Coming Soon!

POPULAR SONGS ON WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT: LAUNCH OF WINNING SONGS

COMING SOON!

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Popular Artistes Workshop

At the Reflection Workshop with Popular Artistes
July 30, 2008

Group Picture taken after the Workshop

WunLove, The Kubolor and Takyiwaa Manuh during discussions

Gyedu Blay Ambolley, a well known popular musician in Ghana


Diana Hopeson, current President of MUSIGA, represents her small group
as she discusses a song text and possible alternatives

Nana Dansowaa Kena-Amoah and Mawell Addo

Nii Armah Dagadu and Dennis Abeiku discussing song texts



Post Workshop dinner

Awo Asiedu in a chat with Soha Rafaat Ibrahim

Mona Ibrahim Ali and Gyedu Blay Ambolley


Akosua Adomako Ampofo and Mona Ibrahim Ali

Pictures by Akofa A. Anyidoho

Changing Portrayal of Women in Popular Music

‘Let’s have more positive lyrics about women’

Akofa Anyidoho and Nana Dansowaa Kena-Amoah

Daily Graphic, Saturday, August 30, 2008

Page 20, Entertainment

A forum dubbed The Reflection Workshop with Popular Artistes, which brought together researchers, popular artistes, disk jockeys and radio presenters to reflect on the messages encoded in popular song texts about women, was held at the Ellking Hotel in Accra on July 30^th. The forum also sought to brainstorm alternative ways that women could be presented in popular music.

In attendance at the workshop which was facilitated by Prof. Akosua Anyidoho, the Director of NYU in Ghana, were RPC colleagues from Nigeria, Drs Bibi Bakare Yusuf and Charmaine Pereira, colleagues from Egypt, Drs Mona Ali Ibrahim and Sofa Rafaat, and from Ghana Prof. Takyiwaa Manuh, Drs Nana Akua Anyidoho and Sika Ahadzie. The project has also been working with the veteran musicologist Prof. John Collins. The musicians and radio presenters who attended the workshop included Mr. Gyedu Blay Ambolley, Mrs. Diana Hopeson, WunLov, DJ Abio, Nana Adjei Denkyebuor, Mr. Nii A. Dagadu, and Mr. Dennis Abieku.

The workshop was part of the research project, Changing Representations of Women in Popular Music, led by Prof. Akosua Adomako Ampofo, Head, Centre for Gender and Advocacy (CEGENSA) and Dr. Awo Mana Asiedu, Theatre Arts, both of the University of Ghana. This project is, in turn, part of larger research endeavour called, Pathways of Women’s Empowerment, involving an international consortium of researchers from academic institutions networking with women’s organisations, women’s rights groups and policy makers to examine and influence policy changes that affect women’s conceptions of empowerment, creating the framework for women in the public sphere and work and changing narratives of women’s sexualities. The Convenor of the West Africa Hub of the project is Prof. Takyiwa Manuh, the Director of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon.

Through an examination of the lyrics of some songs composed mainly by Ghanaian artistes, the participants found that the messages conveyed about women are often negative and tended to reinforce stereotypical societal perceptions of women. For example, they found that some of the songs focused on women’s bodies and portrayed them as sex objects, while others tended to portray women as fickle minded, unfaithful, money lovers, exploitative, competitive, gossips, submissive, jealous, etc.

The participants also found texts that portrayed positive images about women. For example, some of the texts reflected women as keepers of tradition and history, educators, counsellors, hardworking, virtuous, physically beautiful, virtuous, or as selfless and caring mothers/partners. Some of the lyrics on sexuality also portrayed positive notions of desire and female-male physical love. However, these positive representations in the collection of songs were by far fewer.

Discussing the negative representation of women in popular music, the resource person for the workshop, Prof. Akosua Anyidoho, stressed that such images might cause some girls and women to believe that those portrayals are what society expects of them, and they may fail to develop their potentials. She noted that popular music is a very powerful medium for (re)enforcing and dictating what is in vogue/fashionable or acceptable to society. Both the youth and adults look to popular music for relaxation and entertainment. The songs are played on radio and television, and in the latter case typically accompanied by musical videos which often depict women’s bodies through dance (often quite provocative).

Daily we hear music, booming from shops, restaurants, taxis, buses, lorries, etc. Social gatherings such as marriage ceremonies, naming ceremonies, funerals, commissioning of projects, etc. are deemed dull without music. Thus, the whole society, both young and old, is exposed to the songs and the messages musicians convey. The lyrics are repeated in daily conversations, and even children are heard repeating them during their play time in the streets, at school, or at home.

