Female Disempowerment: Some Expressions in Amharic
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Date
2012-11
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
By examining various language expressions about women one can see to some extent
how women are perceived in a certain culture. This thesis is conducted in order to
examine Amharic proverbs and literal expressions that refer to females. Although there
are expressions that empower women, they are not the concern of this study. The data
are collected through participant observation and introspection since the researcher is a
native speaker of the language. Besides, different books have also been consulted as
secondary sources of data. Since the Amhara society is patriarchal the expressions are
analyzed based on the “dominance” theory which assumes that social norms are
established dominantly by men and because of this the social and political systems see
and treat women as not equal to men. The expressions which are analyzed under various
themes illustrate that women are inferior, talkative, ill-natured, dependent, etc. In some
contexts, women themselves accept the superiority of men. They are marginalized and
systematically forced to be powerless. As a result, they have little political, social,
economic, etc. participation in the society.
Key words: gender, sex, dominance, gender-ideology, patriarchy, disempowerment,
socialization, gender-segregation
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Keywords
gender, sex, dominance, gender-ideology