Abstract

The Kenyan television program The XYZ Show satirically scrutinizes controversies that surround contemporary political leaders. Through diverse parodies, caricatured puppets engage in humorous scenarios designed to challenge the authority of politicians. This article discusses how XYZ utilizes elements of Kenyan society that are already marginalized to critique the legitimacy of male political leaders. The discussion focuses on the show’s representation of the politician as hip hop artist, wife, and homosexual and how these portrayals attack the politicians’ masculinity and are a central tactic in questioning their authority and aptitude. Postcolonial discourses of political power have coalesced around the constructed figure of the mzee, or male elder, and the show depends on these historical formations to challenge male leaders. By yoking concepts that are already socially othered, like rap artists and feminized males, these critiques paradoxically reinforce elder masculinity as a normative attribute of political leadership.

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