Bride Price

8/18/2012

While trying to break down the relationship between children, land use and family planning in focus groups, one subject that continuously resurfaced was cattle exchanges for bride prices. Feeling internally opposed, but thinking realistically like a soulless economist, I piloted two questions about bride price:

How many cattle were exchanged for your wife? And, how many cattle do you expect to receive for your daughter's marriage?

These questions are in a section of the Men's survey about future expectations. And honestly, the preliminary data is more consistent than most of the other responses in the entire section. Bride price is very correlated with other socio-economic indicators and, according to the enumerators, suffers from minimal recollection bias.

But my stomach is still churning about including these questions. Am I just as insensitive as the next soulless economist? Despite any possible benefits of the practice (supporting in-laws, maintaining tradition, etc), I am opposed to it, as are many NGOs. But, am I encouraging the practice by asking men so outright what the price of their wife is? Worse, what about their daughters? Does talking about the practice so causally, asking a young girl's father to quantify her value in cattle, somehow write a fate for her? I may be exaggerating the effect of a simple survey, but if I've learned anything, its that research is not a one-way information flow. And the last thing I want to do is legitimize the practice.

But, at the same time, bride prices are a reality around here. Men don't hesitate to reference the practice as a source of reliable future income, frankly, a sort of future return on their investment in girls. It sounds awful to write about now, completely objectifying and quantifying the value of young women, but perhaps the first step to understanding the practice and the relationship between land and children is to just get data on it. I just hope that in the future I'll be able to create something constructive out of this research that could in the long-run, benefit women, increasing their value as human beings rather than as a commodity.

7 Comments

Lauren Seno

8/19/2012 03:12:22 am

Speaking from a somewhat checkered past in biological sciences research (drunk monkeys) and a more recent foray into surgical outcomes analysis (real people), I think it's important to separate your methodology into necessary consequences and intended value.

Input < Output = Success

In terms of the bride prices themselves, is it the stringent act of quantification that bothers you? The fact that they value their daughters as commodities (theoretically) or that they assess value at all? I don't know anything about Tanzania, but I do know that this is a natural assumption that a lot of parent make about their children. In the US we obviously get about it much more subversive ways, but that may be a reflection of privilege. My parents don't need me to bring monetary value to their home by putting a literal price sticker on my head, but they certainly expect it given the level of their input into my education, etc.

Can you change a woman's social status by eliminating her bride value or do you change the value of bride prices when their social status is changed? Either way, do you think 2 questions on your survey is going to reasonably impact this?

samson

8/19/2012 06:38:58 pm

hi aine how are you? This is samson just want were to comment on the issue of economic and women as stated at the biggining it is true that in many tribes women have been bieng used as the resours and its due to luck of understanding in the society and among women themselves, though this differ from one tribe to another take an example from the sukuma the bride price can be determined by the coulor of a woman. Its is quete true that women are used as the commodity and its because of the price being paid for their marrieg. Just contact me through my email I'll be happy to get in touch withow you're I heard about you from laura

Aine McCarthy

8/20/2012 01:38:40 am

Seno,
It's true that the methodology is not as important as the outcome itself (perhaps audaciously assuming I were to contribute to a better outcome), but that doesn't eliminate the effect of the methodology all together. My concern is that by sending educated and respected individuals into poorer and less-educated households casually discussing the price of women might subtly reaffirm their value as commodities.

Also, it is totally true that a version of bride price happens more discretely in other cultures. In fact, economists write entire models based on the assumption that parents invest in their children selfishly, so that they will be cared for when they are old (in economix speak: utility of child is included in parent's utility function). If this is the reality, then its great to be able to measure it. But there's something concerning about simplifying a complex relationship into financial payoffs. Ah economics.

And lastly, of course you're right that eliminating the bride price doesn't effectively change the social status of women, its more of a symptom than a cause. Unfortunately, in the focus groups, most men said that educated girls actually have lower bride prices (Sukuma tribe). So, at least currently,, it doesn't seem intuitive that investing in a girl's education will payoff in the long run.

Aine McCarthy

8/20/2012 01:43:37 am

Hi Samson,
Thanks for your comment! I'm working in Meatu district in Shinyanga, and mostly with Sukuma tribe. It's true that they value lighter skinned girls at a higher price than darker ones, which is unfortunate since it seems to be a neo-colonial "whiter-is-better" notion. I'm also still confused at how many fathers say that educated girls have a lower bride price, when in reality, they would be more likely to get a higher paying job and be able to support a family with more education (not to mention healthier children). But perhaps the Sukuma cultural emphasis of large families is so significant, that the ability to stay home and bear children is more important that being able to work and educate children. Do you think this is true in other tribes in Tanzania?

dotty

8/22/2012 04:06:59 am

ooh bride price..here we go again! Two things: 1) What do girls say about bride price? It seems the question is only asked to men in your survey, I would interested to find out how women themselves "really" feel to substantiate what "we" think they fell about it. 2) Educated girls may have a say about their "bride price". Many educated girls who have been exposed to the "commodity" nature of the practice feel they still want to belong so they accept the practice but want it to be more of a symbol --thus the low price. I may or may not be an appropriate example but my husband paid the "bride price" but it was peanuts compared to what he would have paid had I been uneducated. I did not want to upset or alienate myself from my culture (especially since I have lived away from home for more than 10 years and I already risk being disenfrachised).
Separate note: I have heard of others thinking about it as a gift/honor for the girl and not a commodity. Is there any way to test this? Could this be a denial mechanism? I don't know.
Regardless, i think the practice of bride price is slowly disappearing especially in urban areas and especially among highly educated families. (e.g. my mother refused for my dad to pay a "bride price").

Aine McCarthy

8/22/2012 05:52:14 pm

Wow, Dotty, you have way better insight into this than anyone. You are totally right about asking women what they really think- I don't even ask them! The survey is split between men and women. The men's survey has a whole section on future expectations, and because the women's survey was taking so long (probably bc of the family planning section), I threw in the extra bride price questions into the men's future section to slow them down. What do you think would be a good question for women? Whether or not they agree with the practice? It almost seems like a better focus group question than survey question.

Also, really interesting that more educated women have a lower price because they're just paying symbolically. We also noticed that the poorest households/least educated households have a super low price as well. So it's almost like a U shaped curve? Interesting.

Dotty

8/26/2012 02:13:36 am

You are right. You'll probably get more insight in a focus group setting since it seems like its too late to include it in the survey. See if you have time to squeeze that in. If you have focus groups set up for other things, perhaps you could add this question. It could be two questions. 1) do you Agree/disagree with it? 2) why?

You are right. It's probably a u-curve. Usually what happens is if a groom's family cannot afford to pay it fully before the marriage they can pay in installments throughout the marriage. If a family is already struggling this further perpetuates poverty. Thus it makes sense to have a better bargain before the marriage and risk the low price as opposed to preserve the girls's honor with a large bride price but live in debt for the most part of their lives (if this makes any sense).
The negotiations for a bride price can take months by the way. The price can be negotiated.

Bride Price

Leave a Reply.

Aine Seitz McCarthy

Categories