American Proverbs About Women

Proverbs supposedly contain the wisdom of the common folk—eternal truths to be passed down through the ages. They are short, often humorous, expressions that teach lessons or give practical advice, and they are perhaps the best indicators of attitudes and beliefs of any form of folklore. Not only reflecting culture, proverbs also perpetuate the cultural dictates of the past, including the fears, prejudices, and misconceptions of their predominately male authors. Because they are generalizations, proverbs sometimes impede accurate observation and analysis and stifle original thought. Like many other traditions and cultural practices, proverbs often promote misleading stereotypes of women. This reference book collects more than 800 American proverbs about women and analyzes their significance. The volume begins with introductory chapters that explore the relationship between proverbs and culture and the image of women presented in proverbs. The chapters that follow are devoted to particular categories, such as wives and 6~rriage, mothers and daughters, women as property, and old women and grandmothers. Each chapter includes a brief introductory overview and a listing of proverbs relating to the topic. The proverbs were gathered through an extensive review of journal articles, proverb dictionaries, and other literature. In addition to true proverbs, the volume includes some phrases, sayings, and proverbial comparisons. Not included are expressions that contain words like mother or daughter but do not really describe women or comment about them. The book then presents a concluding analysis of how American proverbs portray women, an alphabetical index of proverbs, and an extensive bibliography.

Proverbs supposedly contain the wisdom of the common folk—eternal truths to be passed down through the ages. They are short, often humorous, expressions that teach lessons or give practical advice, and they are perhaps the best indicators of attitudes and beliefs of any form of folklore. Not only reflecting culture, proverbs also perpetuate the cultural dictates of the past, including the fears, prejudices, and misconceptions of their predominately male authors. Because they are generalizations, proverbs sometimes impede accurate observation and analysis and stifle original thought. Like many other traditions and cultural practices, proverbs often promote misleading stereotypes of women. This reference book collects more than 800 American proverbs about women and analyzes their significance. The volume begins with introductory chapters that explore the relationship between proverbs and culture and the image of women presented in proverbs. The chapters that follow are devoted to particular categories, such as wives and 6~rriage, mothers and daughters, women as property, and old women and grandmothers. Each chapter includes a brief introductory overview and a listing of proverbs relating to the topic. The proverbs were gathered through an extensive review of journal articles, proverb dictionaries, and other literature. In addition to true proverbs, the volume includes some phrases, sayings, and proverbial comparisons. Not included are expressions that contain words like mother or daughter but do not really describe women or comment about them. The book then presents a concluding analysis of how American proverbs portray women, an alphabetical index of proverbs, and an extensive bibliography.

This book examines stereotypical traits of women as they are reflected in Anglo-American anti-proverbs, also known as proverb transformations, deliberate proverb innovations, alterations, parodies, variations, wisecracks, fractured proverbs, and proverb mutations. Through these sayings and witticisms the author delineates the image of women that these anti-proverbs reflect, her qualities, attributes and behavior. The book begins with an analysis of how women’s role in the family, their sexuality and traditional occupations are presented in proverbs, and presents an overview of the genre of the anti-proverb. The author then analyses how this image of women is transformed in anti-proverbs, sometimes subverting, but often reinforcing the sexist bias of the original. This engaging work will appeal to students and scholars of humour studies, paremiology, gender studies, cultural studies, folklore and sociolinguistics alike.

It is a common knowledge among the ex-refugees from Vietnam that after more than 40 years of living in the US and even with a smooth and successful mainstreaming into the new way of living in an alien social and cultural environment in America, a good number of them are still suffering from the “culture shock.” Consequently, they have been researching and looking for their old traditions, cultural values and moral practices that have been deeply ingrained in them but have been lost or forgotten due to a variety of factors such as: the language barrier and differences in culture and moral standard between their old and new countries. Because of the demand of working long hours and struggling for survival many of them have no time or ability to educate and communicate effectively with their children in Vietnamese or English, let alone teaching them Vietnamese traditions and morals. As a result, they feel guilty of being unable to carry out this important and traditional duty. This unusual educational book is an effective and powerful tool for all those who can or cannot read Vietnamese or English to discover, rediscover, learn or relearn one of the most esteemed aspects of the Vietnamese traditional teaching: wisdoms and living with virtues and decency. Sau 40 nm nh c Hoa K, nhiu ngi Vit Nam cm thy cn có nhu cu hc hay hc li nhng truyn thng và o c mà ông cha h ã truyn li cho h t th h này n th h khác. H rt quan tâm n nhng sc thái này ca nn vn hóa Vit nam và mun truyn li cho con cháu ca h nhng h gp nhiu khó khn vì nhu cu làm n vt v , không có thì gi, và nht là nhiu khi vì là ngôn ng khác bit cho nên h không có th thc hin uc nguyn vng này mt cách d dàng. Cho nên nhiu ngi Vit cm thy bt lc vì không th thc hin c bn phn quan trng và truyn thng dy d con cháu h vn hóa và o c ca Vit Nam. Dùng hai th ting, Vit và M, cun sách này nhm giúp nhng ai hoc không bit c ting Vit hay ting M mun hc, hc li, hay dy con cháu ca h ngn ng Vit, mt gia tài vn hóa c truyn và vô giá ca dân tc Vit Nam, mt cách d dàng. Hn th na, cun sách song ng khiêm tn ny dùng c hai ngn ng Vit và M dy khôn ngoan và cách sng cho có o c và cho úng o làm ngi.

Dictionary of Authentic American Proverbs offers a comprehensive reference guide for distinctly American proverbs. Compiled by Wolfgang Mieder, a key figure in the field of proverb studies, this compendium features nearly 1,500 proverbs with American origins, spanning the 17th century to present day, including a scholarly introduction exploring the history of proverbs in America, the structure and variants of these proverbs, known authors and sources, and cultural values expressed in these proverbs. Along with a comprehensive bibliography of proverb collections and interpretive scholarship, this dictionary offers a glimpse into the history of American social and cultural attitudes through uniquely American language.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1863.

From the stone age to the cyber age, women and men have experienced the world differently. Out of a cosmos of goddesses and she-devils, earth mothers and madonnas, witches and queens, saints and whores, a vast body of women's folklore has come into bloom. International in scope and drawing on more than 130 expert contributors, this encyclopedia reviews the myths, traditions, and beliefs central to women's daily lives. More than 260 alphabetically arranged entries cover the lore of women across time, space, and life. Students of history, religion and spirituality, healing and traditional medicine, literature, and world cultures will value this encyclopedia as an indispensable guide to women's folklore. In addition, there are entries on women's folklore and folklife in 15 regions of the world, such as the Caribbean, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Western Europe. Entries provide cross-references and cite works for further reading, and the encyclopedia closes with a selected bibliography of print and electronic resources. Students learning about history, world cultures, religion and spirituality, healing and traditional medicine, and literature will welcome this companion to the daily life of women across time and continents.