Gender representation in selected Banyakyusa ‘tupote’

This study examines the depiction of gender relations and roles in selected Banyakyusa ‘tupote’ with an intention to look at how both genders are represented in those ‘tupote’. The study employs African feminism in examining a representation of gender relations and distinctive roles played by women and men in selected Banyakyusa ‘tupote’. It looks at the depiction of women and men’s power relations and responsibilities at family level in selected Banyakyusa ‘tupote’ and the portrayal of women and men in relation to roles they play as depicted within the ‘tupote’. The researcher studied symbols, dictions, metaphors, similes, images, and sayings associated with women and men in the ‘tupote’ in establishing various roles that women and men are depicted with. The study establishes that most of traditions and beliefs depicted in the selected ‘tupote’ work for women degradation as women are mostly represented as domestic servants. In addition, while women are deprived the right to inherit family properties, men – considered as traditional heirs – can inherit properties, including women. It is observed that, as opposed to men whose roles and/or behaviours are associated with individuals, women’s alleged propensities such as promiscuity and jealousy are mostly portrayed as intrinsic behaviours associated with all women. The study also identifies that as is the case with women, men are equally victimized by patriarchal traditions such that they may be enslaved to adhere to patriarchal superiority to their own detriment; an example being a man accepting his wife’s child as his own while knowing that the child is another man’s child to protect his dominant position as far as his wife’s sexuality is concerned.