Representing Sexuality through Folklore: Erotic Folktales and Online Jokes as ‘Mirrors’ of Gender Hierarchies

Abstract

Gender roles, relations, and structures are aspects of human sexuality that are (re)constructed, negotiated, and even contested through a variety of discourses, including folklore. Erotic tales and sexual jokes are folk genres in which human sexuality is most explicitly presented. In this respect, the two key questions this study seeks to answer are: what kind of sexuality (gender roles, relations, and structures) is constructed through these genres and what inferences may be made about the society underpinning the discourse thus produced. To accomplish the ends, the study uses material collected from the Republic of Macedonia, organized in two data corpuses: erotic folktales and online sexual jokes. The content of the data is analyzed in order to identify the most reoccurring themes, gender roles, and relations constructed vis-à-vis the dominant motif in these narratives -the sexual intercourse, and thus to be able to describe the discourse on sexuality constructed by and through these genres, comment upon its social implications, and suggest way(s) of using it as a tool to counteract gender inequalities.

The Dignity of Women in Marriage: Comparative Study of Indonesian and Malaysian Folk Tales

“…Sugiarti (2021) states that gender relations are inherent relationships between men and women that have been constructed by society, both socially and culturally, which differ from time to time and from place to place, so that character formation between men and women is considered natural. The division of roles that associate female and male characters is a manifestation of the gender ideology that exists in society (Takovski, 2019). The ideology is then illustrated in the form of fiction or literary works that will be accepted by readers.…”

Untitled

“…It has been noted that humour in the form of jokes and memes is one of the key manifestations of digital folklore, such as newslore (e.g., Frank 2011) and online comments (Laineste 2013). The jokes and memes often relate to gender roles (e.g., Takovski 2019). Subsequent studies on Kalevauva.fi could explore each related topic in more detail.…”

Motif “Jaka Tarub” dan objektivitas perempuan dalam cerita rakyat nusantara

“…Dapat dilihat bahwa tokoh perempuan banyak menyetujui ide tersebut karena tidak ada yang bisa mereka lakukan selain bergantung pada laki-laki. Jiwa inferior perempuan ini dimanfaatkan oleh para kaum superior yang dengan senang hati menjadi pemimpin di sektor keluarga (Movahedi & Moshtagh, 2019;Takovski, 2019).…”