‘What a man can do, a woman can do better’: Unmasking gender stereotypes and culture in ‘Coming 2 America’

Cosmas Rai Amenorvi

doi:10.58256/hjlcs.v4i2.858

Authors

Cosmas Rai Amenorvi
cozyrai@gmail.com
Department of Languages and General Studies, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Ghana

Keywords:

Coming 2 America, characterisation, culture, film studies, gender, identity, movies

Abstract

This study investigates how gender is constructed in Eddie Murphy’s 2021 film ‘Coming 2 America’, the purpose of which is to unearth whether or not characters are projected stereotypically by assigning ‘male roles’ only to male characters and ‘female roles’ only to female characters. ‘Coming 2 America’ is chosen for this study because of its popularity and its being a most current film released in a COVID-19 world of 2021. Four major female and three major male characters are purposively sampled for the study. These characters are among the most prominent whose presence is felt throughout the film. Employing the literary process of characterisation, explicit and implicit ways these characters project themselves are analysed with gender construction as the focus. Findings reveal that gender construction in ‘Coming 2 America’ does not project characters stereotypically by assigning only ‘masculine’ roles and traits to male characters nor ‘feminine’ roles and traits to female characters. The study has implications for film industries, drama groups and social media content producers such as YouTubers and TikTokers to be cognisant of their consciousness or lack thereof as their construction of gender can contribute to the gender equality struggle or defeat it.

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Author Biography

Cosmas Rai Amenorvi, Department of Languages and General Studies, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Ghana

Cosmas Rai Amenorvi is a Research Fellow in the Quality Assurance and Academic Planning Directorate of the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, Ghana. He teaches English and Academic Writing and Communication Skills in the Department of Languages and General Studies at the same university. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics in the Netherlands. He has been teaching and investigating English, Linguistics and Literature for more than a decade now. His research interests are in the areas of English, Sociolinguistics, Semantics, Discourse Analysis, Contact Linguistics, Literary Criticism, Urban Studies and Youth Language.

Dimensions

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