Sexism and gender stereotyping in the Dagbanli language
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.v8i3.393Keywords:
Dagbanli (Dagbani), gender, gender stereotypes, sexism, sexist languageAbstract
This paper examines sexism in the Dagbanli language of northern Ghana. The focus is on the vocabulary, and on popular terms and expressions that name, label or describe males and females. Although reference is occasionally made to dictionary definitions, the analyses of gender biases and stereotyping are based on speakers’ interpretations and descriptions of the cultural practices that provide the context for the use of words and their proper interpretation. The study reveals biased assumptions in the meanings of words that refer to males and females and the use of words to create and affirm gendered stereotypes of the two sexes. Similar words that refer to males and females do not have equivalent meanings; there are more labels that denigrate and trivialise females than males, and the labelling shows that different standards of conduct are set for males and females.
References
Andani, R. I. (undated) Pa’ Kpubu Dagbon Pul’ ni. Accra: Bureau of Ghana Languages.
Atanga, L. et al. (2013) Gender, sexuality and language in African contexts: bibliography. Retrieved on 4 February 2013 from www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/doc_library/linguistics/sunderland/Bib-Gender-and-Language-in-African-Contexts.pdf
Blench, R. (2004) Dagbani–English Dictionary. Circulation draft. Retrieved on 17 January 2010 from www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/Gur/Dagbani%20dictionary%20CD.pdf
Dakubu, M. E. K. (1997) Taking the case home: the language of legal paternalism in Northern Ghana. Unpublished paper presented at the Workshop on Women and Law in Africa, Indiana University, 4–6 April.
Eckert, P. and McConnell-Ginet, S. (2003) Language and Gender. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791147
Gal, S. (2001) Language, gender and power: an anthropological review. In A. Duranti (ed.) Linguistic Anthropology: A Reader 420–30. Oxford: Blackwell.
Gomard, K. (1995) The (un)equal treatment of women in language: a comparative study of Danish, English, and German. Working Papers on Language, Gender and Sexism 5(1): 5–25.
Grad, I. (2006) Words and women: an eligible bachelor vs. an eligible spinster. Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies 14: 95–101.
Hellinger, M. and Bussmann, H. (eds) (2001) Gender Across Languages: The Linguistic Representation of Women and Men. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/impact.9
Henley, N. (1987) The new species that seeks a new language: on sexism in language and language change. In J. Penfield (ed.) Women and Language in Transition 3–27. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Hussein, J. W. (2005) The Social and ethno-cultural construction of masculinity and femininity in African proverbs. African Study Monographs 26(2): 59–87.
Kabaji, E. S. (2005) The construction of gender through the narrative process of the African folktale: a case study of the Maragoli folktale. PhD thesis, University of South Africa.
Keenan, E. (1989) Norm-makers, norm-breakers: uses of speech by men and women in a Malagasy community. In R. Bauman and J. Sherzer (eds) Explorations in the Ethnography of Speaking 125–43. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511611810.011
Lange, K. R. (2006) Dagban’ ?aha: Dagbani Proverbs. Tamale: TICCS.
Mahama, I. (2003) Dagbani–English Dictionary. Tamale: GILLBT.
Mbaya, M. (2002) Linguistic taboo in African marriage context: a study of the Oromo Laguu. Nordic Journal of African Studies 11(2): 224–35.
McConnel-Ginet, S. (2003) ‘What’s in a name?’ Social labeling and gender practices. In J. Holmes and M. Meyerhof (eds) The Handbook of Language and Gender 69–97. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
McConnel-Ginet, S., Borker, R. and Furman, N. (eds) (1980) Women and Language in Literature and Society. New York: Praeger.
Mills, S. (2008) Language and Sexism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Moshi, L. (1985) The manifestation of gender in some African languages. Retrieved on 21 February 2010 from www.uga.edu/womanist/moshi2.1.htm
Mziwakhe, M. O. (2008) A critical analysis of the portrayal of women in some selected Xhosa dramas. PhD thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
Nilsen, A. P. (1977) Linguistic sexism as a social issue. In A. P. Nilsen, H. Bosmajian, H. L. Gershuny and J. P. Stanley (eds) Sexism and Language 1–26. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
Ntshinga, T. (1996) Gender in Xhosa proverbs: women’s new expressions of emancipatory concerns. Language Matters 27: 7–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10228199608566100
Oha, O. (1998) The semantics of female devaluation in Igbo proverbs. African Study Monographs 19(2): 87–108.
