Proverb, Gender And Oppression: Reflections On Xitsonga Traditional Literature And The Position Of Women

Abstract

This paper tacitly captures the plight and social recompense of a Tsonga woman within the sociocultural legalities as unveiled through an analysis of Tsonga proverbs. Is a revelation of masculine hegemony through the instrument of Xitsonga proverbs. It expresses the ‘foul-tasting’ gender-interactive ambiance that characterise the dilemma confronted by Xitsonga Women midst their male counterparts. It manifests the gender based mistreatment, harassment and imposed psychological, social and gender-sexual malaise that attend women within the sociocultural framework of the said ethnicity through the use of proverbs. Their association with and to men is that of a Master-servant to Horse-rider relationship. The paper is meant to unveil the fact that proverbs are/were instrumental in use by men to manipulate and silence women, at times yielding to unpleasant results. With this ideological mindset, the paper epitomises the feminist approach and ideologies in interrogating and attempting at arresting the indestructible male-manufactured and perpetuated advances that favour their sex at the dire expense of women as a whole. data has been collected during the years 2011 through interviews and documentary analysis. Some of the findings of the study include males’ axiomatic understanding that females are some form of their chattels and that their power over females allows them to do whatever they want with them.