A Comrehensive Examination Of Language Use In Swahili Movies (Bongo Movies) And Gender Stereotypes

ABSTRACT

The study of language and gender has recently influenced a lot of scholars. It is an interesting subject because it relies on the issues related people and their daily life. This study was about examination of language use in Swahili movies and gender stereotypes. The aim of the study was to examine how language use in Swahili movies popularly known as Bongo movies conforms to gender stereotypes. The study was guided by two objectives one is to explore the variety of speech behaviours that are associated with particular gender as used by actors and actresses in the Bongo movies and two, is to find out whether there is language use in Bongo movies that does not conform to gender stereotypes.

The study of language use in Swahili movies and gender stereotypes has been done by the researcher through collecting data from different Swahili movies and interviewing the most important people in the film industry. The interview was done to different stakeholders like actors, actresses, script writers and movie viewers. They all responded to the questions posed and brought very interesting findings.

The findings reflected and clearly answered the two objectives set by the researcher and mark a core of the study complete. First, the study showed that there are speech habits that were demonstrated by actors and actresses. Second, the study also reveals that the language used in Bongo movies does not normally conform to the gender stereotypes as perceived by the society.