Images of women in arsi oromo and wolaita proverbs: a comparative analysis

The purpose of this study The purpose of this study was to analyze and compare proverbs that represent women in a typical way among the Arsi Oromo and the Wolaita people. The proverbs used for the study were 60 theme-relevant proverbs collected by focus group discussion, interviewing systematically selected elders and by analyzing documents from each areas of the study. Qualitative research design was used to conduct this study. Women were negatively represented in the proverbs as powerless, sources of danger and problems. They were also represented positively as mothers and sometimes as good wives. Based on these findings, awareness creation trainings should be given to demotivate the use of proverbs having negative impact towards women. Arsi Oromo and Wolaita families have to encourage their children to use proverbs that reflect gender equality, and both societies should totally avoid the use of proverbs that reflect outdated negative perception of women in their society.