Bridewealth and Dowry

Abstract: A 6 page paper assessing whether bridewealth and dowry practices in Africa protect women or further gender inequality. Both bridewealth and dowry have had the effect of redistributing wealth within the areas in which the people practicing it live, and in so doing also provide a homogenizing effect on class and status in Africa. The nature and uses of both forms have been changing in recent years, however, so that at present bridewealth among the elites often fills a role traditionally reserved for dowry. Though the concepts of bridewealth and dowry seem backward to those not practicing them, they have the effect of protecting women rather than undermining the advance of gender equality in Africa. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

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Catagory:

Subcatagory: Africa

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