Akan Proverbs and Social Media Commentary: The Representation of Women in Ghanaian Society

Authors

• Richard Ayertey Lawer, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

First Advisor

Shari Stenberg

Committee Members

Rachel Azima, Mavis Boatemaa Beckson

Date of this Version

5-8-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Citation

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts

Major: English

Under the supervision of Professor Shari Stenberg

Lincoln, Nebraska, May 8, 2026

Comments

Copyright 2026, Richard Ayertey Lawer. Used by permission

Abstract

This study examines how gender ideologies embedded in Akan proverbs are reproduced, negotiated, and contested within contemporary Ghanaian digital discourse. Drawing on feminist rhetorical analysis and digital discourse studies, the research analyzes a purposive sample of 25 Akan proverbs and 36 social media posts and comments from Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok (2022–2025) focusing on women in public roles. The study demonstrates that Akan proverbs function as enduring ideological resources that construct women’s agency as conditional, subordinate, and morally regulated. These ideological patterns are recontextualized in digital spaces through both explicit citation and implicit proverbial reasoning, where users mobilize cultural logics to evaluate women’s leadership, speech, and social conduct. The findings reveal a strong continuity between traditional oral discourse and digital commentary, with social media serving as a site where patriarchal norms are amplified, naturalized, and contested. While dominant discourses reinforce gendered hierarchies through appeals to tradition and moral surveillance, counter-discourses emerge that challenge essentialist assumptions and reinterpret proverbs through feminist and Nego-feminist frameworks. However, such resistance remains constrained by cultural authority and discursive backlash. The study contributes to scholarship by bridging proverb studies and digital rhetoric, highlighting the dynamic interplay between tradition and modernity in shaping gender discourse in Ghana.

Advisor: Shari Stenberg