Abuse and Bestiality in Women Discourses: A Systemic Functional Grammar Approach

Abstract

One of the concerns that many writers have buttressed as constituting a barrier to harmonious living among humans is abuse. This has been addressed from various angles such as physical, psychological, domestic, mental, religious, financial, drug and many more. In literature, the issue of abuse has been linked so much to inter-relationships between men and women in general, and adults and children, with results that show women and children as the major victims of abuse in all cases while men and adults are on the minor. This paper carried out a grammatical analysis, of the verbal relationship in intra-female gender discourses, using systemic functional grammar approach, to underscore verbal abuse and the resultant bestial activities of women against their fellow women. The study made use of excerpts from a Nigerian home video titled The Prince and the Maid and some excerpts from the Metro page of The Punch newspaper. The findings of this study show that the maids go through all form of verbal and non-verbal abuses in the hands of their fellow women in the homes where they serve. The marginalized, dominated, subjugated and bestially dehumanized treatments from the other female folks in the home, show the level of power relations between maids and them. In other words, women exercise undue power relations over their fellow women especially, the maids.  The study recommends a fair treatment of the maids especially, putting into consideration their economic values in the homes they serve. The use of abusive language and treatment on maids should stop, instead, language use that can boast their self-esteem and bring about positive encouragement should be imbibed by women folks in general.