The Shadow of Indebtedness: Bridewealth and Norms Constraining Female Reproductive Autonomy

Bridewealth is fundamental to marriage in Africa. Anthropological research provides substantial information regarding characteristics of the bridewealth transaction, but scholars and policymakers know little about its consequences for women in contemporary Africa. We argue that the payment of bridew...

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Veröffentlicht in:	American sociological review 2013-06, Vol.78 (3), p.503-520
Hauptverfasser:	Horne, Christine, Dodoo, F. Nii-Amoo, Dodoo, Naa Dodua
Format:	Artikel
Sprache:	eng
Schlagworte:	Africa Autonomy Behavior Bride price Brides Bridewealth Communities Community Community Relations Contract negotiations Cultural norms Debts Domestic violence Empirical evidence Ethnography Evidence Experiments Females Fertility Gender Ghana HIV Human immunodeficiency virus Individual Characteristics Kinship Laboratory Experiments Marital Status Marriage Men Normativity Norms Payments Research methodology Rural Areas Rural population Sexuality. Marriage. Family relations Social norms Sociology Sociology of the family. Age groups Vignettes Violence against women Wealth Women Womens rights
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Zusammenfassung:	Bridewealth is fundamental to marriage in Africa. Anthropological research provides substantial information regarding characteristics of the bridewealth transaction, but scholars and policymakers know little about its consequences for women in contemporary Africa. We argue that the payment of bridewealth strengthens normative constraints on women's autonomy in the reproductive domain. We test and find support for our argument using a unique vignette experiment conducted with rural women in the Volta Region of Ghana.
ISSN:	0003-1224 1939-8271
DOI:	10.1177/0003122413484923