A dowry is
a transfer of parental property at the marriage of a daughter.
Dowry contrasts
with the related and. While bride price
oris a payment by the groom or his family to the bride's parents, dowry is the
wealth transferred from the bride's family to the groom or his family,
ostensibly for the bride. Similarly, is the
property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage and
which remains under her ownership and control
Dowry is an
ancient custom, and its existence may well predate records of it. Dowries
continue to be expected, and demanded as a condition to accept a marriage
proposal, in some parts of the world, mainly in parts of and the. In some parts
of the world, disputes related to dowry sometimes result in acts of including
killings and.
Definition
A dowry is the transfer of parental belongings to a daughter at her marriage
(i.e. 'inter vivos') rather than at the owner's death (mortis causa). A
dowry establish a type of connubial subsidize, the environment of which may diverge
widely. This fund may offer an aspect of pecuniary security in widowhood or
against a remiss husband, and may ultimately go to provide for her sons and
daughters.Dowries may also go toward establishing a marital household, and
therefore might include equipment such as linens and furniture.
Locally, dowry is called dahej in Hindi, jahez in Arabic, çeyiz
in Turkish, dot in French, and in various parts of Africa as serotwana,idana,
saduquat, or mugtaf.
Origins
Aussteuerschrank - a dowry cabinet, currently in a
German museum.
Anthropologist Jack Goody's comparative study of dowry systems around the
world utilizing the Ethnographic Atlas demonstrated that dowry is a form of
inheritance found in the broad swath of Eurasian societies from Japan to
Ireland that practice "diverging devolution", i.e., that transmit belongings
to children of both sexes. This practice differs from the majority of
Sub-Saharan African societies that practice "homogenous inheritance"
in which property is transmitted only to children of the same sex as the
property holder. These latter African societies are characterized by the
transmission of the ill-named "bride price," the money, goods or
property given by the groom or his family to the parents of the bride (not the
bride herself).
Goody has demonstrated an historical relationship between the practices of
"diverging devolution" (dowry) and the expansion of concentrated
plough agriculture on the one hand, and homogenous inheritance (brideprice) and
extensive hoe agriculture on the other. Drawing on the work of Goody notes that the sexual division of labour
varies in intensive plough agriculture and widespread shifting horticulture. In
sparsely populated regions where shifting cultivation takes place, most of the
work is done by women. These are the societies that give brideprice. Boserup
further associates shifting horticulture with the practice of polygamy, and
hence bridewealth is paid as a compensation to her family for the loss of her
labour. In plough agriculture farming is mostly men's work; this is where dowry
is given. In contrast, plough agriculture is associated with private property
and marriage tends to be monogamous, to keep the property within the nuclear
family. Close family are the preferred marriage partners so as to keep property
within the group.
There is a scholarly debate on Goody's theory. Sylvia Yanagisko argues, for
example, that there are a number of societies including parts of Japan,
Southern Italy, and China, that do not support Goody's claim that dowry is a
form of female inheritance of male property. She notes that Goody's is an
evolutionary model in which these historical variables may not be the decisive
factors today. Susan Mann argues, in disparity, with examples where even in
late imposing China, dowry was a form of female birthright.
Stanley J. Tambiah (Goody's co-author on the earlier "Bridewealth and
Dowry"later argued that Goody's overall thesis remain pertinent in North
India, although it requisite revision to meet local circumstances. He points
out that dowry in North India is only partially used as a bride's wedded fund,
and that a large part goes directly to the groom's joint family. This would
initially seem to discount Goody's model, except that in North India, the joint
family is composed of the groom's parents, his married brothers and unmarried
sisters, and their third generation children. This joint family prohibited this
part of the dowry, which they used to help fund their own daughter/sister's
dowries. But when the parents die, and the shared family partitions, this equally
held wealth was then divided among the married sons, such that ultimately, the
bride's dowry certain to the joint family returned to her and her husband as
their "connubial fund.
Schlegel and Eloul delayed on Goody's model through further statistical
analysis of the Ethnographic atlas. They bicker that a major factor in
determining the type of marriage transaction is the type of property controlled
by the household. Bridewealth circulates assets and women, and is typical of society
where property is limited. Dowry concentrate property and is found in property own
classes or commercial or landed idyllic peoples. When families award dowry,
they not only ensure their daughter's economic security, they also
"buy" the best potential husband for her, and son-in-law for
themselves.
Bangladesh
The innovative convention in Bangladesh was the bride price, called pawn,
where the groom's family makes a payment to the bride's parents. This has regularly
been replaced by the dowry, called joutuk. This transition in customs
began in the 1960s. By the early 21st century, the brideprice has been supplant
by the dowry. Joutuk, sometimes spell Joutukh, like elsewhere in
South Asia, is a serious and growing problem in Bangladesh. Between 0.6 to 2.8
brides per year per 100,000 women are reported to die because of dowry-related hostility.
Bangladesh has seen a rise in the probable size of dowries in hot decades,
as its middle class has adult, and there has been an additional rise in the
rate of "dowry deaths". In Bangladesh, dowry killings are more commonly
done by assault or poison rather than blazing. Dowry extortion is also a
problem in Bangladesh From January to October 2009, more than 3,413 complaints
were made to the police in Bangladesh regarding beatings and other abuses correlated
to dowries.One of the methods used by families who are dejected with dowry
includes acid throwing, in which strenuous acid is thrown on the bride's face
to origin disfiguration and social isolation. From 1995-1998, 15 women reported
dowry disputes as the motivation following acid attacks, though that number may
be low due to under reporting.Bangladesh is combatting the problem with
legislation largely copied from that of India. Laws prohibiting dowry in
Bangladesh include Dowry Prohibition Act, 1980; Dowry Prohibition
(Amendment) Ordinance, 1982; and Dowry Prohibition (Amendment)
Ordinance, 1986.
Dowry Prohibition Act Clause 4 states that any one tough Dowry from a person
has committed a crime. The law does not have any clause stating punishment to
misuse it. Therefore the law is habitually used by women to harass in-laws and
husbands.
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