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Dowry: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice OVER the years, women’s position and status may have changed, yet dowry has not only remained but also become even more pernicious. From a layman’s point of view, we all are familiar with the concept of dowry that despite being outlawed in 1961 continues to be an inextricable part of the Indian marriage system. Perhaps a large majority of us also understand and realise that it does undermine a woman’s being and works against them. Yet, how and why, what are the underlying complexities of this complex social problem that is something few of us ponder over. Dowry: Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice not only analyses the issue through what it says is a "multidisciplinary lens" but also offers interesting observations and perspectives.
How dowry, not a violent practice itself, engenders violence against women? Or whether it is a pre-mortem inheritance in a land like India, where inheritance rights are otherwise denied to women? Particularly interesting is the "marriage squeeze" argument that appears in the chapter Trends and Patterns in Dowry Transactions: Evidence from North and South India by Sonia Dalmia and Pareena G. Lawrence. It explains that in India, despite the skewed sex ratio, women have to pay dowry for there is a numerical surplus of marriageable women over men. The same in a way applies to Bangladesh where dowry is relatively a new phenomenon. Dowry in Rural Bangladesh by Santi Rozario underlines that the socially imposed differences in the age of marriage creates a real imbalance in the number of available men and women. The book also answers the contentious question that baffles us all—why economically independent women, too, have to live with dowry. It is because man remains the dominant provider and women by and large marry above and not below their social status. Kate Jehan even analyses men’s dowry narratives for she argues that to exclude men from the debate entirely seems erroneous. After all, men as fathers do pay dowry. Man, according to her, while being aware of the alternatives accepts dowry for his reasoning "stems from old forms of patriarchy, a dressing-up of the notion that bride must pay to ensure better treatment and her worth equates to her wealth". Yet, ironically, this wealth is not exactly hers for a woman has little control over dowry. Tamsin Bradley delves into the interface between gender, religion and dowry. Texts such as the Ramayana promote marriage as central to a woman’s religious role, thus making it impossible for her to choose not to marry. Furthermore, she elaborates: "To argue that religion plays no part in dowry violence because dowry is a recent phenomenon, is to overlook the obvious, the extent to which religion is capable of adapting itself and gender ideology causing the emergence of new forms of female oppression." Srimati Basu dwells upon the legal aspect. She argues that legal provisions do little to address "social mechanisms through which dowry flourishes". She also recounts anecdotes to throw light on the changing face of dowry and the new socio-legal tactics that often accompany a failed marriage. In fact, the volume doubts the effectiveness of laws alone. The well-researched book abounds with references. Observations such as Madhu Kishwar’s: "For women to refuse dowry and go empty-handed to their marital homes is to suggest that they make even greater martyrs of themselves than the society makes of them" presents another point of view. The need to strengthen women’s inheritance rights is reiterated time and again. In The Spider’s Web, Rajni Palriwala even looks at the viewpoint held by many of us—dowry demands and not dowry per se that is bad. Yet, the All-India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) maintains that the practice of dowry and not just dowry excesses is a crime. While the volume is especially targeted at academicians, policy makers and researchers, an average reader too gains many insights. The examples woven in individual essays enhance readers’ interest as well elucidate the argument better. Concluding on a utopian note, quoting Julia Leslie’s imaginary scenario of gender equality wherein a bride needn’t hanker after dowry, the book however looks hard at the harsh reality (ies) of dowry. From its cyclical nature to gender injustice, it represents this ready reference on the hydra-headed issue of dowry reiterates the need to bridge the gap between theory and practice.
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The volume that grew out
of Dowry Project established in 1995 at the international conference
on "Dowry and Bride Burning" at Harvard University, Boston,
USA, comprises papers by sociologists, economists and academicians. In
the process, it not only raises several pertinent points but also
answers many nibbling queries.