Dowry and Bride Wealth

Comparison Essay # 2576

Anthropology > Cultural
Women Studies > Marriage

The author examines marriage in societies where transfer of resources is a requirement for the ceremony.

1,515 words () | 3 sources | 1995

Paper Summary:

A look at marriage in different societies. The author examines marriage in societies where transfer of resources is a requirement for the ceremony. The author compares the operations, significance and implications of dowry and bride-wealth in different cultures.

From the Paper:

"All animals, including humans, mate: some for life and some not; some with a single individual of the opposite sex and some with several. Only marriage, however, is sanctioned by legal, economic, and social forces. Anthropologists have tried to identify the common elements in different types of marriage to find the features that are essential or otherwise. They have also focused on the different forms of marriage and the elements involved, sexual, legal, economic and political and the futility of searching for a universal definition. In many tribal societies, marriage involves contracts or alliances between different descent groups, and is not a relationship between individuals. It is a transfer or flow of rights."