Gender and ethnic stereotypes in selected Nigerian sitcoms

Abstract

Studies on gender and ethnic stereotypes in Nigeria have not considered the potentiality of situation comedies (i.e. sitcoms) as a means of identifying different forms of stereotypes inherent in the country, and their sociocultural implications. This study, therefore, analysed ethnic and gender stereotypes in two Nigerian situation  comedies, namely Jenifa’s Diary and Professor John Bull. Ten purposively extracted excerpts from the first five seasons of both sitcoms were analysed, using the theoretical anchor of typicality and typification concepts which were used to analyse the linguistic items in the excerpts, and the sword and shield metaphor which depicted the categorisation of issues. The analysis revealed ethnic and gender stereotypes in the series. With ethnic stereotypes, the Yoruba of Nigeria, were typified as people with a high penchant for partying, and the Igbo were constructed as lovers of money, business and people who engage in an exorbitant wedding culture. The gender stereotypes revealed male hegemony and female complicity as two gender challenges in Nigeria, with the former involving males’ attitudinal excesses and the latter being females’ implicit contribution towards male hegemonic tendencies. The study concluded that sitcoms can be tools for identifying, evaluating and correcting sociocultural exigencies through its revelation of stereotypes.