Abstract
The Gumuz are indigenous peoples in Northwest Ethiopia having their own unique cultural values and traditions among which marriage practices and gender role socialization are just two of them and this study aimed to explore these practices. The study was conducted in Dibate District, Benishangul Gumuz Region, using inductive qualitative ethnographic design. Participants were adolescent school girls, mothers, elderly women, experts from culture and tourism, and Women, Youth and Children’s Affairs offices and experts from non-governmental organizations. Participants were selected using snow ball sampling techniques. Data were collected from twenty-five participants through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation. Data collected through these methods were analyzed thematically. Parental beliefs, gender role expectations, menstrual and delivery practices, food taboos, sister exchange marriage, polygyny and females considered as male ‘properties’ were the major themes emerged from data analysis. The findings of this study imply that there is a need for awareness creation education on gender equality and about the negative consequences of avoiding some types of food items by Gumuz females. Key words: Gumuz, food taboos, sister exchange marriage, menstrual taboos.
Highlights
The Gumuz are one of the indigenous ethnic groups who live in northwest Ethiopia
Qualitative approach was employed since gender role socialization and marriage practices of the Gumuz are unique and unexplored phenomena which demand extensive field work
Thematic analysis of qualitative data gathered through indepth interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), and participant observation resulted in the emergence of different themes and subthemes related to marriage practices and gender role socialization among the Gumuz
Summary
The Gumuz are one of the indigenous ethnic groups who live in northwest Ethiopia. Pertaining to their living arrangements, the Gumuz are organized in clans (Simmons, 1960) and each clan has its own delimited territory and this clan based settlement keeps them cohesive. Is the most important social institution for the Gumuz and consists of the husband, wife/wives and children (Wolde-Selassie, 2004). A typical Gumuz family is mainly characterized by extended members of multiple generations who live together or in the nearby houses in the compound. A Gumuz man, along with his wife or wives lives (Ruibal et al, 2006) in the „main‟ house and the secondary house is occupied by elder sons or by a young married son and his wife. Gender roles are the culturally determined behaviors that a society expects (Nwosu, 2012), from
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
