Media Transnationalism and the Politics of feminized Corruption
Media Transnationalism and the Politics of feminized Corruption
by Dr.Sharon Omotoso (University of Ibadan, Nigeria)
Thu, Nov 25, 2021, 12:00, Zoom 914 8611 6606 (RS Moralities)
Abstract
As corruption threatens state sovereignty and undermines the achievement of gender parity in politics, the media have been pivotal in feminizing corruption among female political office holders. By feminized corruption, I refer to recent trends of typifying women as corrupt and making more women visible among the corrupt across political spaces. While scholars have engaged with feminized poverty, focus on feminized corruption in transnational context is limited. Consequently, that media transnationalism essentializes women as higher moral agents is comprehensible; what is worrisome is how media transnationalism turns back to weaponize corruption against women in public office. Could an avowal that women are the world’s proletariat be connected with feminized corruption? If transnationalism resembles the "trans" in transvestism as Judith Butler suggests, how does the media feminize corruption in transnational contexts? By focusing on feminized corruption among female political office holders, this study deploys Nigeria’s Diezani Allison Madueke’s corruption saga (1) to spotlight new, comparative insight that media transnationalism shed on feminized corruption (2) to understand how moral conduct of female political office holders affect women’s political participation, and; (3) to seek feminist moral approach that could address the challenges of feminized corruption. While this study is in no way justifying corruption or seeking to exonerate anyone, it calls attention to misogynistic use of media to deprive women and discourage new entrants from venturing into politics. It emphasizes moral tools necessary for any meaningful involvement of women in political activities and suggests how women may use these tools to survive and thrive within political spaces across states.
Keywords: Feminized corruption; media transnationalism; Feminist morality