SEXIST LANGUAGE IN NOLLYWOOD MOVIES

Abstract

Sexism is a stereotype of differentiating people based on their gender which causes discrimination and unequal treatment by one gender against another. It can be displayed in every aspect of life especially in language. Sexist language has been portrayed in our everyday activity which includes media such as film. This paper examines sexist language in three Nollywood movies using Sara Mills’ (2008) model as its theoretical framework. The findings reveal that the characters in these movies use the following types of sexist language: overt sexism in generic noun, compound words, naming and non-parallel terms, and insult terms. This study has also found out that in these movies, overt sexism was used mainly by male characters.