Performing femininity and masculinity in primary School children's drama: an analysis of the Kenya National drama festival 2004-2010
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Date
2013-11-11
Authors
Mwaura, Phoebe Mumbi
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Abstract
The Kenya National Drama Festival is a socializing agent that teaches children
lessons about appropriate and inappropriate gender roles and stereotypes. In
addition, it persuades them to accept the values represented by the characters and
the themes besides providing them with role models for what they can and should
be like when they grow up. This study sought to examine the construction and
representation of femininity and masculinity in selected plays presented between
2004 and 2010 at the Kenya National Drama Festival (KNDF) using a gender
lens. The study had the following research objectives: to investigate how
femininity and masculinity is represented in terms of gender roles and stereotypes
of the characters, to examine the processes through which the actors/actresses and
viewers internalize and interpret and therefore normalize them, and to identify the
measures that can be adopted to encourage gender responsive drama during
national festivals. In order to determine this; the target population for the study
was all the plays presented by primary schools between 2004 and 2010 at the
KNDF. The ABC of Gender Analysis Framework model and The Performative
theory were used to analyse the plays. The ABC of Gender Analysis Framework
model measures the gender representation in terms of the gender roles and
stereotypes of the plays selected for study while The Performative theory
emphasizes the actors/actresses and viewers role in creating meaning of the
contents of the plays. The study employed stratified sampling to select one play
out of the three best of every year to participate in the study. The study thus had a
sample of seven plays. The study used both primary and secondary data collection
techniques. The instruments for primary data collection were: observation for the
analysis of plays content and personal interviews. The findings indicated that
men, women, boys and girls in the plays are perpetually stereotyped in character
and role. The women and girls are seen in the domestic and reproductive sphere
while men and boys characters are seen in the productive sphere. Those
interviewed revealed a great sense of gender awareness and sensitivity in regard
to gender differentiation through the gender stereotypes and roles presented in the
plays. The study recommends that more studies need to be conducted with
reference to gender representation in drama especially in other genres that are
presented at the KNDF. A comparative study should be carried out on the scripts
written by the pupils and those written by the scriptwriters and drama teachers to
establish the different point of views and especially in gender representation.
Based on the findings, the study recommended the following measures: that the
drama teachers, script writers and adjudicators should undertake gender
awareness trainings because this will go a long way in ensuring that there is
gender responsiveness in all the items presented at the drama festivals from the
zonal to the national level. The pupils should be encouraged to write their own
scripts based on their understanding of the world.