Author Question: List four of the functions of bridewealth that anthropologists have identified? What will be an ... (Read 37 times)

OSWALD · **on:** Jul 10, 2018

List four of the functions of bridewealth that anthropologists have identified?

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

What is the most critical factor influencing the incidence of polygyny?

What will be an ideal response?

isabelt_18 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 10, 2018

Answer to Question 1

ANSWER:
Bridewealth functions as: security or insurance for the good treatment of the wife, a mechanism to stabilize marriage by reducing the possibility of divorce, a form of compensation to the brides lineage for the loss of her economic potential and childbearing capacity, a symbol of the union between two kin groups, a mechanism to legitimize traditional marriage, the transference of rights over the children from the mothers family to the fathers family, the acquisition by the husband to rights to sex. Answers will vary.

Answer to Question 2

ANSWER:
It is the extent to which women are seen as economic assets (where they do the majority of labor) or liabilities (where men do the majority of the labor).