An Analysis Of Pashto Proverbs About Marriage

Abstract

The derogation of woman in cultures through discourses has remained a universal phenomenon, which has continued throughout the ages. Since the beginning of patriarchal structures, man has remained in command about the formulation of language, as language as a tool has remained in the hands of the powerful. It is through language that the marginalized in social structures have been brought down to inferiority. Proverbs as a genre of the folklore and the larger number of proverbs of different cultures have portrayed woman as inferior in different faculties and potentials and so fit for secondary role in the domestic sphere and her annihilation from the social sphere. Marriage is an important social and religious institution, which brings into existence the institution of family and in which woman is an important actor. The treatment of woman in the discourse does not value the role and significance of woman for the institution of family. It is woman, who is the major partner in the making of home and it is again she, on whose efforts the institution of marriage has stood intact in cultures. The portrayal of woman in Pashto proverbs attach little value to the role of woman in the relationship of marriage and the larger number of Pashto proverbs about the relationship are belittling and denigrating. These proverbs about marriage and the significance of woman to the institution of marriage are clearly expressive of the fact that throughout the ages of human history man has remained in control of language. He has shaped, molded and utilized language as a hand-maiden for his own motives. The dominant presence of man in the discourse of proverbs shows that woman has remained absent from it as she has never been allowed to express herself through language.