Dowry’s Silent Strength: Holding Marriages Together, Cutting Polygamy Down in Pakistani Society

Abstract

This study takes a qualitative approach to understand the complex and at times contradictory role of dowry in both enhancing marital stability and shaping gendered relations in Pakistan. Dowry is often considered a financial, social burden that accentuates ideologies of gender-based inequalities; however, dowry continues to be a practice and even honored in many South Asian cultural groups. Objectives of the study are to understand current socio-cultural meanings of dowries in Pakistani marriages, to differentiate the importance of dowry in divorce prevention and hindrance of male remarriage, to explore the dowry as a contribution to women’s social and emotional safety and security in their husband’s family, to investigate economic possibility as dowry as an investment in the shared household, to study the changing forms of dowry and views of dowry across different socio-economic and education strata and to consider the use of dowry as a structural barrier to polygamy and upheaval of marriage. This study uses findings based on four FGDs with 6 to 8 married women in each group, then presents a thematic analysis to unpack the meanings and function of dowry in relation to women's lived experience.  The women indicated that dowry is a key factor for marital stability and women's security. Participants claimed that a "good" dowry results in a higher level of respect for the bride in her husband's family home and could even deter the husband from taking another wife because of the material and social significance of that original marriage. Dowry operates as a form of social insurance and emotional leverage within patriarchal family structures. However, the findings also pointed to how dowry commodifies women, creates tremendous pressure on their natal families, and reinforces women's perceived dependence on their in-laws for security; each essentially upheld gender inequality. Additionally, the research discovers nascent counter-narratives among younger, more educated women who indicate that they want to reject or change dowry practices. Although these voices are few in number at present, they represent the possibility of change for women. The research found that while the dowry system may lead to marital stability. Thus, stakeholders must work together, such as policymakers, educators, and community leaders, to change socio-economic systems that support the dowry institution in order to promote other types of marital respect and security based on gender equality and mutual agreement.