Cbapter 1 I Compadson/ContrastEssal's 1258 Withthisbackgroundinmind,whatkindsofmartialexchangesoccurin
othercultures?
9 Bridewealth Bridewealthisthewidespreadcustomthatrequiresa manand
hisrelativestotransferwealthtotherelativesofhisbride.It is easilythemost
commonofallmaritalexchanges,foundinmorethanhalftheworld'scultures.
Thetermbridewealthis wellchosenbecausethegoodstransferredusuallyare
amongthemostvaluablesymbolsofwealthinthelocalculture.Insub-Saharan
Africa,cattleandsometimesotherlivestockarethemostcommongoodsused
forbridewealth.PeoplesofthePacificIslandsandSoutheastAsiausuallygive
theirbridewealthinpigsorshellmoneyandornaments....
10 Brideservice Asthetermimplies,brideserviceis thecustomwherebya
husbandis requiredtospenda periodoftimeworkingforthefamilyofhisbride.
A Yanomamo[anativetribelivingintherainforestsoftheAmazon]son-in-lawis
expectedtolivewithhiswife'sparents,huntingandgardeningforthemuntilthey
finallyreleasecontrolovertheirdaughter.Amongsome!Kung[atribelivinginthe
KalaharidesertofAfrica]bands,a manproveshisabilityasa providerbyliving
withandhuntingforhiswife'sparentsforthreetotenyears,afterwhichthe
coupleis freetocampelsewhere.
11 Brideserviceis thesecondmostcommonformofmaritalexchange;it is the
usualcompensationgiventothefamilyofa brideinroughlyone-eighthofthe
world'scultures.However,sometimesit occursalongsideother formsofmarital
exchangeandoccasionallyisusedtoreducetheamountofbridewealthowed.
12 Dowry A maritalexchangeis calleddowrywhenthefamilyofa woman
transfersa portionoftheirownwealthorotherpropertytotheirdaughterandher
husband.Themainthingtounderstandaboutdowryis thatitisnotsimplythe
oppositeofbridewealth;thatis,itisnot"groomwealth."It is,rather,ordinarilythe
shareofa woman'sinheritancethatsheis allowedtotakeintohermarriagefor
theuseofhernewfamily,althoughherparentsarestillalive.Thewomanandher
familydonotacquiremaritalrightsoverherhusbandwhentheyprovidea dowry,
astheywouldifdowryweretheoppositeofbridewealth;rather,thebrideand
herhusbandreceivepropertywhentheymarry,ratherthanwhenthebride's
parentsdie.Bydoingso,parentsgivetheirfemalechildrenextrayearsofuse
ofthepropertyandalsopubliclydemonstratetheirwealth.
13 ...Dowryis a relativelyrareformofmaritalexchange,occurringin
onlyabout5 percentofthesocietiesrecordedbyanthropology.Dowrytoday
is commoninpartsofIndia,whereit includesjewelry,householdutensils,
women'sclothing,andmoney.Muchofthedowryispresentedtothebrideon
herweddingday,butherparentsandmaternaluncleoftenprovidegifts
periodicallythroughoutthemarriage.Dowry,then,is notalwaysa one-time
expensefora familybutmayrepresenta continualdrainontheirresources.
14 Thereareotherformsofexchangesthatoccuratmarriages,includingsomein
whichbothsetsofrelativesexchangegiftsasa materialsymbolof thenewbasisof
theirrelationship.Andthethreeformsdiscussedabovearenotmutuallyexclusive.
Forexample,inmostoftraditionalChina,bothbridewealthanddowryoccurredat
mostmarriages.Thegroom'sfamilywouldmakea paymenttothebride'sfamily
andthebride'sfamilywouldpurchasesomefurnitureandotherhouseholdgoods
fortheirdaughtertotakewithherwhen shemovedintoherhusband'shousehold.
Forwealthierfamiliesdowrywasusuallydisplayedbybeingtransported
ostentatiouslyoverthestreetsbetweenthehouseholdsof thebrideandgroom.
Dowrythusbecamea Chinese"statussymbol."Sometimes,if thebride'sfamily