Gender (dis) equality: a proverbial dip

Abstract

Despite the evolution in the rights and place of women in today’s society, there are still no examples of expressions in popular language that contradict the collection of proverbs. Language is a fundamental vehicle in the transmission of society’s ideas and values. In this paper we intend to analyze the issues of gender (un)equality perpetuated in proverbial language. By collecting proverbs referring to the roles of men and women, we will see those that reaffirm rules of social coexistence, those which confer a sovereign role on men or women, and those which place both in a position of equality. A categorical analysis was carried out to verify the privileged roles. The importance attributed to women in the education and preservation of cultural values associated with the care of children and the family in general is unquestionable, but more circumscribed to the home. The man, although also considered responsible for the education of children and transmission of wisdom, is located in another context - the public space - reason for the proverb “man in the square, woman at home”. However, the bravery of the man is sometimes reinforced by the woman’s capacity for action, as the saying “behind a great man there is always a great woman” concludes. It is important to foster the deconstruction of gender identity markers based on patriarchalculture, promoting awareness of the disadvantages of reproducing stereotypical attitudes and behaviors. It isconcluded that deep-rooted cultural beliefsabout gender roles give rise to stereotypes containing reductive views, underlying processes of justification and excuses for male-dominated behaviors.