Negative images of women in arsi oromo proverbs

The purpose of this study was to analyze proverbs that represent women negatively among the Arsi Oromo. The proverbs used for the study were 15 theme-relevant proverbs collected by interviewing systematically selected 10 elders, focus group discussion and by analyzing documents. Qualitative research design was used to conduct this study. Women were negatively represented in the proverbs as: weak, as the causes of conflict, and evil. They were also represented negatively as unreliable, properties of men, ignorant and as sex objects. Based on these findings, awareness creation trainings should be given to demotivate the use of proverbs having negative images towards women. Arsi Oromo families have to encourage their children to use proverbs that reflect gender equality, and the society, at large, should totally avoid the use of proverbs that reflect outdated negative perception of femininity in their overall ways of life.