Inside the ‘House of Ill Fame’: Brothel Prostitution, Feminization of Poverty, and Lagos Life in Nollywood’s The Prostitute

Abstract

This chapter engages the filmic representation of brothel prostitution in a Nigerian video film, titled The Prostitute. It takes a close look at the intersections of urbanization, gendered violence, poverty, and popular culture in the film. The Prostitute renders an interesting insight into unlocking the contradictory depiction of prostitution as a form of violence against women and as a solution to their social and economic marginalization in Nigeria. Moreover, the film clearly portrays the sexual economies of brothel prostitution and the central place it takes in everyday urban life. Straddling the fields of history, gender and sexuality, and urban and Nollywood studies, this chapter demonstrates that prostitution cannot be dissociated from the postcolonial discourse of underdevelopment and bad leadership in Nigeria, as elsewhere in many African countries.