Non-Verbal Language Contributing to Stigma towards Involuntary Childless Women in the Gikùyù Community, Kenya

Abstract

Putting women in a position where motherhood is associated with womanhood has led to stigma towards women who are involuntary childless. They are viewed as outsiders and language is used to advance the ideologies that justify their discrimination. Language has had a significant role in stigmatising and stereotyping childless people. Non-verbal communication, in addition to spoken discourses, which are frequently used in the stigma, is quite important. Nonverbal language communicates our unconscious ideas, feelings, and hidden beliefs. The context of the situation is created by the nonverbal cues. Women are subjected to extremely severe linguistic stigma through nonverbal communication. The paper's main focus was on nonverbal linguistic expressions that spread stigma towards involuntary childless women. The work was informed by Fairclough and Van Dijk's Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). According to CDA, grammar, vocabulary, and semantics should not be analysed separately. Instead, their roles are more important and should not be disregarded. The study set out to evaluate and investigate the linguistic stigma that involuntary childless women experience. The study used a purposive sampling technique to pick communities in Tetu sub-county of Nyeri County. These were the villages: Ihithe, Ihῠrῠrῠ, Mῠthὶnga and Kangaita. Focus group discussions (FGDs) and interviews supplemented by an audio recorder were used in the study to collect data. For the FGD, twenty involuntarily childless women participated as respondents. The study will be important in shedding light on important facts about the discourses used to spread linguistic stigma and how it is done. Most importantly, the results of the study will help the general public in understanding infertility concerns and discourage them from using discursive discourses to spread stereotypes about childless women. According to the study, just as vocal language, non-verbal language is used in the infertility discourse as a tool to stigmatitise the involuntary childless women.