Marriage Payments | Anthropology Optional for UPSC PDF Download

Bride Price 

•  Bride price/wealth, is a form of marriage payment in which the bride's group receives a payment of goods, money, or livestock to compensate for the loss,of a woman's labor and the children she bears.
• In many societies where the economic aspects of life are intimately associated with group interests, bride price is present as an arrangement between corporate groups that negotiate transfers of wealth and rights.
•  these exchange rlns b/w families may persist over many years and  in some societies ''constitute" the chief means for the circulation of wealth. In these situations, marriage is a corporate enterprise in which control over prestige valuables is exercised by an older generation of men. Marriage payments are thus a way of establishing and securing alliances and for allocating women's labor power and fertility.
• Bride price is not a payment for women, but rather is seen as a way of valuing the labor of women, the effort involved by the bride’s family in raising the female, and the labor value of a woman's offspring.
•  The payment is a way of securing the rights of the husband's group over the woman’s children. Although women are valued in such societies their status relative to men's is lower because it is the men who make the corporate household decisions. 
• Often, payments are made in installments in case the couple divorces or fails to produce a child.
•  It is more common in descent systems that are patrilineal, although when it is found in a matrilineal system,the wife moves to the residence of the husband's group. 
• Subsistence economies that are horticultural or pastoral and marked with a relative absence of social stratification also feature bride price, and there is evidence that it is common where land is abundant and the labor of women and children contributes to
  group welfare.
• In societies that have some type of economic transaction with marriage, bride-price accounts for almost half the cases, making it the most common form of marriage payment arrangement. 
•  It has been noted that shifts from bride price to indirect dowry have occurred in African society in response to shifts in economic behavior.
• Ex - chota nagpur tribes. Ho of singhbum
• It has been found that in Ao and Angami nagas the absence of bride price has led to low social status of women.
• Bride price is also sometimes contributed by whole village. High bride price leads to more unmarried woman. Wedding ring is a type of bride price.
• Gonds do cross cousin marriages to avoid high bride price.

Dowry

•  payment or gift of property that accompanies a bride upon marriage. 
• most common in settled agricultural societies 
•  A woman's dowry might include personal possessions (such as clothing and jewels), money, servants, or land. 
• Societies vary in regarding a dowry as the property of the bride, her husband, or her husband's  family. 
• women frequently receive dowries in lieu of a right of inheritance from their-father's estates(Goody and Tambiah 1973).
•  +ve functions.
  • marital exchange such as bride-price affirms an alliance between two families united by marriage.
  • provides a bride with some protection against an abusive husband. 
  • Should she leave her husband, a woman’s family may demand full or part of her dowry be returned. 
  • a young couple may use the dowry to set up their own household. 
  • Finally, a woman may need to rely upon her dowry for support should her husband die and she has no rights to inheritance. 
• -ve fns
  • Imitation by lower castes.
  • Harassment deaths, suicides
  • Unmarried women.
• In medieval Europe, noble families down on their fortunes often sought to marry their sons to women from rich families whose dowries would thus enhance their own financial situations. By the same token, a newly wealthy family could improve its social standing by using rich dowries to form marital alliances with those of a higher class.
•  In northern India, marrying daughters upwards, using the enticement of dowries, has long provided one to the chief means for families to raise their status (by very small increments) within the rigidly hierarchical caste system, a process technically known as hypergamy.
•  custom of dowry imposes a financial burden upon families that have few/no sons to attract a dowry.
• Dowry had disappeared from most of Europe by the beginning of the 20th century, but remains a common practice in south Asia. 
• In India it has becom controversy and a subject for legal reform because of a large number of incidents in which women have been harassed and even murdered by their in-laws in attempts to extort richer dowries. 
• Debate continues as to whether dowry deaths should be understood as a byproduct of the custom itself or as the result of modern conditions that have undermined the traditional connections between families brought together in marriage while inflating the cash value of dowries (Menski 1999). 
• In India,  payment of a dowry has been prohibited under The 1961 Dowry Prohibition Act in Indian civil law and subsequently by Sections 304B and 498a of the IPC
  Gift exchange reciprocity b/w both grps, exchange voluntarily, exchange is an expression of social status and prestige, profit is not the motive. Refusal can lead to enmity, cycle as obligated to return the gift, generosity dictates next return to be greater or equal. Acts as redistribution of surplus wealth eg andaman islanders, potlatch of N-W pacific coast indians.
  Exchange of females is an element of structuralist theory of Levi Strauss who see patriarchal treatment of women as property being given to other men to cement alliances. Eg - by kings of old days.

Conclusion

Bride price and dowry are two different forms of marriage payments that serve various purposes in different societies. Bride price is a form of marriage payment where the bride's group receives goods, money, or livestock to compensate for the loss of a woman's labor and fertility. It is more common in patrilineal societies and serves as a means of securing alliances and allocating women's labor power. On the other hand, dowry is a payment or gift of property that accompanies a bride upon marriage, most common in settled agricultural societies. It serves various functions, such as protecting the bride against an abusive husband, helping the couple set up their household, and improving a family's social standing. However, both practices can have negative consequences, such as harassment, deaths, suicides, and the burden on families with few or no sons. Legal reforms and debates continue to address these issues, particularly in India, where dowry has become a controversial practice.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Marriage Payments

What is bride price and what purpose does it serve in societies that practice it?

Bride price, also known as bride wealth, is a form of marriage payment in which the bride's group receives a payment of goods, money, or livestock to compensate for the loss of a woman's labor and the children she bears. It is not a payment for women, but rather a way of valuing the labor of women, the effort involved by the bride’s family in raising the female, and the labor value of a woman's offspring. The payment secures the rights of the husband's group over the woman’s children and establishes alliances between families.

What is dowry and how does it differ from bride price?

Dowry is a payment or gift of property that accompanies a bride upon marriage. It can include personal possessions, money, servants, or land. Dowries are more common in settled agricultural societies, and they may serve various functions like providing protection against an abusive husband or helping a young couple set up their household. The main difference from bride price is that dowry is a gift given to the bride or her husband, while the bride price is a payment made by the groom's family to the bride's family.

What are some negative consequences of dowry practices?

Negative consequences of dowry practices include imitation by lower castes, harassment, deaths, suicides, and the financial burden on families with few or no sons to attract a dowry. In India, dowry practices have become a controversy and a subject for legal reform due to numerous incidents where women have been harassed and murdered by their in-laws in attempts to extort richer dowries.