Attitude Among Ekegusii Radio Listeners Towards Indirect Linguistic Sexist Expressions In Selected Egesa And Minto Fm Call- In Shows

ABSTRACT

Significant achievements have been made by feminists in challenging direct linguistic sexism by suggesting progressive and alternative ways language can be used to positively represent women. However, this has not hindered sexist individuals from continuing with their discrimination against women. They have come up with ways of strategically drawing on language to indirectly do so. The purpose of this study was to investigate attitude among Ekegusii radio listeners towards indirect linguistic sexist expressions in selected Egesa and Minto FM call-in shows. Rimore call-in show on Egesa FM and Enia Amagogi call-in show on Minto FM were the focus of the study. The specific objectives of this study were: to identify some of the indirect sexist expressions that are conveyed through the two call-in shows, to examine some of the ways Ekegusii language is strategically drawn on by sexist speakers in these call-in shows to indirectly discriminate against Gusii women, and to examine the attitudes of Ekegusii radio listeners towards some of the indirect sexist expressions in the shows. The study focused on four ways Ekegusii language is strategically drawn on by sexist individuals to indirectly discriminate against women. These were: presupposition, humour, collocation and visibility. The overall aim of the study was to collect data that highlight the problem so that long term solutions can be formulated. Purposive sampling technique was used to collect ten indirect linguistic sexist expressions as data from each of the call- in shows. The expressions were drawn from four gendered domains: relationships, politics, workplace, and home. Tape recording was used to gather data from the call-in shows. Data was analyzed to show how speakers of these expressions draw on Ekegusii strategically to indirectly discriminate against women. A semi-structured interview schedule was administered to twenty five female and twenty five male listeners of the shows in Marani Sub-county of Kisii County in Western Kenya to examine respondents‟ attitudes towards the indirect sexist expressions. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting respondents for this study. Data was analyzed using qualitative and quantitative methods in order to arrive at a final deduction of the attitudes of Ekegusii radio listeners towards the indirect sexist expressions. This study was guided by Third Wave Feminism Theory whose proponent is Rebecca Walker. The theory is able to handles the fluidity about and within sexism. The study found that there is indirect linguistic sexism in these call-in shows. It was also discovered in this study that Ekegusii is strategically drawn on by individuals to either consciously or unconsciously discriminate against women. Lastly, the study found out that Ekegusii radio listeners hold varying attitudes towards indirect linguistic sexist utterances in the call-in shows. The study concluded that age determines whether individuals perceive utterances as sexist. Majority of younger respondents (particularly between ages 18-39) were more readily to recognize the indirect sexism underlying the expressions than older respondents.