Patriarchal Investments: Marriage, Dowry and the Political Economy of Development in Bangladesh

White, Sarah C.

doi:10.1080/00472336.2016.1239271

Cited by 36 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…She stated: “lack of money and unstable relationship such that you change husbands now and then, it's when I can commit suicide”. Her narrative indicates clearly the entwining of material and emotional aspects of marriage (White, ). While marriage may help young women secure immediate needs, it can also make them very vulnerable and this shapes their ongoing experience.…”

Section: Accounts Of Marriage: Patterns Motivations and Experiencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Kandiyoti () has described it as a patriarchal bargain, cementing women's interest in accepting power relations that favour men. White () explains how the increasing scale and prevalence of dowry payments in Bangladesh both stems from and contributes to economic change and its gendered impacts. Transfers of cash and consumer goods, funding of higher education and securing of job opportunities for young men relate to diminishing employment opportunities in the country's neoliberal export economy, alongside increasing pressure for market engagement and conspicuous consumption.…”

Section: Thematic and Conceptual Approaches To The Geographies Of Marmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“My happiest time” or “my saddest time”? The spatial and generational construction of marriage among youth in rural Malawi and Lesotho

Ansell

Hajdú

Blerk

et al. 2017

Trans Inst British Geog

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Marriage among African teenagers is currently a central focus of campaigns by UN agencies and international NGOs. Yet marriage has received only limited attention from geographers and has largely escaped the attention of geographers of youth. In this paper we explore the relational geographies of age that underlie young people's motivations for, and experiences of, marriage in two rural African settings with differing marriage practices: matrilocal southern Malawi and patrilocal Lesotho. We draw on participatory research activities and life history interviews conducted with 80 people aged between 10 and 24 years old. While the young people's attitudes and experiences were varied and complex, starkly different accounts emerged from the two settings. In particular, young women in Lesotho offered very negative assessments of marriage, while those in Malawi were very much more positive. Through these examples, we highlight how young people's marriage choices and experiences are relationally produced. Decisions about whether, when and whom to marry reflect socially entrenched expectations concerning generational allocations of resources, labour and responsibilities, which intersect with contemporary social and economic processes including poverty, unemployment, land scarcity and AIDS. Experiences of marriage, too, are produced through practices that are spatially structured and contextually situated in relation to socio-economic conditions. Thus marriage, as a "vital conjuncture" in young people's lives, plays a key role in the relational construction of individual lifecourses and in (re)constructing relationships of age, gender and, especially, generation.

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Section: Accounts Of Marriage: Patterns Motivations and Experiencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Thematic and Conceptual Approaches To The Geographies Of Marmentioning

confidence: 99%

“My happiest time” or “my saddest time”? The spatial and generational construction of marriage among youth in rural Malawi and Lesotho

Ansell

Hajdú

Blerk

et al. 2017

Trans Inst British Geog

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Patriarchy has such power that men claim (with no knowledge of Arabic, or of Qur'anic teaching) that Islam requires that the dowry should be paid by the woman's family to her new husband (Chowdhury 2016). This theological falsehood is mixed with Hindu customs (in nominally Muslim households, in which the 'money child' is referred to as Laxmi, after a Hindu goddess bringing wealth and good fortune (White 2017)). Average levels of these 'reverse dowries' are unknown, but often involve considerable sums, forcing poor families to obtain loans from BRAC, the rural development bank-loans which are purportedly for agricultural development (Lewis 2011).…”

Section: The Dowry Issue and Violence Imposed On Femalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Rates of Suicide and Violence in the Lives of Girls and Young Women in Bangladesh: Issues for Feminist Intervention

2017

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Deaths by suicide in Bangladesh have an atypical sex ratio, with higher rates in females than in males-a characteristic shared with several countries in Southern Asia. Reasons for this are explored in this paper. An examination of the social structure of Bangladesh suggests that girls and women are subjected to higher rates of sexual and physical violence compared with males, especially in rural and urban slum areas. This violence is often linked to the enforced marriage of young girls to older men. A systematic review of 24 studies on suicide and suicidal behaviors in Bangladesh has shown that suicide death rates are exceptionally high in younger women, at a rate of about 20 per 100,000, more than twice the rate in males aged less than 49. In girls aged 15 to 17, the estimated suicide rate is 14 per 100,000, 50% higher than in males. Because of problems in obtaining systematic data on deaths by suicide, these rates are likely to be underestimates. Extreme poverty and lack of education have been recorded as factors in deaths by suicide, although there are methodological problems in reaching such conclusions. We speculate that some of the "suicides" (especially those using poison) may in fact be cases of murder. A dowry system (not sanctioned by Islam) is thought to be a major cause of family poverty, and violence experienced by young girls. In proposing solutions, we argue the case (as Muslims) for the support of an Islamic feminism which urges better support for girls growing up in extreme poverty.

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“…The cultural norms of the Malay race for example, require the men to provide wedding dowry (Kamaruzaman, Zahari & Suhaimi, 2016), whereas in Indian culture, the responsibility is diminished among Indian men as women are expected to pay dowry at marriage (White, 2017). In the context of Indian society, while there are Indian males who oppose to the dowry system because of its patriarchal and oppressive nature against women, many other men are exercising the custom because it restores the primacy of male status or is simply a practice that is culturally entrenched (White, 2017). These divergent perceptions and performances might contradict the cultural stereotypes and cause confusion in an individual's negotiation of masculinity.…”

Section: Masculinity In Multicultural Malaysiamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Discursive Construction of Modern Masculine Identities in Contemporary Malaysia

Radzi

Hamid

Bakar

2018

GEMA

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In recent years, the emphasis on studies of western masculinities has caused studies on local masculinities not only to be ignored but marginalised. The underrepresentation of studies relating to Asian masculinity, particularly on Malaysian men, has caused a significant gap in theorizing about Asian men in general and Malaysian men in particular. With globalization and the shift in societal expectations of gender roles, men are urged to redefine and reconstruct their contemporary identities in their personal and professional lives. Despite the growing interest in masculine studies, research concerning men, especially in the social transformation of masculinity within the contemporary society is largely absent. This study examined the perceptions and experiences of Malaysian men in their negotiation of masculinity. Drawing from in depth semi structured interviews and content analysis of survey questions, the study explores the discursive construction of new masculinity among 28 Malaysian men aged between 25-35. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was used for the analysis of interview transcripts. The study sought to investigate how new masculinity is constructed by analysing the interview discourse of the 28 respondents by paying close attention to the linguistic and lexical choices they used to describe masculine identities. This study examined whether the current notion of masculinity sustains or challenges the hegemonic concept. The findings of this study indicate that being seen as independent, competitive and a risk taker are among the important determinants of self-perceived masculinity. In some instances, traditional male identities which is linked with being dominant, muscular and being a provider are no longer considered as ultimate masculine identifications. The findings are of great importance to provide a refined and contextual understanding of how masculinity and complex male identities are constructed in contemporary society.

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Patriarchal Investments: Marriage, Dowry and the Political Economy of Development in Bangladesh

Cited by 36 publications

References 47 publications

“My happiest time” or “my saddest time”? The spatial and generational construction of marriage among youth in rural Malawi and Lesotho

“My happiest time” or “my saddest time”? The spatial and generational construction of marriage among youth in rural Malawi and Lesotho

High Rates of Suicide and Violence in the Lives of Girls and Young Women in Bangladesh: Issues for Feminist Intervention

The Discursive Construction of Modern Masculine Identities in Contemporary Malaysia

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