7-ED 1 Otieno Kenya.Indd

7 Genge Videos? Struggles over Gender and Citizenship in Kenya Hezron Ndunde Otieno Introduction Citizenship has become a very popular subject of debate in the recent past, appropriated nationally and internationally, both by the Left and the Right, as well as by feminists. In the most general sense, citizenship is about membership or belonging (Delanty 2000). The interest in citizenship is not just in the narrow, formalistic sense of having the right to carry a specific passport. It addresses an overall concept encapsulating the relationship between the individual, the state and society. Beyond the formal definition of citizenship, that is, membership in a nation-state, modern theories of citizenship have drawn their inspiration from Marshall (1950, reprinted in 1992). Marshall defined citizenship as ‘a status bestowed on those who are full members of a community; and those who possess this status are equal, with respect to the rights and duties with which the status is endowed’ (Bulmer and Reese 1996). These include civil, political and social rights, and obligations. Marshall defined social rights as ‘the whole range, from the right to a modicum of economic welfare and security to the right to share … in social heritage and to live the life of a civilised being according to the standards (of) society’. According to Sweetman, this view of citizenship goes beyond the concerns of politics, national government and legal systems to the interaction of individual people’s rights with collective groupings at all levels (Sweetman 2003). 188 Gender and Citizenship in the Global Age Yuval-Davis (1997) agrees that Marshall’s definition provides the framework to analytically discuss citizenship as a multi-tiered construct which applies to people’s membership in a variety of collectives – local, ethnic, national as well as transnational status – and considers this multi- tiered approach important because neo-liberal states have redefined and reprivatised their tasks and obligations. It is no longer defined by nationality and the nation-state, but has become de-territorialised and fragmented into the separate discourses of rights, participation, responsibility and identity. Cosmopolitanism has increasingly become a significant force in the world due to new expressions of cultural identity, civic ties, human rights, technological innovations, ecological sustainability and political mobilisation. Citizenship is no longer exclusively about the struggle for social equality but it has become a major site of battles over cultural identity and demands for the recognition of group difference. Delanty (2000) argues that globalisation both threatens and supports cosmopolitan citizenship. Critical of the prospects for a global civil society, he defends the alternative idea of a more limited cosmopolitan public sphere as a basis for new kinds of citizenship that have emerged in a global age. This chapter examines patterns of gender struggles over citizenship among the youth in Kenya by investigating the discourse of music videos, particularly the locally produced videos known as Genge. As such, it seeks to illustrate how global, national, and local cultural flows from various information and communication technology (ICT) genres are reworked in the emerging romantic and sexual contours of Kenya’s future generations as represented in these music videos. The thrust of this study is to raise the level of public dialogue and debate about the way women are depicted in the oftenmisogynistic lyrics and images of popular culture. DeLauretis has used the term ‘technologies of gender’ to refer to ways in which film and other such media participate in the cultural construction of what it means to be male or female. She argues that far from being a biological construction, gender is produced and shaped by social discursive practices (de Lauretis 1987). This paper argues that music is foremost among cultural ‘technologies of the body’, and that it is a site where we learn how to experience socially mediated patterns of kinetic energy, emotions, desire, pleasure and much more.1 Connected to the idea of specific entertainment value and demand associated with music videos, the images of gender (attractiveness, decorative role, and sexuality) that are frequently used to sell certain lifestyles or ideals are central to this study. Otieno: Genge Videos? Struggles over Gender and Citizenship in Kenya 189 Recent scholarship in the field of popular culture has paid a lot of attention to issues of audience interpretation or construction of meaning (Griswold 1987; Liebes and Katz 1990; Shivley 1992). The issue of cultural use has similarly garnered attention (Beisel 1992; Corse 1997; Griswold 1987). The two literatures obviously intertwine since people’s use of culture influences their interpretation of it. Little of this research, however, has seriously considered systematic differences in how men and women view images through highly patterned, gendered lenses and, simultaneously, how the process of interpretation allows men and women to construct various identities At a different level, however, research in traditional forms of popular culture has an established history in the field of African studies. There is a growing interest in studying the emergent cultural and ICT genres such as music (Hofmeyer, Nyairo and Ogude 2003; Larkin 2004); films (Diawara 2003); popular magazines (Nuttal 2003); and television (Barnet 2004). Such intensified research and analysis are as significant in Kenya as elsewhere in the world since this is intertwined with global cultural flows and the public space of nations, facilitated by the proliferation of new ICTs. Indeed, the Kenyan scene is replete with examples of music being used as a cultural form. For instance, politicians reworked popular music from artistes such as GidiGidi and MajiMaji in the run-up to the 2002 elections to enthuse the populace to vote for particular parties (Hofmeyer, Nyairo and Ogude 2003). Lukalo (2006) discusses various notions of culture, politics and youth music in the Kenyan context during former President arap Moi’s rule. Moving away from the notion that youth activities can be equated with idleness and acts of terror, he examines the historical centrality of music and politics in Kenya. To enhance the discussion, politics and the urban context serve as the basis for interrogating youth involvement through music in the political space in Kenya. So, music is a critical component of peoples’ lives and identities in societies throughout the world (Grosssberg 1989; Hall 1981) especially the youth, who are particularly voracious consumers and producers of popular culture (Lipsitz, Maira and Soep 2004; Wills 1990). Although the youths’ ability to consume popular culture is largely dictated by their economic means and, in some cases, constrained by religious or cultural norms, the products of the ICT-obsessed world shape the imaginative landscape of the youths’ lives (Dolby 2001). In the last two decades, newer varieties of modern popular music have arisen in Kenya, which are mostly local derivatives of Western hip-hop and rap. They include the sub-genres Genge and Kapuka beats. These have 190 Gender and Citizenship in the Global Age revolutionised Kenyan popular music and created an industry dominated by the youth. Most artists affiliate themselves with a production house which serves the same function as a recording company.2 The music videos produced by the youths, especially young women, are fraught with contestation over belonging. Comparatively few women have ventured into the realm of the Genge and Kapuka music genres in the country and this has compelled them to construct an alternative space in a male dominated field. Men have always assumed dominant roles and females have always been featured subordinately. Female perspectives have always been infused, but within the realm of representation as sexual objects. Of Identity, Citizenship and Popular Flows: Some Contextual Reflections There exists a lacuna in the study of music, both secular and gospel, with regard to the issue of gender identities and citizenship struggles, whereas the Kenyan music space, as inany other African country, offers a striking example of a field where contestation between ethnic, gender and national identities isexpressed. This study analyses contestation over gender and citizenship in Kenya as depicted in the locally produced music videos known as Genge by both young men and women. Genge video images may reveal the strategies that young women use in challenging the hegemonic tendencies of the music industry in the country, and at the same time provide insights into how both local and global cultural flows, in terms of music videos, are reconfigured by the youths. The global media disseminate a non-local identity, but one directed at the global youth, and mediated largely by music videos. Music videos create and reinforce a stereotypical and status quo view of gender, which places limitations on women’s social roles (Signorielli 2001). Social cognitive theory suggests that the more people watch television, the more likely they are to view the real world in terms of television images (Bandura 2002). This tendency emphasises the importance of media images and their effect on viewers. Cultivation theory is also concerned with how television, as a system of messages, creates a social reality or view of the world over time (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, Signorielli and Shanahan 2002). Describing music video content provides a crucial foundation

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