Normative Gender Identities in Social Greetings across Ethnic Groups in Tanzania

Abstract

This paper addresses a critical gap in understanding how social greeting practices perpetuate gender inequalities in multicultural societies like Tanzania. This oversight limits insights into how routine interactions contribute to the broader reproduction of gendered power dynamics. To bridge this gap, the paper examines how social greeting practices function as a medium through which gendered norms are both reflected and reinforced across diverse cultural contexts. Based on qualitative data from ethnographic observations and semi-structured interviews across ten ethnic groups in Tanzania, the study analyses social greetings categorised into three primary types: gender-specific greetings addressing both men and women, greetings reserved exclusively for men, and plain, gender-neutral greetings, revealing embedded gender expectations. Revealing these gendered voices is important because it sheds light on how language and interaction perpetuate normative gender identities, providing opportunities for challenging inequalities and promoting gender equity across diverse sociocultural contexts. Guided by Judith Butler’s performativity theory and Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis, the findings show that greetings are not just ritualised exchanges but also performative acts that subtly communicate and sustain culturally specific gender roles. Differences in greeting styles between men and women, as well as gendered expectations within greetings, demonstrate how daily communication rituals contribute to the maintenance of social hierarchies.