Old Nollywood gave us iconic women characters, but many of them were filled with stereotypes that rarely portrayed them without bias or showed the true realities of women.
Old Nollywood was instrumental in shaping my initial understanding of women’s stories on screen. Those dramatic “poor girl marries rich man” plots gave the illusion that men were inherently women’s saviours. At the centre of many of these stories were women — mothers, daughters, wives, lovers. They carried a great deal of the drama. However, when you look closer, you start to see how those portrayals weren’t always fair.
They entertained us — unforgettable one-liners from Mama G and the exaggerated tropes of heartbroken women come to mind. However, they also boxed women into narrow roles and sometimes even scared us into being “good girls.” Looking back now, I find myself asking: Did those movies and soap operas really reflect women’s true lives?
In these characters, women were central to the plot but often boxed in
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In old Nollywood, women were everywhere. From Blood Sisters (2003), where the bond between two sisters spiralled into jealousy and tragedy, to Super Story’s countless melodramas, women’s stories often drove the plot. Even in Jenifa (2008), one of Funke Akindele’s most iconic roles gave us a bold, funny, and chaotic female character.
However, old Nollywood rarely showed women in their full, nuanced complexity, even though they were at the centre of these movies. Old Nollywood often gave us extremes. The woman was either the saintly mother suffering for her children, the scheming mistress destroying marriages, or the naive girl punished for wanting too much.
Some of the recurring stereotypes
These roles ring true about real-life people but were also limiting.
If you watched enough old Nollywood movies, you probably noticed these patterns:
The wicked stepmother who made life unbearable for her stepchildren.
The desperate single woman whose only goal was marriage.
The “good wife” who endured suffering and injustice in silence until she was finally rewarded.
The bad girl whose “immoral” choices always led to her downfall.
The wealthy woman who had to hide her success to secure and keep a man. Time and time again, rich single women couldn’t find love unless they pretended to be poor. It was as if being independent or wealthy automatically made these characters “undeserving” of affection.
The sexual purity standard. A woman’s worth was often tied to her virginity or her ability to remain “chaste.” If she wasn’t “pure,” the story usually punished her with shame, rejection, or tragedy.
And here’s the thing: these stories didn’t just entertain, they were didactic. Women were often punished for being bold, ambitious, or sexually free. Stories from old Nollywood often made it clear that if you wanted a happy ending, you had to be the “good girl.” The “good girl” in old Nollywood painted women as obedient, patient and selfless to a fault. She lets everything slide – abuse, betrayal or humiliation – just to keep peace or be seen as worthy. In society’s eye, she symbolised virtue, but underneath, she was a flat character with no depth or identity of her own. This trope conveyed society’s patriarchy-inspired expectations of women. It was a constant warning presented to women on how to behave because anything short meant disgrace, heartbreak, or even death – like Itohan in Super Story. It was fear-mongering disguised as morality.
Read also: Iconic Nollywood mothers who shaped my perceptions of motherhood
The complicated truth about representation
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Still, it wasn’t all negative. Old Nollywood gave women visibility in a way that was rare at the time. One might argue that we had lead female characters long before Hollywood started loudly celebrating their representation. Many actresses, such as Genevieve Nnaji, Stella Damasus, Rita Dominic, Ini Edo, Stephanie Okereke, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, and Funke Akindele, shaped how an entire generation viewed women on screen.
However, these portrayals reflected society’s anxieties about women more than real women’s lives. Many of these anxieties revolved around control, morality, and maintaining the patriarchal nature of our social order. For example, there was a clear bias against independent women — those who sought education, wealth, or careers — because they challenged traditional family and gender roles. Sexuality was another big concern; women were often expected to remain “pure,” and stories punished those who didn’t conform. We saw countless stories of girls and women dying from botched abortions. The lesson was always delivered in an attempt to discourage women from seeking abortions.
Old Nollywood often followed society’s framing of women’s success and ambition as dangerous or threatening. This is why we often saw wealthy female characters hiding their success or “pretending” to be less than they were. Even friendship and rivalry were used to show that women could not be trusted if they stepped outside the expected roles. In short, old Nollywood often dramatised women’s choices as moral tests, reflecting a society vehemently against changing gender dynamics, more than portraying women authentically.
Old Nollywood remains classic, but it was flawed
At the end of the day, old Nollywood is untouchable in its own way. The unhinged drama, over-the-top acting and the unforgettable storylines have become part of pop culture history. Even with all the stereotypes, those films gave us iconic performances and moments we’ll never forget.
Still, as much as we love them, we can admit they didn’t always capture and, in fact, often warped the full reality of women’s experiences. And that’s why new Nollywood feels refreshing — even though it still has a long way to go. Its storytelling is more nuanced and diverse. It allows women to be ambitious, complex, and real. Although old Nollywood will always be classic, new Nollywood gives women the freedom to exist beyond stereotypes.
Read more: 5 must-watch Nollywood movies with fierce female leads