Based on the foregoing, the participants considered alternative representations of women. The artistes and the radio presenters agreed they needed to expose the public to songs that do not stereotype women. According to Diana Hopeson, President of Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), most songs about women are composed by men. She suggested therefore that women needed to be encouraged and supported to sing about themselves. There were calls to involve female musicians in setting new standards: to write alternative songs texts about themselves.

*** Editorial changes have been made to the original publication that was made in the Daily Graphic, as boldened in the article.

People at the Textual Analysis Workshop

Textual Analysis Workshop- 9th June, 2008

Nana Dansowaa Kena-Amoah, Research Assistant-CEGENSA




Anne-Marie Burgeios, Intern- CEGENSA
and the ICT Directorate

Dzodzi Tsikata, Akosua Darkwa and Nana Akua Anyidoho
WE RPC-Ghana researchers
(Left to Right)

Akosua Adomako Ampofo, Team leader
-Changing Representation of Women in Popular Culture Project

Edward Gborgbor, Research Assistant-CEGENSA and Awo Asiedu, Co-team leader
of Changing Representation of Women in Popular Culture Project

(Left to Right)

Akosua Darkwah and Nana Akua Anyidoho

Akosua Anyidoho, Lingusitics Professor and Coordinator of NYU in Ghana

Textual Analysis tutoring session

Photo Credits: Akofa A. Anyidoho

Financial assistance for Women advocated

Financial assistance for Women advocated
The Ghanaian Times, Friday, June 20, 2008. Page 27 (Business News)
Augustine Cobba-Biney

The surest way for Africa’s economic development is to offer more financial assistance to women, says Theopista Sekitto, Wholesale Manager of the DFCU Bank in Uganda.

She pointed out that women are better financial managers and more accountable, transparent, trustworthy and thus must become the focus for the development of the African financial sector. Mrs. Sekitto was addressing an international partnership forum on the topic, “Making finance work for African women,” in Accra on Wednesday.

Over 200 leaders of African and international financial institutions, government officials, central banker, researchers and experts attended the forum to discuss priorities for development of the African financial sector.

Mrs. Sekitto noted that women entrepreneurs are a dynamic and powerful economic force in society today. “There are increasing numbers of women entrepreneurs who are committed to the success of business,” she said.

Mrs. Sekitto stated that women are better advocates than men and had better repayment culture. “Women are better payers, more committed, focused in terms of meeting their obligation. They buy less on price than service and will pay more for convenience of service,” she said.

In Uganda for instance, she said 39 percent of all registered businesses are owned by women. Mrs. Sekitto stressed the need to recognise the potential of women and offer them the needed assistance to increase productivity and enhance progress. “If we are to build a just society where everyone had the opportunity to fulfill their potential, women have to be supported fully,” she said.

Workshop with Popular Artistes-Coming Soon!

Upcoming-Reflection Workshop with Popular Artistes

Popular musicians are powerful conveyors of ideas and in constituting popular culture. The lyrics of songs are repeated in everyday discourse and find their way into explanations on women's intrinsic "nature" and pronouncements on how gender relations should occur, often even justifying the unjust treatment of women. For example, Ghanaian highlife songs often portray women as scheming, greedy, and untrustworthy, but also as great mothers and faithful lovers.

Very little work has been done to examine gendered images in popular culture. One of the projects of the West Africa RPC hub explores the ways in which women are represented in different music genres, and by different artistes since the 1950s. We examine the main themes about women in the song lyrics, both explicit and implicit, focusing on narratives of women's bodies and their roles as workers, providers, caregivers, lovers. The project also seeks to encourage these popular artistes to be more reflexive in their conceptions of women, to write alternative lyrics, and hence to seek new ways of representing women that challenge negative stereotypes and that women might find empowering. This we will do through two specific activities – an artistes' reflection workshop, and subsequently, a song competition in which songs will be judged for content (lyrics and their arrangement) as well as rhythm and melody.

The reflection workshop takes place in July 2008 and will bring together:

- Popular musicians;

- members of the Association of Musicians,

- The media especially journalists for entertainment pages,

- hosts of TV and radio music programmes;

- DJs;

- and possibly a few 'Consumers' of music products, especially young people and those in professions that allow for a great deal of music listening in the course of their work – such as public transport drivers and domestic workers.

The workshop format will include listening to music, reflecting on song texts, and conversations around possible alternative texts. RPC members will share from some of our on-going textual analyses of song lyrics.

Prof. Akosua A. Ampofo

Dr. Awo Asiedu