Part Ii Paper Vii Semester Iv Women and Society Lesson

M.A. (WOMEN STUDIES) PART II PAPER VII SEMESTER IV WOMEN AND SOCIETY LESSON NO. 1.4 AUTHOR : PADMINI JAIN PROBLEM OF DOWRY IN INDIAN SOCIETY INTRODUCTION: We get to read and hear about the young brides being burnt or beaten to death for the sin of not having brought enough dowries. The incidents of female foeticide despite the strict laws against sex determination come to light every now and then. Has the Indian woman been conditioned to bear all this injustice? Is the law only a tiger with paper teeth? Do the parents, in love for their daughters accumulate her pyre in form of her trousseau? Has the media unconsciously helped to propagate the practice of dowry by highlighting the huge gifts by the rich? Have the cases of dowry deaths and bride burning, though rarely reproted, woken the public against the evils of this exercise? Is the woman today ready to stand against the venome of dowry? Come let us try to find answers to these questions in this lesson. The crimes against women in the greed for dowry have converted this social practice into a social evil, activism and laws against which are actively staged and framed. The next chapter deals with the need for dowry eradication. The government’s efforts and the need for society’s awakening will be dealt with. In this lesson however, we shall focus on the study of the concept, practice and prevalence of dowry in different countries, while discussing India’s case in detail. MEANING AND DEFINITIONS OF DOWRY: What is dowry in its literal sense? The dictionary meaning of dowry has also come to be influenced by its social usage. Though we all understand the practice and concept, especially by living in India, yet to be able to define it formally, let us study some definitions and encyclopedias and dictionaries hold for dowry: • Money, property, or material goods that a bride’s family given to the bridegroom or his family at the time of the wedding. • A dowry (also known as trousseau) is a gift of money or valuables given by the bride’s family to that of the groom to permit their marriage. • The property that a woman brings to her husband at the time of the marriage. 52 M.A. (WOMEN STUDIES) PART II 53 PAPER VII • Dowry, is a property which can include cash, material goods, or land that a wife or wife’s parents give to the husband or husbands parents upon marriage. • Dowry or Dahej means payment in cash or/and kind by the under family to the bridegroom’s family along with the bride (called Kanyadaan) in Indian marriage. Kanyadanam is an important part of Hindu marital rites. Kanya means daughter, and dana means gift. As per the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961: “dowry” means any property or valuable security given or agreed to be given either directly or indirectly. (a) By one party to a marriage to the other party to the marriage, or (b) By the parent of either to a marriage or by any other person, to either party to the marriage or to any other person. However if you think that this practice is prevalent only in our country then you do not have an idea of how vastly this practice is followed almost all around the world. It is not unknown to dictionaries and social customs over the globe. It would be interesting to see what dowry is known as in different languages. You would have a better idea of its omnipresent nature when we discus the practice of dowry across various cultures. Activity I Look up in dictionaries of the different languages that you know the meaning of ‘dowry’. Also talk to your friends from different religions, castes, states or countries to find out how the custom of dowry is treated and followed among their community. THE PRACTICE OF DOWRY: ACROSS CULTURES: The dowry apparently originated in the giving of a marriage gift by the family of the bridegroom to the bride and the bestowal of money upon the bride by her parents. In many cultures, the dowry not only helps to cement the relationship between the bride’s and groom’s families but also serves to reinforce traditional family roles and gender roles. It has been a well-established institution among the propertied classes of various lands and times, e.g., in ancient Greece and Rome, India, medieval Europe, and modern continental countries. Generally the husband has been compelled to return the dowry in case of divorce or the death of the wife when still childless. One purpose of the dowry was to provide support for the wife on the husband’s death, and thus it was related remotely to the rights of M.A. (WOMEN STUDIES) PART II 54 PAPER VII dower. In civil-law countries the dowry is an important form of property. In England and the United States (except for Louisiana), the dowry system is not recognised as law. In societies where payment of dowry is common, unmarried women are seen to attract stigma and tarnish the family reputation, so it is in the bride’s family’s interest to marry off their daughter as soon as she is eligible. In some areas where this is practised, the size of the necessary dowry is directly proportional to the groom’s social status, thus making it virtually impossible for lower class women to marry into upper class families. In some cases where a woman’s family is too poor to afford any dowry whatsoever, she is either forbidden from ever marrying, or at most becomes a concubine to a richer man who can afford to support a large household. Dowries have been part of civil law in almost all countries, Europe included. Dowries were important components of Roman marriages. IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES: Dowry in Europe: Dowry was widely practiced in Europe, being found from classical Greece to Victorian England. It was regarded as contribution of bride’s family to the married household’s expenses. With the advent of Christianity and religious orders, women also brought their dowries with them when they became nuns. Failure to provide a customary, or agreed-upon, dowry could call off a marriage. William Shakespeare made use of this in Measure for Measure: Claudio and Juliet’s premartial sex was brought about by their families’ wrangling over dowry after the betrothal; and Angelo’s motive for forswearing his betrothal with Mariana is the loss of her dowry at sea. Customs varied widely, but some were widespread. Normally the bride would be entitled to her dowry in event of her widewhood, prior to the evolution of her dower rights; so common was this that the terms ‘dowry’ and ‘dower’ are sometimes confused. In event that the couple were childless, the dowry normally reverted to the bride’s family, sometimes the groom could retain possession of it through his lifetime, or untile he remarried. One common penalty for the kidnapping and rape of unmarried women was that the abductor or rapist had to provide the woman’s dowry. Providing dowries for poor women was regarded as a form of charity, especially as such dowries could enable them to marry, when their only alternative would be prostitution. The custom of Christmas stockings springs from a legend of St. Nicholas; in which he threw gold in the stockings of three poor sisters, thus providing for their dowries. St. Elizabeth of Portugal M.A. (WOMEN STUDIES) PART II 55 PAPER VII and St. Martin de Porres were particularly noted for providing such dowries, and the Arch confraternity of the Annunciation, a Roman charity dedicated to providing dowries, received the entire estate of Pope Urban VII. Dowry in China: The similarity between the dowry system in China and the dowry system in India is that it serves as a way for the family to secure some of its wealth for its daughters as women could not inherit property in the orthodox confucian society of China. However, there are many important differences between the two and these include: Unlike the Indian dowry system which was brought in by the foreign colonialists and imperialists, the Chinese dowry system is indigenous and has lasted for thousands of years. Unlike the Indian dowry system in which the transaction seldom ends with the wedding, the Chinese dowry system is often an one-shot deal that ends with the wedding. Ancient China (as well as modern China to a certain degree) is a patriarchal society dominated by the orthodox Confucian traditions, in which it is a great shame for a man who cannot provide for his wife and thus has to survive on his wife’s assets, such as her income or her dowry. As a result, the dowry is often served as a private savings of the wife and the groom and his family have far less power in controlling and using the assets like the Indian groom and his family. Although the Chinese wife might have greater autonomy than her Indian counterpart, the orthodox Confucian tradition dictates that the dowry assets should be used in the following order to support her husband when the assets of husband are not enough: • For the eldest son’s education when his livelihood can be provided but not enough for his education. • For the remaining sons’ education when their livelihood can be provided but not enough for their education. • For the livelihood of the eldest son when there is not enough to do so • For the livelihood of the remaining sons when there is not enough to do so • For the livelihood of daughters until they marry • For the livelihood of the parents • For the education of the groom’s brothers when there is enough for their livelihood but not enough for their education (often until the brothers marry) M.A.

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