CHINHOYI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN

DEPARTMENT OF CREATIVE ART AND DESIGN

NAME: SHAWN

SURNAME: MUGOBI

REG NO: C23154111N

PROGRAM: VISUAL COMMUNICATION AND MULTIMEDIA DESIGN

LEVEL: 1;1

YEAR: 2023

LECTURER: MR K KECHE

TOPIC: DISCUSS TO WHAT EXTEND DO YOU THINK ZIM DANCEHALL VIDEOS

DISCREDIT SOCIAL FORMS OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION
Question: Discuss the extent to which sexually explicit Zimdancehall videos discredit social
forms of visual communication.

Zimdancehall is a subgenre of reggae or dancehall music from Zimbabwe. Dancehall is a

people's movement propelled by rhythm that is owned by the people. It can also be described as
social criticism, a way of life, and a type of culture. Zimbabwean dancehall music
(Zimdancehall) began as an underground subculture in Zimbabwe's ghettos and has since grown
to become the country's most popular genre. Even though it has emerged as the dominant genre
in Zimbabwe, and its popularity speaks for itself, it continues to face scrutiny in a variety of
areas ranging from its themes, messages, inspirations and motivations. This essay will examine
the visual characteristics of Zimdancehall. A study on the genre's sexually explicit imagery and
how they are impacting social forms of visual communication.

Jamaican dancehall music from the 1990s and the early 2000s served as the major inspiration for
Zimdancehall. The genre has deep historical roots, which can be traced back to the 1970s;
however, its watershed on the local market is marked by Bob Marley’s independence
performance of 1980 and since then this trend of Jamaican popular music which has evolved
through time since its birth in the Caribbean islands has stuck on. (Charivanda, 2019) Jamaican
music continued to be an inspiration as Jamaican artists continued to visit and perform in
Zimbabwe. Earlier dancehall artist’s music reflected a strong resemblance to the Jamaican style
as most artists sang in patois. Zimbabwean artists later evolved from this style in the early 2000s
with rise of major Dancehall figures such as Winky D.

In terms of visuals, the direction of music videos in Zimbabwe has always been inspired by the
west and the Caribbean. Music genre differences in sexual references have also been found with
Hip Hop, rap, soul, and pop music containing higher levels of sexual content compared to other
music genres.( Frisby & Aubrey, 2012) It has been found that music in the United States contains
the most sexual content when compared to other forms of media (Pardun, L’Engle, & Brown,
2005) and that sexual content is much more common in the United States compared to other
countries (Vandenbosch, Vervloessem, & Eggermont, 2013). This exposure to western music on
a high degree has led to most Zimbabwean media, ranging from music, films and general art to
normalize sexually explicit content in their visual elements used for communication.

Social forms of visual communication can be described as the use of visual elements such as
photos, videos and more to convey a message or evoke emotions in a social context. Most
Zimbabwean artists use music as a way to convey social messages that can help the listeners or
fanatics, relate, learn or educate themselves in various social contexts. Social contexts such as
relationships, conversations, norms and many more. However, when artists now combine their
lyrics with visuals that contain sexually explicit content such as seminude women, men and
women engaging in sexually provocative behaviors and to a larger extent sex scenes, there will
be an inevitable impact to the society.

One major problem with sexually explicit content in their music videos, is the message they
deliver to the society. The portrayal of women in these videos is utterly shameful. (Naidoo &
Pfukwa, 2009) examined female representations in Zimdancehall and criticized the
commercialization of the Zimbabwean woman at the expense of intelligence. The ideal
Zimdancehall woman has a full, curvy physique, a lovely face, light complexion, form-fitting
clothing, and stunning lingerie. In a nutshell, she is all about the sex appeal and should be able to
party. Their report then goes on to examine what drives women's Zimdancehall attitudes and how
they affect society as a whole. They applaud the artists for honoring the Zimbabwean woman of
African beauty, but believe that Zimbabwean musicians should empower women by bringing out
their best outside of women's domesticity as moms, spouses, and carers.

The videos of the following artists provide examples of where we might see similar occurrences.
Platinum Prince describes a woman dancing with him on the dance floor as she grinds her
buttocks into his groin and gyrates against him while she is bent down like a banana in the song
“Mona Wakandigarira”. The music video reflects pictures of sex and sexual activity as though
complementing the thoughts expressed in the song, which is what Viriri et al disliked (Viriri et al,
2011). The musical video features dances that are sexually explicit and feature nearly naked
women. As a result, parents and the older population have expressed displeasure with
Zimdancehall's explicit nature and celebration of youth-sex. According to (Marufu, 2014),
teenage ladies in Zimdancehall are used as bait by older men in bars and society in general,
indicating the indisputable harmful impact of Zimdancehall on the younger generation.

(Kistler & Lee, 2009) assert that sexual musical videos are associated with beliefs about women
as sex objects as well as sexual permissiveness and stereotypical gender attitudes. Indeed, against
this, Zimdancehall and its music videos is a cause for concern as adolescents might be
particularly susceptible to the influence of sexual music videos on their stereotypical sexual
beliefs about women and how they should be pot rayed. Kistler and Lee (2009) motion that the
result of these videos are sexually aggressive beliefs. In Uncle Epatan’s song “Mazigaro”,
women are shown in in provocative clothing, shaking their buttocks gyrating or ‘twerking’ as is
popularly known as by the youth of this generation. Exposure to such videos, aids in standing for
a stereotype that only leads to women as only good for sex. One who believes in such content
can only to have such a view point on life and can lead to destructive social situations such as
relationships and marriage.

