A thematic analyses on the oromara discourse as reflected in gender related proverbs

The purpose of this study was to analyze the representations of women in Oromara proverbs of Ethiopia. The term Oromara is a currently coined concept that shows the sociocultural, political and economic relationship between the Amhara and Oromo society. The proverbs used for the study were 25 theme-relevant proverbs collected by interviewing systematically selected 10 elders, Focus group discussions and by analyzing Documents. Qualitative research design was used to conduct the study. Women were both negatively and positively represented in the Oromara proverbs. Most of the proverbs have similar ideas that show the two people’s cultural similarity in their ideologies in relation to gender representations. Based on these findings, awareness creation trainings should be given to de-motivate the use of proverbs having negative depictions towards women. The Oromara 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proverbs that reflect gender equality, and the society, at large, should totally avoid the use of proverbs that reflect outdated negative perception of femininity in their society.