10 Brideservice As the term implies, brideservice is the custom whereby a husband is required to spend a period of time working for the family of his bride. A Yanomamo [a native tribe living in the rain forests of the Amazon] son-in-law is expected to live with his wife's parents, hunting and gardening for them until they finally release control over their daughter. Among some !Kung [a tribe living in the Kalahari desert of Africa] bands, a man proves his ability as a provider by living with and hunting for his wife's parents for three to ten years, after which the couple is free to camp elsewhere.
11 Brideservice is the second most common form of marital exchange; it is the usual compensation given to the family of a bride in roughly one-eighth of the world's cultures.
However, sometimes it occurs alongside other forms of marital exchange and occasionally is used to reduce the amount of bridewealth owed.
12 Dowry A marital exchange is called dowry when the family of a woman transfers a portion of their own wealth or other property to their daughter and her husband. The main thing to understand about dowry is that it is not simply the opposite of bridewealth; that is, it is not \take into her marriage for the use of her new family, although her parents are still alive. The
woman and her family do not acquire marital rights over her husband when they provide a dowry, as they would if dowry were the opposite of bridewealth; rather, the bride and her husband
receive property when they marry, rather than when the bride's parents die. By doing so, parents give their female children extra years of use of the property and also publicly demonstrate their wealth.
13 ... Dowry is a relatively rare form of marital exchange, occurring in only about 5 percent of the societies recorded by anthropology. Dowry today is common in parts of India, where it includes jewelry, household utensils, women's clothing, and money. Much of the dowry is presented to the bride on her wedding day, but her parents and maternal uncle often provide gifts periodically throughout the marriage. Dowry, then, is not always a one-time expense for a family but may represent a continual drain on their resources.
14 There are other forms of exchanges that occur at marriages, including some in which both sets of relatives exchange gifts as a material symbol of the new basis of their relationship. And the
three forms discussed above are not mutually exclusive. For example, in most of traditional China, both bridewealth and dowry occurred at most marriages. The groom's family would make a payment to the bride's family and the bride's family would purchase some furniture and other
household goods for their daughter to take with her when she moved into her husband's household. For wealthier families dowry was usually displayed by being transported ostentatiously over the streets between the households of the bride and groom. Dowry thus became a Chinese \symbol.\bridewealth payment would be spent on purchasing goods for the woman's dowry. This was legal and common until after the Communist Revolution in 1949, when the leaders outlawed both bridewealth and dowry, though both continue in some places to this day.
About the Organization
1. In which paragraphs do the authors describe the NOlth Amelican form of marital exchange? a. 1-7 b. 2-7 c. 1-4
d.2-4
2. Excluding the North American form of marital transfer, what other forms do the authors discuss? List them in order: a. b. c.
Why are they discussed in this particular order? In other words, what pattern did the authors use to organize this part of the reading? 3. Which two paragraphs contain the phrase in contrast? Paragraphs __ and __
a. In the first paragraph containing the phrase in contrast, what is contrasted?
b. What is contrasted in the second paragraph containing in contrast? 4. What is contrasted in paragraph 7?
Is there a contrast signal word in this paragraph? If so, what is it?
5. In which paragraphs do the authors contrast the customs of bridewealth and dowry?
a. 9, 10, 12, 14 b. 9 and 12 c. 12 only