The above-mentioned problem of how this sexually explicit material portrays women also leads
to another closely related problem, which is misogyny and toxic masculinity. Misogyny is hatred
of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women
at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy meaning men
should always be showcased as dominant over women. In Zimdancehall music, women are
presented as inferior to men. Zimdancehall artists succeed in creating a culture of unmeasurable
dominance. Artists such as Uncle Epatan, Enzo, Seh Calaz and Buffalo Souljah represent through
their lyrics and music videos, typical men in Zimdancehall culture as well as expose the attitude
of man towards women in contemporary Zimbabwe. They showcase how women in dancehall do
degrading things and submit to misogyny for the approval and enjoyment of men as the bedroom
experience is recreated on the dance floor.

(Connell and Masserschmidt, 2005) assert that the current most honored way of being a man
requires all other man to position themselves in relation to the ideological, global subordination
of women by men. This masculinity or for one to be recognized as a man in global 21st century
music society, men ‘are required’ to have attitudes that objectify women and practices that
subordinate them. In Zimdancehall this ideal man is achieved by linguistically objectifying
women which is further reflected by the music videos that advance and propagate submissive
roles, untrustworthy, promiscuous prostitutes, gold diggers and party animals. The following
song, Seunononga by Guspy Warrior exude the level of misogyny in Zimdancehall music by
most male artistes.

Guspy Warrior in this song describes and showcases his woman on the dance floor. He describes
her perfect physical attributes. Naidoo and Pfukwa (2009) argue, is an instance of the
commercialization of women’s physical body and beauty above intellect. Hence, Naidoo and
Pfukwa (2009) are right to protest and call for the Zimbabwean women to be viewed and treated
beyond their looks and their stereotypical position in society. In the song, the girl has to prove
her worth to him by her arousing dance skills. This just proves the misogynistic nature being
promoted to youths of the society.

Shockingly Zimdancehall female artists continue to incorporate such misogynistic ideologies

into their lyrics and music videos. Women putting other women down. The number of women
who try to contest this backward mentality are close to none. Most women in zimdancehalll sing
about sex and depict themselves and men sexually. Female artists such as lady Bee have sparked
numerous controversies because of their explicit videos. Lady Bee brags about her skill in
capturing guys in her song Hamundiziye. She claims she can seduce any man if his partner is
unaware. Lady Bee then wonders at a semi-naked man wearing nothing but his underwear. To the
disbelief of many, she monitors the man's blood pressure with a doctor's thermostat from his
chest down to his reproductive regions in one of the video's scenes. She portrays the
Zimdancehall woman as a lustful, promiscuous being. Some argue that it is turning the tables,
demonstrating that women are in command, while others argue that it simply demonstrates that
women are willing to comply and have accepted their status as man's sex objects to some level.
what might be a case of sexual independence and emancipation of the Zimbabwean woman
labels her the temptress. To her, sex is just but an act and there is no morality to it as she tries by
all means to sleep with another woman’s man. These are the very same attitudes these artists
exude for their followers to imitate, adolescent girls and ghetto youths eventually copy their acts,
dressing and the lifestyles they portray in their videos.
Sexually explicit videos are also used as a tool by Zimdancehall artists to accompany sexual
inuendo in their lyrics. She Calaz’s song “Hohwa” his initial lyrics are about eating mashroom
(hohwa) but in reality he was talking about having sex. This shows the extent to which man lust
for women and how they celebrate sex and the video is accompanied by women dressed in short
skirts dancing lustfully. Soul Jah Love’s song “Ndongosiumudza Musoro” also follows the same
formulat. The video shows his encounter with a beautiful woman he exchanges paths with along
the corridor and immediately lusts for her. He then describes what he imagines he will do to her
as he undresses her as they have sex. The video gives a clear picture of the notion of sexual
glorification as it also features semi naked in suggestive sexual aura but the song doesn’t
explicitly say it.

(Chari, 2009) discusses how this form of music is corroding social values because the language
carrying the lyrics and the visuals created are more western in their expressive values. As shown
above, sexual intercourse is now the major event in every Zimdancehall chant. Sexual
intercourse is a holy private act that occurs behind closed doors and is reserved for the adult
married members of the community in Zimbabwean societies. According to Becker (2001) lyrics
in Soul Jah Love’s song above are sexually suggestive and create unsettling emotions of shame,
lust and disgust as they are a deviation from the cultural norms of the Zimbabwean society where
people view sexual intercourse as a private and sacred matter.

The points above show how sexually explicit content has been affecting Zimdancehall to a
greater extent. However, to a lesser extent, apart from the listeners or music consumers being
influenced by the music and visuals they are consuming, It’s possible to consider that the artists
maybe conveying or showcasing in their videos, a true reflection of what the youth are in the
country. It can be said that Zimdancehall artists are also reflecting on what their society has
created. We can say they are victims of unfortunate circumstances. An artist can see youths
unable to make sense of their situations hence unable to save themselves from the very
unbecoming situations they find themselves in. As such the use of explicit language and the
continued productions of songs with videos that continue to build up on these themes go a long
way in showing the sorry state the youth find themselves in especially in contemporary
Zimbabwe. The music can merely advocate and reflect what may characterize their society and
being and as an indicator to a greater social, economic and political situation that needs to be
resolved.

In conclusion sexually explicit content in Zimdancehall has with out a doubt discredited visual
forms of communication. From aiding in sending harmful messages to the society, showcasing or
demining women, standing for motives that have slowly helped in destroying societies. We can
not fully blame the Zimbabwean artists but failure of a larger group comprising of families,
guardians, government and religious practitioners in failing to properly control the society from
consuming such content.
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