The shadow of indebtedness: bridewealth and norms constraining female reproductive autonomy
Open accessAbstract
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.
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Customary marriage payments (bride wealth and dowry) should not be viewed as practices that inherently underpin women's subordination or serve only the interests of male kin; they can be a means by which parents improve their daughter's welfare.
“These results also support arguments that customary marriage payments (bride wealth and dowry) should not be viewed as practices which inherently underpin women's subordination, constraining female autonomy (Akurugu et al., 2022;Horne et al., 2013); or in the case of bride wealth, serve only the interests of other male kin.Rather, these transactions can be a means by which parents can improve”
From Abandoning female genital mutilation/cutting (FGMC) is an emerging but costly parental investment strategy in rural Ethiopia. (2023) · cites this paper as Horne et al., 2013
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References 84 · Cited by 108
- Authors
- Horne, C., Dodoo, F. N.-A., & Dodoo, N. D.
- Affiliations
- Washington State University (US)
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- University of Ghana (GH)
- Venue
- American Sociological Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2013-04-19
- Volume
- 78
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 503-520
- ISSN
- 0003-1224 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-8271
- OpenAlex
- W2314498001
- Cited by
- 108
- References
- 84
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 3
- FWCI
- 15.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- American Sociological Review (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Ghana
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Marriage and Family Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Keywords
- bride price, marriage, gender norms, women's autonomy, debt, rural women, Ghana, marriage economics
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