INVESTIGATING THE REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN THROUGH YORUBA MUSIC: A CASE OF ODOLAYE AREMU AND LAGBAJA

Abstract

The place of women in various societies has remained a controversial social discourse. On the global scene, women have continued to renounce the hegemonic position of male figure over their female counterpart, arguing that they remain objects of significance and not to be undermined, for their slated orthodox duties. Anchored on Walker's womanism theory, this paper examines how the philosophical ideologies about women in Yoruba society have changed, over time, as represented in the works of Odolaye Aremu and Lagbaja, two popular Yoruba artistes who belong to different eras. The study employs the purposive sampling technique to select Odolaye Aremu's Oro awon Obinrin and Lagbaja's Who-man for in-depth content analysis. Odolaye Aremu on one hand, employs a harsh and confrontational view in expressing his philosophy about women, focusing on the weakness and shortcomings of the female gender, without having any concerns about their feelings while addressing social ills associated to women. Lagbaja on the other hand, employs a different approach in his work concerning women. Contrary to the position of Odolaye Aremu, he projects the beauty of the female gender, by appreciating the relevance of women in areas such as multitasking, nurturing, managing and being the mother of all. The dissenting positions of the two artistes is representative of their various eras and the changing perspectives about the female gender in Yoruba society, which reveals that the perspectives of the Yoruba concerning women is changing and suggests more respect and power to the female gender.