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Abstract

This paper aims at analysing the role of proverbs in the sustenance of gender violence within the Spanish context. As demonstrated by feminist linguistic activities, one of the avenues through which the status quo of both men and women are enacted and sustained is through language. However, given the complex nature of the relationship between gender and language, speakers often overlook the role of discourse on gender relations. The author investigates this inter-connection using a multidimensional approach which includes insights from Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) theory of metaphor and Austin’s (1965) Speech Act theory. This study confirms that quite a number of Spanish proverbs contain violent metaphors that can unconsciously shape speakers’ perceptions and actions. Misogynous ideologies in Spanish proverbs should therefore continue to be exposed, criticised and eliminated through conscientization in order to sustain the campaign for gender equality.

Author Biography

Benedicta Adokarley Lomotey is a Spanish lecturer at the Department of Modern Languages at the University of Ghana. Her main areas of research are Sociolinguistics, Language and Gender and Language Acquisition. She has published book chapters such as Probing the manifestations of gender in Ga, which appeared in the fourth volume of Gender across languages: The linguistic representation of women and men, published by John Benjamins Company in 2015. She has also published in journals such as Gender and Language, Linguistik online, and Current Issues in Language Planning.

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