Oladele, A. B. (2010) Proverbial oppression of women in Yoruba African culture: a philosophical overview. Thought and Practice 2(1): 21–36.
Olawsky, K. J. (1996) An Introduction to Dagbani Phonology. Arbeiten des SFB 282, no. 76. Düsseldorf: Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf .
Opoku-Agyeman, N. J. (1998) Gender-role perception in the Akan folktale. In M. E. M. Kolawole (ed.) Gender Perceptions and Development in Africa 83–120. Lagos: Aarobon Academic Publishing.
Pauwels, A. (1998) Women Changing the Language. London: Longman.
Pauwels, A. (2003) Feminist linguistic activism: non-sexist language reform. In J. Holmes and M. Meyerhof (eds) The Handbook of Language and Gender 550–70. Malden, MA. Blackwell. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470756942.ch24
Rapoo, C. K. (2002) Naming practices and gender bias in the Setswana language. Women and Language 25: 41–3.
Ravitch, D. (2003) The Language Police. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Richardson, L. (2001) Gender stereotyping in the English language. In L. Richardson, V. Taylor and N. Whittier (eds) Feminist Frontiers 112–17. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Romaine, S. (1999) Communicating Gender. Mahwah, NJ. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Seidu A. S. (1989) The influence of Islam on the Dagomba in the twentieth century. MPhil. thesis, University of Ghana.
Ssetuba, I. (2005) The hold of patriarchy: an appraisal of the Ganda proverb in modern gender relations. In CODESRIA (ed.) Gender, Literature and Religion in Africa 37–47. CODESRIA Gender Series 4. Dakar: CODESRIA.
Yankah, K. (1998) Free Speech in Traditional African Society: The Traditional Foundations of Communication in Contemporary Ghana. Inaugural lecture presented on 20 November 1998. Accra: Ghana Universities Press.
Yusuf, Y. K. (1998) Gender bias and images of women in English and Yoruba proverbs’. In M. E. M. Kolawole (ed.) Gender Perceptions and Development in Africa 63–81. Lagos: Aarobon Academic Publishing.
Yusuf, Y. K. (2002) Sexism, English and Yoruba. Linguistik Online 11 (February). Retrieved on 21 September 2012 from www.linguistik-online.com/11_02/yusuf.html
Yusuf, Y. K. (1995) Contradictory Yoruba proverbs about women: their significance for social change. In S. Afonja and B. Aina (eds) Nigerian Women in Social Change 206–15. Ile-Ife: Obafemi Awolowo University Press.
Yusuf, Y. K. (1994) Proverbs and misogyny. Working Papers on Language, Gender and Sexism 4(2): 25–45.
Atanga, L. et al. (2013) Gender, sexuality and language in African contexts: bibliography. Retrieved on 4 February 2013 from www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/doc_library/linguistics/sunderland/Bib-Gender-and-Language-in-African-Contexts.pdf
Blench, R. (2004) Dagbani–English Dictionary. Circulation draft. Retrieved on 17 January 2010 from www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/Gur/Dagbani%20dictionary%20CD.pdf
Dakubu, M. E. K. (1997) Taking the case home: the language of legal paternalism in Northern Ghana. Unpublished paper presented at the Workshop on Women and Law in Africa, Indiana University, 4–6 April.
Eckert, P. and McConnell-Ginet, S. (2003) Language and Gender. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791147
Gal, S. (2001) Language, gender and power: an anthropological review. In A. Duranti (ed.) Linguistic Anthropology: A Reader 420–30. Oxford: Blackwell.
Gomard, K. (1995) The (un)equal treatment of women in language: a comparative study of Danish, English, and German. Working Papers on Language, Gender and Sexism 5(1): 5–25.
Grad, I. (2006) Words and women: an eligible bachelor vs. an eligible spinster. Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies 14: 95–101.
Hellinger, M. and Bussmann, H. (eds) (2001) Gender Across Languages: The Linguistic Representation of Women and Men. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/impact.9
Henley, N. (1987) The new species that seeks a new language: on sexism in language and language change. In J. Penfield (ed.) Women and Language in Transition 3–27. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Hussein, J. W. (2005) The Social and ethno-cultural construction of masculinity and femininity in African proverbs. African Study Monographs 26(2): 59–87.
Kabaji, E. S. (2005) The construction of gender through the narrative process of the African folktale: a case study of the Maragoli folktale. PhD thesis, University of South Africa.
