Reframing Female Identity Through Sexual Objectification Theory: A Critical Re-Theorisation of Adesuwa

Abstract

Sexual objectification operates not merely as interpersonal reduction but as a structural mechanism through which patriarchal systems consolidate authority over female embodiment. While Nollywood scholarship has examined stereotypes, morality, and gender binaries, sustained theoretical engagement with sexual objectification in Nigerian historical epics remains limited. This article argues that Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen’s Adesuwa transforms objectification from visual appraisal into a crisis of governance. Drawing on Sexual Objectification Theory (Fredrickson and Roberts) and extending it through African feminist scholarship (Nnaemeka; Tamale; Ahmed), the study employs qualitative textual and visual analysis to examine how the film constructs the female body as symbolic infrastructure for sovereign legitimacy. The narrative progression from gaze to entitlement, from entitlement to coercion, and from coercion to lethal authority reveals objectification as a political strategy rather than private desire. Crucially, Adesuwa’s refusal reframes resistance as ethical intervention within culture, not rebellion against it. Her death, rather than sanctifying sacrifice, exposes the fragility of patriarchal sovereignty and initiates communal reckoning. By reconceptualising objectification as governance failure and memorialisation as counter-power, the film reimagines female dignity within historical cinema. This study advances Nollywood gender scholarship by integrating objectification theory with African feminist thought to illuminate how historical film can convert violation into ethical indictment and cultural accountability.