase their ‘visibility’ in the society. Spaces in the media devoted to women should be used to discuss serious issues that will help to advance the course of women and make them more visible in the society. Since the study is conceptual in nature, it is hereby recommended that more empirical studies be conducted on the Sun Girl practice to ascertain the extent of damage it is capable of causing to the female gender.