Keenan, E. (1989) Norm-makers, norm-breakers: uses of speech by men and women in a Malagasy community. In R. Bauman and J. Sherzer (eds) Explorations in the Ethnography of Speaking 125–43. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511611810.011
Lange, K. R. (2006) Dagban’ ?aha: Dagbani Proverbs. Tamale: TICCS.
Mahama, I. (2003) Dagbani–English Dictionary. Tamale: GILLBT.
Mbaya, M. (2002) Linguistic taboo in African marriage context: a study of the Oromo Laguu. Nordic Journal of African Studies 11(2): 224–35.
McConnel-Ginet, S. (2003) ‘What’s in a name?’ Social labeling and gender practices. In J. Holmes and M. Meyerhof (eds) The Handbook of Language and Gender 69–97. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
McConnel-Ginet, S., Borker, R. and Furman, N. (eds) (1980) Women and Language in Literature and Society. New York: Praeger.
Mills, S. (2008) Language and Sexism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Moshi, L. (1985) The manifestation of gender in some African languages. Retrieved on 21 February 2010 from www.uga.edu/womanist/moshi2.1.htm
Mziwakhe, M. O. (2008) A critical analysis of the portrayal of women in some selected Xhosa dramas. PhD thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
Nilsen, A. P. (1977) Linguistic sexism as a social issue. In A. P. Nilsen, H. Bosmajian, H. L. Gershuny and J. P. Stanley (eds) Sexism and Language 1–26. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
Ntshinga, T. (1996) Gender in Xhosa proverbs: women’s new expressions of emancipatory concerns. Language Matters 27: 7–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10228199608566100
Oha, O. (1998) The semantics of female devaluation in Igbo proverbs. African Study Monographs 19(2): 87–108.
Oladele, A. B. (2010) Proverbial oppression of women in Yoruba African culture: a philosophical overview. Thought and Practice 2(1): 21–36.
Olawsky, K. J. (1996) An Introduction to Dagbani Phonology. Arbeiten des SFB 282, no. 76. Düsseldorf: Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf .
Opoku-Agyeman, N. J. (1998) Gender-role perception in the Akan folktale. In M. E. M. Kolawole (ed.) Gender Perceptions and Development in Africa 83–120. Lagos: Aarobon Academic Publishing.
Pauwels, A. (1998) Women Changing the Language. London: Longman.
Pauwels, A. (2003) Feminist linguistic activism: non-sexist language reform. In J. Holmes and M. Meyerhof (eds) The Handbook of Language and Gender 550–70. Malden, MA. Blackwell. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470756942.ch24
Rapoo, C. K. (2002) Naming practices and gender bias in the Setswana language. Women and Language 25: 41–3.
Ravitch, D. (2003) The Language Police. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Richardson, L. (2001) Gender stereotyping in the English language. In L. Richardson, V. Taylor and N. Whittier (eds) Feminist Frontiers 112–17. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Romaine, S. (1999) Communicating Gender. Mahwah, NJ. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Seidu A. S. (1989) The influence of Islam on the Dagomba in the twentieth century. MPhil. thesis, University of Ghana.
Ssetuba, I. (2005) The hold of patriarchy: an appraisal of the Ganda proverb in modern gender relations. In CODESRIA (ed.) Gender, Literature and Religion in Africa 37–47. CODESRIA Gender Series 4. Dakar: CODESRIA.
Yankah, K. (1998) Free Speech in Traditional African Society: The Traditional Foundations of Communication in Contemporary Ghana. Inaugural lecture presented on 20 November 1998. Accra: Ghana Universities Press.
Yusuf, Y. K. (1998) Gender bias and images of women in English and Yoruba proverbs’. In M. E. M. Kolawole (ed.) Gender Perceptions and Development in Africa 63–81. Lagos: Aarobon Academic Publishing.
Yusuf, Y. K. (2002) Sexism, English and Yoruba. Linguistik Online 11 (February). Retrieved on 21 September 2012 from www.linguistik-online.com/11_02/yusuf.html
Yusuf, Y. K. (1995) Contradictory Yoruba proverbs about women: their significance for social change. In S. Afonja and B. Aina (eds) Nigerian Women in Social Change 206–15. Ile-Ife: Obafemi Awolowo University Press.
Yusuf, Y. K. (1994) Proverbs and misogyny. Working Papers on Language, Gender and Sexism 4(2): 25–45.
Published
2014-10-14
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Alhassan, S. N. (2014). Sexism and gender stereotyping in the Dagbanli language. Gender and Language, 8(3), 393-415. https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.v8i3.393
