The Images Of Women In The Proverbs And Sayings Of The Oromo The Case Of West Arsi Zone

The major goal of this study is to examine the portrayal of women in the proverbs andrnsayings of the Arsi Oromo and to asses the awareness of the people about the effects of thesernproverbs and sayings on women. To achieve this goal, an attempt was made to collectrnproverbs and sayings that refer to women and attitudinal information from two woredas ofrnWest Arsi zone- Arsi Negelle and Kofale. The data was collected using three types ofrninstruments (focus-group discussion), interview and questionnaire. The collected data wasrntranscribed, tallied and tabulated (for questionnaires), translated from the original languagern(‘Afaan Oromoo) to the target language (English) and finally, it was analyzed andrninterpreted qualitatively.The study shows that women are portrayed both positively andrnnegatively in the proverbs and sayings of the Arsi. The image of women as mothers is arnpositive one, despite the fact that even the proverbs sayings that are used to praise womenrnalso reflect a socio-cultural attitude of the people and the sex-role stereotypes that arernhidden in these proverbs and sayings. Even though the majority of the respondents havernindicated that among the Arsi, proverbs are used to add flavor to their speech; to settlernsocial problems; to correct misbehavior; to criticize, praise and encourage good behavior;rnetc., they directly or indirectly show the inferiority of women and the biased social attitudesrntowards them. In these proverbs and sayings, women are depicted as weak and dependent,rnillogical, irrational, irresponsible, ignorant, jealous, unfaithful, unreliable andrnunpredictable, and as inferior members of their community. Positively, women are portrayedrnas good house makers and obedient servants for their family. And it was found out that, thernwomen have internalized the negative attitude the society shows towards them and they actrnaccording to the social code of conduct honestly. The elders attributed the cause of thernexisting negative attitude towards women to the cultural adoption of the Oromo people afterrnthe fall of Gadaa system due to the conquest of Minelik II to the region. Though they are notrnaware of the socializing effect of the proverbs and sayings that they use for theirrnaforementioned functions, the respondents indicated that the proverbs and sayings they userntowards women have both positive and negative effects on them. It is also found out that therntransmission of these proverbs and sayings from one generation to the other generationrnfacilitates the continuation of the existing images of women to the future, thereby causingrnwomen’s negative self image that results in low women’s participation in different socialrnaffairs. Finally, it was indicated by the respondents that this problem will be alleviated by:rnteaching the society about gender equality; increasing women’s participation; hindering thernuse of proverbs and sayings that undermine women; and by educating women so as to enablernthem defend the violation of their rights.

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