dowry: the importance towards women and cultures

Dowry is practiced by many cultures, ethnics and religions.. some cultures require women to give dowry and others vice versa.. I believe many topics have discussed on this however, why women deserve the 'previlege' more thn men..?

In Hindu
Dowry (Dahej/Hunda) as we all know is paid in cash or kind by the bride's family to the groom' s family alongwith the giving away of the bride (Kanya-dana). The ritual of Kanya-dana is an essential aspect in Hindu marital rites: Kanya = daughter, dana = gift. A reason for the origin of dowry could perhaps be that the groom and his family had to take up the 'onerous' responsibility of supporting the bride for the rest of her life.

Bride-price on the other hand involves the receipt of presents, in cash or kind, by the bride's family in return for giving away of the bride. Hence bride-price has the character of an exchange.

source: http://www.hindubooks.org/sudheer_birodkar/hindu_history/practices1.html

In Chinese Society

Several days after the presentation of the betrothal gifts, the girl�s family sent porters with an inventoried dowry to the boy�s house. The dowry consisted of practical items, including a chamber pot, filled for the occasion with fruit and strings of coins. This procession gave the girl�s family the opportunity to display both their social status and their love for their daughter, and wealthy parents often included serving girls to attend their daughter in her new home.

source http://www.chcp.org/wedding.html

In medieval Europe the practice of giving or receiving gifts along with a marriage went through an interesting revolution. In the early middle ages, the husband's family had to pay the family of the wife a "morgengarbe" (It's German, I hope I spelt that right) or in English a morning gift. The implication here was that the female was so economically valuable, that her loss to another family was large enough to justify paying the wife's family compensation.

As the middle ages progressed, the exchange was reversed. Particularly in wealthy families, the morning gift was discarded and replaced with the dowry. Women increasingly came to be seen less as an economic asset and more an economic liability.

Originally posted by cahaya "Women increasingly came to be seen less as an economic asset and more an economic liability."   a liability? how come u judge ur wife as a liability?

I think wealthy medieval people came to see women more as a liability because such women needed to be supported, while it was not customary to expect such women to contribute economically. Peasant and burger women could be expected to engage in labour, but it would be considered a disgrace for some wealthy women to engage in manual labour. Of course, I am generalising here.

In India the patriarchial societies give dowry to the groom's family, while in the matriacchial societies the groom's family gives dowry to the bride's family.