RE-IMAGINING THE FEMALE BODY, DISABILITY, AND PARENTING IN AFRICAN ORAL LITERATURE: A REVIEW

Dorcus Motswadira

doi:10.29121/shodhgyan.v4.i1.2026.79

Authors

Dorcus Motswadira University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhgyan.v4.i1.2026.79

Keywords:

African Folklore, Disability, Gender Equality, Gender Stereotypes, Oral Literature, Social Change

Abstract [English]

African oral literature, comprising folktales, myths, poetry, songs, and proverbs, is a vital medium for transmitting cultural values across generations on the African continent. However, critical analysis reveals that many oral narratives propagate limiting stereotypes regarding women’s bodies, sexualities, disabilities, caregiving roles, and leadership capabilities, often reflecting and reinforcing patriarchal, ableism, and anthropocentric ideologies inherited from colonialism. Through this paper gender and other biases encoded within African oral traditions are revealed, same with strategies for re-visioning problematic elements to promote gender equality, disability justice, environmental ethics and human rights. The paper further uses extensive textual examples and perspectives from African women, disabled folks, and African earth communities to delineates discriminatory themes related to female physiology, virginity, rape, menstruation, disabilities, marriage, and motherhood. The paper also reveals how oral tales often portray women’s bodies and sexualities in ways that justify control by fathers, husbands and other male authorities. Disabled characters are frequently depicted as cursed, pitiful or evil, while leadership and wisdom are confined to able-bodied male elders, framing nature as a resource for human exploitation rather than a living community. To challenge these biases, the paper outlines creative approaches for rewriting problematic narratives, including composing empowering children’s tales centered on African women leaders, artists and healers; sharing inspirational biographies of historical African women who subverted patriarchal norms; utilizing multimedia inclusive storytelling platforms to uplift marginalized voices; and facilitating community-based oral history projects that re-center gender fluidity, interdependence with nature, and precolonial wisdom traditions.

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