A Woman’s Worth: Addressing the Difference Between Bride Wealth and Dowry

Kinship is the way that any society organizes group membership through descent and marriage.  Kinship is an important area of study for anthropologists because it helps define large scale societies and is one of the foundations that directs and guides interactions among individuals.  Case in point, you act differently among individuals who are considered family vs. those who are not considered family.  Typically, one will do more for family versus someone who is not family, so kinship is incredibly important to social interactions.  It is these differences in behavior that anthropologists focus on, and this is an area of discussion in today’s blog post, which will specifically address how people who are not related by blood become kin.  Yep, we are going to discuss marriage arrangements as they affect and place women within society by exploring bride wealth and dowry.

Marriages are key to society and culture as it solidifies specific types of social relations among individuals who are not already considered kin by blood of any cultural group.  Marriages vary by culture.  In our American culture individuals have a lot of say and freedom in choosing their spouse, but this is not the norm in every culture.  In many cultures marriages involve a great deal of political and social negotiations, particularly in regards to the value of women in a particular culture.  Depending on whether a woman and her work is considered worthwhile or a burden one of two means of securing a marriage for the woman will be used.  These means are bride wealth (aka bride price) or dowry, which represent opposing representations of women and differing negotiations in marriage contracts.

Figure 1:The Zulu of Africa are a culture that practices bride wealth.  This picture shows one of those negotiations in action.

Bride wealth (aka bride price) involves the payment of goods or money paid by the groom to the bride’s family in exchange for the bride and her work (Figure 1).  This is done because the bride/woman is seen as an asset and her loss to her family must therefore be compensated.  Also, it is not just the bride/woman who is valued in this sort of exchange.  Her future children are also paid for through what is known as a child price, which is compensation paid to the bride’s/woman’s family to ensure her children belong to the husband and his family.  This ensures that the husband, particularly in the event of a separation or dissolution of the marriage, will also take care of his children (regardless of if they are biologically or not because the contract supersedes that).  

What exactly is a bride/woman worth?  Well, that ultimately depends on several factors, including her age, her previous relationship status (e.g. unmarried versus widowed), potentially her work output and skill sets, and her social status within the community (typically related to her entire family).  These factors are important as they continue to facilitate social relations within the culture that currently exist (meaning there is less likelihood of a “Cinderella” story occurring, meaning a poor man marrying a rich woman, although that can happen in some cultures).  Men who are interested in taking a bride must make their intentions known to the potential bride’s family, who then consult the bride on whether or not she believes he’s a good match for her.  If she agrees then the negotiations begin.  The goods and/or money that is paid is typically culturally dictated, and these can include food, livestock, goods, labor (by the future son-in-law), land, etc.  The negotiations are typically peaceful and not grandiose, meaning a man is not going to go broke trying to pay for his bride.  

Figure 2: Citizens of India continue to practice the dowry despite it being illegal.  Pictured here is a dowry negotiation in action.

  

The dowry, on the other hand, is a large payment (monetary or goods) provided to the groom’s family to ensure the bride’s safety and inclusion within her new family unit (Figure 2).  This is done because women are seen as a burden within any family unit, and therefore a marriage is a contractual obligation where one family is taking on a loss (through the bride) from another family.  Dowry and marriage negotiations can be very contentious and often continue even after the marriage since the woman is considered a burden.  Due to this risk many young girls are taken out of school early (if they are allowed to attend at all) and begin working so they can collect a sizeable dowry to ensure a favorable marriage into a family that will not abuse her.  Where dowry systems exist women typically do not have much choice in who they marry, and they will typically marry whomever will accept their dowry, meaning men have massive amount of power within these societies. 

Dowries are common throughout India despite being made illegal in the 1960s.  In part because of the illegal nature of the dowry system and the cultural values placed on dowries there are several different types of dowry abuses.  Groom’s families who abuse their potential brides or the brides out of rejection of a dowry or to get a larger dowry, and/or the bride’s family have taken to killing the bride to avoid payment of dowries that they cannot afford to pay. 

Kinship is a key element of social relations within any society, and marriage is one of those means of creating new social relations.  Marriage is also crucial to the construction of gender values within any society, particularly for the woman.  This blog post addressed the contractual negotiations that directly affect women in marriage.  Bride wealth (aka bride price) is used when a woman is valued, whereas the dowry is used when women are devalued.  Both further perpetuates social status and gender ideals within the society, further demonstrating the power of family within culture.

Works Cited

Gezon, L., & Kottak, C. (2014).  Cultural Anthropology McGraw-Hill.

Welsch, R.L. & L.A. Vivanco.  (2015).  Cultural Anthropology: Asking Questions About Humanity.  Oxford University Press.