Social Construction of Gender in Gikuyu Community as Portrayed in Narratives, Songs and Proverbs

Abstract

This research seeks to uncover gender power relations in Gikuyu community through the analysis of narratives, proverbs and songs. The study reveals that narratives were significant in social construction of gender in traditional Gikuyu community, and in doing so, they evaluated women’s political and social capacities negatively. In addition, the traditional knowledge from proverbs contributed to inequalities and discrimination in social construction of gender. Proverbs reveal a hierarchy between men and women, which enhances male rule over women; visible through the many positive qualities ascribed to them as opposed to the negative qualities attributed to women. Like with narratives and proverbs, this study has revealed that songs have the capacity to communicate the superiority of men and demean women in a patriarchal society. The study concludes that Gikuyu oral literature played a major role in social construction of gender, most often skewed towards favouring the male figure.