Abstract
The present study aims to critically analyze Punjabi proverbs related
to childhood in the light of Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis.
Stratified purposive sampling has been used to identify a collection
of 164 Punjabi proverbs that mention sons and daughters or boys
and girls. The source of these selections is a dictionary (Bajwa,
2011). FCDA focuses on the production, negotiation, and
dissemination of gendered relations of power through discursive
practices. Proverbs are transcribed and translated and divided into
thematic domains and categories with the help of native speakers
having English proficiency. The results of the quantitative analysis
indicate that the girls are target characters in a more significant
number of proverbs compared to the boys. The study contends that
male babies and boys have been presented in a glorifying and
satisfying manner while female babies and girls are depicted as
some calamity and burden. The analysis revealed that Punjabi
society is biased towards children based on their gender. These
discursive patriarchal tendencies are not only depreciating female
children but also depriving them of their self-esteem and social
confidence. Gender bias is not only being reflected but also
conserved, propagated, and perpetuated through such traditional
folk genre. It can be suggested that such ideologically loaded
cultural oral traditions must be brought under severe scrutiny and
replaced by more neutral oral genres.
Lubna Akhlaq Khan, Muhammad Safeer Awan. (2019) Gendering the Childhood: A Feminist Critique of Asymmetries Found in Punjabi Proverbs, The Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Volume-27, Issue-1.
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