Women in the Esan Proverbs of Nigeria

A Review of the Derogatory Portrayal that needs Reconstruction

Abstract

This research article adopts interpretive and descriptive approaches in the study of derogatory Esan proverbs that are geared towards demeaning women in the Esan indigenous society of Nigeria. Our main aim here is to assess whether the content of such anti-women local proverbs in Esan are valid or anachronistic. This is in the light of the message that indigenous knowledge is ideally meant to convey; and will be done by a comparative judgmental approach to the cultural and modern realities. Esan people are an ethnic group in Edo State of Nigeria whose research on women in Esan proverbs or proverbs about Esan is investigated in this treatise by researchers who speak the language under consideration. Can this insider-researcher perspective help us to deconstruct the negative portrayal and eventually reconstruct Esan proverbs as we strive to build an all-inclusive society for all? Methodologically, we harvested Esan proverbs through our public interactions with elders, and young and old adults in both rural and urban Esan communities. Our overall study reveals, amongst others, that the content of derogatory Esan proverbs with women as subjects are not valid statements, but are by-products of centuries of negative interiorization across the decades; and indeed by consuming the patriarchal systems that are insensitive to the inconsistencies of such proverbs as opposed to the cultural and modern realities of the numerous virtues and accomplishments of Esan women. The research article finally affirms that the anti-women local proverbs are part of the traditional structure that has fought the success of the thoroughbred modern agitations for female empowerment and the quest for gender equality.