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Authors: Moshood Zakariyah
Keywords: gender, proverbs, women, sociolinguistics, subjugation
Abstract: Gender is one of the much talked about variables of sociolinguistics as human population keeps increasing in a geometric proportion. In addition, advancement in information technology through which the world has been reduced to a global village, coupled with renewed interest in cultural studies, has increased the tempo of research on gender. In Yoruba culture, like in similar cultures across the world, social structure gives absolute power to men, at the expense of women. This negative trend often results in women subjugation as evidenced in several women related proverbs. The thrust of this paper, therefore, is to examine the influence of social structure on selected Yoruba proverbs. Using sociolinguistics as its tool of analysis, the study combines the social identity theory and difference theory as its theoretical framework. Findings reveal that women are depicted as unreliable, unintelligent, and in capable of managing both human and material resources. In addition, women are portrayed as having little or no say in matters of great importance, even where their emotional and psychological feeling is concerned. The derogatory remark against women could also be religiously inclined. The study submits that derogatory remarks against women, as observed in this study, are as a result of the social structure, which conditioned women to be second class citizens at all time, when compared to men.