Bride price (bridewealth)

A bride price (also called bridewealth) is any money, property, or other assets provided to the family of a bride in exchange for granting the groom the right to marry her. Offering such assets is a traditional marital practice in many cultures, particularly in Africa and Asia. It is viewed as strengthening the bonds of marriage and legitimizing in the eyes of the community both the union and any resulting children. In many cultures, the act is largely symbolic and is intended to show respect for the families' ethnic traditions and the woman's honor and value. A bride price is different from a dowry; a dowry is composed of financial assets provided to the groom by the bride's family at the time of marriage to help ensure her financial future with her spouse.

Cultural anthropologists increasingly prefer the term bridewealth rather than bride price, as the latter term has uneasy associations with the purchase of women, and is not an accurate assessment of the practice. A bride price is intended to demonstrate that the bride's family has agreed to the marriage and accept that any resulting children will be exclusively a part of the groom's lineage.

Background

The exchange of a bride price most often occurs in cultures where the parents either arrange the marriage or where their permission is required to wed. In such cultures, the negotiations over the bride price between the bride's and groom's families may take months. When there is more than one potential suitor, the family must weigh the value of the bride price, the groom's lineage and reputation, and the bride's desires in the decision. In cases of divorce or infertility, many cultures have arrangements that allow the groom to have the bride price returned. The transfer of a bride price also bestows certain rights on women. For instance, in some cultures, women may ask to leave the marriage when the husband is abusive or unfaithful. Cultural traditions vary in such cases as to whom the bride price then belongs, and couples may turn to either community leaders or the legal system to mediate.

A man may engage in a form of bride price called bride service, in which the potential groom works for the family of his prospective bride until he is deemed to have paid for the marital rights to his bride. Among Ju/'hoansi, Indigenous people from the Kalahari Desert of southwest Africa, men may serve a bride service for as long as fifteen years.

Among Western cultures, bride prices are often looked upon with disapproval. As a result, colonial governments and missionaries in many African and Asian states sought to outlaw them. They perceived that these arrangements were tantamount to selling women to their future husbands. Despite efforts by colonial authorities to eliminate the practice, it has largely endured in most places. In the 2020s, about 75 percent of the world continued to practice bride price or another form of marriage payment. While acknowledging the unequal roles of women in many societies, cultural anthropologists increasingly recognize the potential benefits that bride prices can bring to all parties.

Overview

The reasons for requesting a bride price vary between cultures. Typically, one important aspect is to ensure that a husband recognizes the value of his future wife. As a result, bride prices within an individual culture can vary broadly and depend on the characteristics that are most valued within a particular ethnic group. For instance, among the Kipsigis tribe of Kenya, great emphasis is placed on a woman's potential reproductive success. Thus, women of a larger size can command greater bride prices because it is presumed that they will have an increased likelihood of producing more children. However, in many urban societies, the family of an educated woman will ask for higher bride prices both in repayment of the amount of money invested in her education and because of her increased earnings potential.

Many cultures also believe that a bride price strengthens the marriage. As there is a financial investment involved for both parties, there is increased pressure on the couple to mediate their conflicts rather than consider leaving their marriage. In addition, a bride price forces the husband to acknowledge his wife as a tangible asset to their family. By offering an exchange of goods, the prospective groom is also recognizing both the loss of a daughter and her value to her birth family.

Bride prices are also a way of determining family lineage. Among the Igbo, the acceptance of the bride price constitutes the tacit agreement of the bride's family that any resulting children are solely the descendants of the husband's family. Even if a woman has a child as the result of an extramarital relationship or has children before the marriage, the children are still considered to be familial heirs of her husband.

Topic Today

As the nature of communities has changed, so too has the practice of bride prices. Traditionally, bride prices were paid in commodities, such as animals, food, or items of value, such as weapons or jewelry. However, in contemporary society, the process has become increasingly monetized. Rather than requesting property, many families often require payment of the bride price in cash. This has resulted in couples marrying later in some places, as potential grooms require more time to save money. Accruing debt to pay bride prices became a growing issue in some countries. Similarly, displaced people, such as refugees, often lack the necessary assets to meet the required bride price to marry.

A shortage of eligible women caused by China's one-child policy (which was phased out in 2016) led to an enormous increase in bride prices in China. As males are presumed to have greater value at birth, many families aborted or abandoned female babies so they could have a male child. As a result, the proportion of males to females in China left many males single. With a greater demand for women, they could command higher bride prices. Throughout most of the twenty-first century, the average bride cost was 10,000 to 20,000 yuan until 2007. By the mid-2020s, the average price started at 140,000 yuan. Some research indicated prices were often three to ten times the male’s annual disposable income. This led to many men, particularly those in rural low-income areas, being unable to afford the costs associated with marriage. Many efforts have been made to limit excessive bride prices, but they were largely ineffective in the first decades of the twenty-first century. The Supreme People's Court outlawed demanding money and land in exchange for marriage in 2023. The Chinese government also issued guidance stating the maximum bride cost should be 10,000 yuan, though this was not mandatory or enforced. In early 2024, the government of China’s eastern province of Jiangxi introduced a policy that included helping pay bride prices under 39,000 yuan.

The legality of bride prices remains nebulous in many places. For instance, in Kenya, the use of an obligatory bride price is outlawed but still in broad use. In Uganda, courts have ruled that while the practice of requesting a bride price is legal, the act of refunding the bride price in the event of a divorce is not.

Bibliography

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