have a look at some of them for your amusement.


Women is like the earth: everone sits down on her (Zaire)


A wife is like an old cooking pot: you don't let your friend keep it for you. (Uganda)

A women is like the merino sheep: her beauty is judged by the backside . ( lesotho/South Africa)

Women is like a corn cob: you have no teeth, you hardly eat. (Gabon/Cameroon)

Married women are like elephant tusks: you don't touch them. (Kenya)

Never marry a women with bigger feet than your own . (Malawi/Mozambique)

Women is a fire. If you have to, take a little. (Senegal)

To bear a gril is to bear a problem. (tigrinya/Ethiopia)

A women is like a shield: you call it light until you try it on. (Uganda)

a women is more than her ; goats also have two. (Rwanda)

Women are like earthenware plates: not to be thrown in the waste pit. (Kongo, Zaire)

Your duty to your wife does not end with a cloth (baule, Ivory Coast)

No girl ever died without being told: "Turn my way" (Rwanda )

Do not despise a woman you have not undressed (bemba, Zambia)

The husband of a lazy wife : his nights are good his day bad. (Mali )

Believe a women's word the day after (Kenya)

If your wife is unfaithful, it does not mean that you sleep alone, (Ashanit, Ghana)

You can trust your brother, your father, your mother, but never your wife (Benin)

Take a woman for what she is : a sister of the devil. (Yoruba, Benin)

women without man is a field without seed. (Zaire)

When a women makes the giant drum, it is kept in the man's room

Women have no king (Bari, Sudan)
.
The hen knows when it is morning, but she looks at the mouth of the . (ashanti, Ghana)

Beat your wife regularly; if you don't know why, she will (west Africa, possibly of Arab origin)

A women knows her own husband but not his master. (Afar, Ethiopia)

A women in trousers? what's dangling inside? (fon, Benin)


Hmmm African men...always want to be the "hot shot". A woman in trousers? what's dangling inside?... now it has gone way too far.
i wonder what the proverbs about men are like.

i like this one..The man may be the head of the home, the wife is the heart. (Kenya) there is some truth in it.
i still dont get what the Ugandan proverbs are about

Married women are like elephant tusks: you don't touch them. (Kenya) ......why is this true?

there is a movie and a book with the title "Never Marry A Woman With Big Feet"... they are kin of like,its based on some Senegalese proverb,am not really sure..but why should it matter what the size of the feet of the woman is? they also say something like "Dont Marry a woman with bigger feet than yours" why? i dont get it. why are Africans making it so hard to get "muthuris"? its hard enough with the face,now feet!!! come on guys.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: <PGithinji>,

quote:

Never marry a women with bigger feet than your own . (Malawi/Mozambique)

i still dont get it. why does it matter what the size of her foot is?

Maria,
Whay do all your proverbs have a gender bias?

Well, my guess is that feet are connected with walking. The bigger the feet, the more movement they make. In our traditional patriachal culture, men were 'allowed' to stray, but women were not. If women strayed more than meen, woe unto the men!

Remember, most of these proverbs were composed by men

Sajini,
The men's proverbs are not as inequitable as these ones so i didnt bother writing them down.
Besides, I am a woman and this concerns me!

It seems you believe what you say about the feet.hhmm.. But you could be right. I was thinking ..modern times.. messaging her feet would be burdensome and also,her feet wouldnt look attractive in a big shoe.

And also remember, straight women get married to men(men who think this way)!

quote:

Originally posted by Maria:
Sajini,
The men's proverbs are not as inequitable as these ones so i didnt bother writing them down.
Besides, I am a woman and this concerns me!

It seems you believe what you say about the feet.hhmm.. But you could be right. I was thinking ..modern times.. messaging her feet would be burdensome and also,her feet wouldnt look attractive in a big shoe.

And also remember, straight women get married to men(men who think this way)!

Maria
You crack me up. You talk about massaging feet. This is a relatively new phenomenon among African men, unless the proverb is a new one. However, it is always good to hear another perspective, especially from a woman's point of view.

What do you mean by your last statement?

Sajini,

I think a typical Gikuyu man would call it guthambio maguru (washing of the feet).

Githi athuri a tene matiathmbagio maguru ni atumia ao kana ciana? (Its a pity ati in Gikuyu land women were equated to children. Actually in a lot of African cultures.
Anyway thats a topic for another day>

Sajini,
Straight women= not homosexual.I couldnt have said all women cuz then,it wouldnt be true.
And the men they marry think this way,the "African man" way.

Ngima,
I long for the return of those good ol' days! (LOL) but the way I see it now, it is almost happening in reverse. Is that why men abhor women have bigger feet?

quote:

Originally posted by Ngima:
Sajini,

I think a typical Gikuyu man would call it guthambio maguru (washing of the feet).

quote:

Originally posted by Maria:
Sajini,
Straight women= not homosexual.I couldnt have said all women cuz then,it wouldnt be true.
And the men they marry think this way,the "African man" way.

Maria,
You are not homophobic by any means, are you?

Sajini,
my bible tells me that homosexuality is wrong. its sin. i am against sin. ..hhmm i guess that makes me homophobic.

Maria,
That is where we part ways. I no longer subscribe to the biblical logic. My idea of equality prevents me from judging anybody on account of their sexuality. I have encounterd many homosexuals, as mu teachers, colleagues and students, and I have not seen them as lesser humans.

Sajini,
of course they are human. But humans with a problem.
And if you dont see that then maybe you too have a problem.

Why do you think you can be wiser than God?

Maria,
Some years ago, I used to share your line of thought. Over time, I have come to realize that the people who have a real problem are the homophobes, not the homosexuals themselves.

Sajini,
I think I share Maria's sentiments when it comes to this sensitive issue. I still have a problem with the people who have that orientation. Much as I see them as human, I am still conservative and have not been able to accomodate that thought.

I went to shcool with guys who were homosexuals and as Sajini puts it,they were no less humans.
however,while we appreciate 'social freedom'i must admit that i am very uncomfortable with their behaviour(i am a bit linient to lesbians). it is totally unafrican.It is alright to embrace western culture but this one i say we shun it completely.