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Contents
Background Information
What is a folk story?
Why folk stories are valuable in counseling?
Bibliography
Courtship, Marriage, Gender Roles, Domestic Violence
Courtship
Marriage
Wives' Roles
Husbands' Roles
Domestic Violence
Conclusion
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Folk stories show us four different roles for wives.
- Shrew
- Wise Woman
- Good Woman
- Assertive Woman
The Shrew refuses to be subservient
to her husband. She stands up for herself and directly confronts and contradicts
her husband. She can be independent, determined, curious, ambitious, unfaithful,
willful, disobedient. These qualities are generally unacceptable to a husband
and to the wider community. To make her subservient, the Shrew is usually
beaten or killed. Shrew stories usually end when the husband forces the
wife to become a docile subservient woman.
One sample story of the shrew is Animal
Talk and the Nosy Wife.
The Wise Woman understands the need to appear subservient.
She escapes harm by pretending that her husband dominates the household.
She exercises control in a subtle and often underhanded manner. The Wise
Woman succeeds through indirect methods and deceit. She survives well
in the folk stories, and in the end is praised for her wisdom. The husband
thinks he controls the household while his wife skillfully manipulates
him according to her wishes.
One sample story of the wise woman is The
Wise Wife's Advice.
The Good Woman is accepting, acquiescent, and under
her husband's control.
The Good Woman will do whatever he requires of her. Despite her goodness,
the husband usually suspects her of being unworthy, disloyal, unfaithful,
or unacceptable in some other way. The husband punishes the Good Woman
by shunning her, casting her out, or in some cases killing her. The Good
Woman suffers greatly. She may lose her beauty, her health, her social
position, her children, or her life. At the end of the story, the man
realizes his mistake and restores the Good Woman (or her memory if she
is dead) into his good graces.
One sample story of the good woman is The
Shadow on the Wall.
The Assertive Woman lives in a society that does not
require strict adherence to male dominance/female subservience. The Assertive
Woman has the freedom to express herself directly and honestly without
fear of antagonizing her husband or the community. The Assertive Woman
is similar to the woman in courtship stories. She and her husband care
for each other, are not in conflict nor determined to control the other
one. They strive for harmony in problem solving and in overcoming obstacles.
One sample story of the assertive woman is The
Cloth of Pembe Murui.
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