The discursive construction of a ‘model Cameroonian woman’ within the Cameroonian Parliament

Abstract

This paper examines the discursive construction of a ‘model Cameroonian woman’ in the Cameroonian parliament. Model here is used to indicate a popular ideal. The starting point for this paper comes from discourses articulated within the wider society that tend to be rearticulated in public formal contexts such as the parliament. The data comes from a wider study (see Atanga 2007) and constitutes recordings from parliamentary sessions in Cameroon, which are transcribed and translated into English. I draw on Wodak’s discourse-historical approach to Critical Discourse Analysis (Wodak 2001; Wodak and Meyer 2009) to analyse the data. This involves the identification of traditional gendered discourses articulated within the parliament and the discursive strategies used to legitimate them. The identification of these discourses is based on Sunderland’s (2004) discourse identification approach. For the legitimation (see Reisigl and Wodak 2001) I examine arguments used to legitimate the construction of a ‘model Cameroonian woman’ and which serve to build in-groups and out-groups, and which sustain and maintain the status quo (e.g. of women as domestic or women as cooks). These strategies may include both a specific rhetorical style and arguments to legitimate the discourses. This study shows the ideological battles and challenges which Cameroonian men and women are faced with in an era of globalisation.

In Whose Interest? Gender and Mass–Elite Priority Congruence in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…Women have achieved more than 40% representation in six African legislatures, some of the highest rates in the world (International IDEA, 2017). Whereas a rich body of work has examined the impact of women’s presence on other aspects of substantive representation on the subcontinent, such as legislative gains for women (Bauer & Britton, 2006; Goetz & Hassim, 2003), debate participation (Atanga, 2010; Clayton, Josefsson, & Wang, 2017), and postconflict reconstruction (Tripp, 2015), to date no work has systematically examined whether MPs express gender-specific political priorities and whether these priorities reflect similar gender differences among citizens.…”

Beyond the language barrier: A systematic review of selective mutism in culturally and linguistically diverse children

“…Notably, many cultures ascertain different meanings of silence and talking to men and women. In most traditional cultures, formal and public speaking is usually the prerogative of men (Abu-Rabia, 2007; Elbaz, 2018), as women's exclusion and marginalization from linguistic practices in the public sphere are widely attested (Agyekum, 2002; Atanga, 2010). Although such cultural norms per se may not contribute to the development of SM, the acceptance, and sometimes favoring, of shy children in some cultures may delay identification or treatment of the symptoms (Alrabiah, 2017) and may also reinforce parental accommodation to SM.…”

The legislature as political control: change and continuity in Cameroon's National Assembly (1973–2019)

“…Likewise, since 1992 just two women have been made Vice Presidents (Rose Agbor Abunaw and Emilia Lifaka Monjowa) and two women have been made Questors (Madeline Mbono Samba and Pauline Ndoumou Ebah). Other studies have documented less time allocated to women during parliamentary sessions and it is difficult to demonstrate a substantive shift in the focus of legislation (Atanga 2010).…”

“…Following the transition to multipartyism there was initially a decline in female representation. Given that levels of female political participation likely did not drop suddenly following multipartyism, we can assume that women were disadvantaged by the liberalisation of the candidate selection process (Atanga 2010; Touo 2010). Prior to the 2013 election, Cameroon instituted a gender quota that significantly increased female representation to 30%.…”