Reimagining Female Marginality: An Intersectional Critique of Gendered Oppression in Selected Akamba Pop
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This study investigates the intersectional oppression of women as depicted in selected Akamba pop songs, utilising Kimberlé Crenshaw’s framework of intersectionality. It looks at how gender, class, race, and sexuality come together to construct women in the music genre feel like they don't belong, putting them in a subordinate position to dominant male masculinities. The paper examines themes in songs like Ngemi, Sheila Baby, and Mikorogo to show how Akamba pop music turns women into objects for men to desire and conquer sexually. The analysis also criticises how the balance of cultural and economic power keeps men in charge of women's choices. This study employs an intersectional framework to demonstrate that women in Akamba pop music face oppression not only due to gender but also through racial, ethnic, and class-based structures that sustain their marginalisation. The paper concludes by advocating for a more extensive discourse on the systemic intersectional forces that contribute to female marginalisation, underscoring the necessity to confront these interconnected oppressions within African cultural contexts
Institution: Kenyatta University
Language: English
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4411789076