Gender Identities and Construction in Ekegusi Proverbs

Abstract

Gender inequality has been a menace among the Abagusii community. In most cases, women are discriminated against for major pertinent issues. Ekegusii proverbs are used to give a true picture of the values and norms of the community. The study applied Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) by Fairclaugh (1989) which addresses unfairness, injustice and inequalities. A descriptive qualitative design was used to make the research more effective. The researcher adopted purposive sampling to select gender-related proverbs to make this research relevant. The study concludes that gender ideologies and latent structures make a significant contribution to gender discrimination, especially when they are accepted as entirely legitimate and normal. The study recommends that gendered proverbs be consciously improved to portray gender neutrality, equality, and contemporariness.