African proverb on Women!

[Observer]

recently i came across of an interesting book of 'African proverbs' unfortunately it is all on women,

going through it I found it very amusing and satirical of women as well. I just wondered if any one have come across a proverb book written on men?

it also gives a good analysis on how proverbs used in the olden days to suppress women to submit to the society. this book also calls proverbs "cream of language" but not all the contents were sweet cream!! so have a look at some of them for your amusement.

 

 

....

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

 

The man may be the head of the home, the wife is the heart. (Kenya)

 

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)

 

siters dont take this seriously!

[Miriam1]

Ya rabil 3allamin! lol..those proverbs were almost all against women

 

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

 

Take a woman for what she is : a sister of the devil

 

These two proverbs shocked me the most.Talk about women being suppressed !

[Ariadne]

Most of them either made me angry or even angrier,

but I did like this one:

 

"Women have no king" (Bari, Sudan)

[Gabbal]

What about ones from Somalia?

[Caveman]

HornAfrique,

 

Somali proverbs for woman is just as degrading as most of other African Proverbs.

 

So, I am posting collections of them. I haven’t got the time to translate them to English.

 

---

 

1. Nin hooyo xumi, hore ma Socdo.

 

2. Naagi nimay legdaan, kama kacaan.

 

3. Naago been baa lagu soo xero geliyaa runna

waa lagu dhaqaa

 

4. Habar fadhida legdini wax uga fudud

 

5. Habar caalweydey aleelo ku waalatay (i stil

don't understand this one)

 

6. Naago waa u samir ama ka simir.

 

7. Rag-waa sima naayeen haween baase is

dhaafshey ( My favorite )

 

8. Naago waa belo loo baahan yahay.

 

9. Naagi nimay taqaan nin ma mooddo

 

10. Nin iyo naag is qaba colna ma aha nabadna ma

aha.

 

11. Wixii xunba xaawaa leh

 

12. Habar jin hayaa in lala qabay moodaa

 

13. Habari-korisay hore uma maro

 

14. Habari curadkeeda cay uma quurto.

 

15. Naagaha iyo carruurtaba sasabaa lagu wadaa

 

16. Naago nimaan maddaxooda maja u rogin nin ma

moodaan

 

17. Naago jilayc iyo naxariis midna wax kuma laha

 

18. Naag la furay fadhi uma yaal

 

19. Naagi naag lala qabo waa u col

 

20. Naago abaal ha u gelin amaahse ha u diidin

 

21. Nin waa inta naaga ka hadha

 

22. Naago wax laga bixiyey laguma dhaqo oo wax loo hayaa lagu dhaqaa

 

23. Naag kun baa koodisa ,kow baana guursada

 

24. Sir naagood lagama sal gaaro

 

25. Shir naagood oo shan dhaafay waa shar

 

25. Ma sugto, Meher ma leh.

 

26. Rag waa shaah dumarna waa sheeko

 

27. Gabadh nin dhali karaa dhiqi kara

 

28. Dumar yaryaraysi male

 

29. Dukhsi dantiisuu dumurka ugu jiraa.

 

30. Gabadhi waa meel xun joog.

[Observer]

Thanks for the enlightenment Caveman!

I didnt know we had all this provebs in our language. I recall few of them but no nearly enough as you did. Anyways thanks.

[Gabbal]

Caveman I am aware that our proverbs are just as degrading as others, but when I asked oberver that question it was because I wanted to know if the book had proverbs from Somalis.

 

Thanx.

 

Naago waa u samir ama ka simir.

 

looooooool, but true, sorry ladies.

[Lefty]

LOOOOOOOOL@Caveman.. you must be an expert of Somali proverbs, thanks for the collection. This one enlighted me somehow, I never heard it before!

 

"25. Shir naagood oo shan dhaafay waa shar" "

 

observer..Here is the one I like from ur list " Do not despise a woman you have not undressed (bemba, Zambia)"...it sounds very legitimate and very well...true..

 

However, I wonder why people associate women with evilness cause that's what the majority of these proverbs seem to..

[SCORPION_SISTA]

hey observer that's interesting, sorry i can't read the somali ones right now, it may take me weeks to read them all but i would read them insha allah.

 

As to ur question Lefty, maybe i think it goes back to the root of Adam and Eve. U know the believe in some religions such as christinaty that she was the reason they were kicked out of Heaven. So they associate the downfall of men to women. Because it's in women's nature sort of mentality. Women are viewed as the seductress or temptress that makes a men behave in ways that aren't good for them. I guess it could explain why for long times it was believed that women had no soul in some religion. At least that's my opinion!!!!

 

bee bye.

[LadyMo]

I agree wiv Scorpion_Sista but I also think dat one of the reasons cud b dat women r seen as an object of lust and since acting out one's desires by takin it one step further is considered wrong (for all God-fearing people) I think they believe that women are the gateway between good and evil.

Which is true to a certain extent coz it is said dat once ur married u have completed half of ur religion.

 

My favorite is de one from Kenya;

"The man may be the head of the home,

the wife is the heart"

 

I also like de humour of dis one;

"A wife is like an old cooking pot:

you don't let your friend keep it for you"-(Uganda)

I cant help but think dis proverb is a reflection of their way of life, i.e lack of food possible starvation? Just a thought.

 

The South Afican one is by far de funniest;

"A women is like the merino sheep:

her beauty is judged by the backside"

It just proves dat The Western World is soo against our (Africans) curvaceous bodies dat they have created their own 'look'

 

"Naago jilayc iyo naxariis midna wax kuma laha"

How else r we supposed to cope?? especially as,

"Naag kun baa koodisa ,kow baana guursada"

I strongly believe the reality of this proverb has shifted;

"Rag waa shaah dumarna waa sheeko"

I think its completely the other way around today!

So, rag waa sheeko, dumarna waa shaah!

wat do u say?