Cultural Studies

Posted: February 21st, 2020

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Cultural Studies

The lobola custom practiced among some cultural groups in South Africa is a form of dowry payment from the groom’s family the bride’s family. Although many groups have different ways of presenting it, they all have a common purpose. Marriages are not considered legal of consummated in the absence of lobola. Lobola is mostly offered in the form of cattle. In many cases, eight heads of cattle are presented as the bridal wealth. However, this can increase if the groom is a dignitary or if he comes from a royal family However, in the urban setting, it is more common for the groom’s family to give cash. Lobola is a form of appreciation. By giving lobola, the groom acknowledges the efforts of the bride’s parents in bringing up his wife. When a girl leaves her parents house, a gap is created. The family can no longer enjoy the girl’s presence or benefit from her productive labor (Funso 183). This makes the presentation of lobola more reasonable.

Once the payment of lobola is complete, transfer of rights take place. The rights of the woman are transferred from her father or her guardian to her husband and his family. These rights include sexual access, control over the woman’s labor and productive powers and procreative powers. The children born of the woman now belong to her husband and his family. However, this changes after divorce and return of the lobola from the bride’s family (Funso 183). So long as bride wealth exchange has occurred, the wife is expected to continue bearing children in her husband’s name even after his death (Kuper 27). In many cases, fathers assist their sons to pay for the lobola. This of course depends on the man’s wealth. The man can also ask his brothers and other relatives to help him. If the father does this, he receives his daughter’s lobola when she is married (Kuper 27)

Indians give dowry in the form of jewelry, money, clothes, and household utensils. The woman is responsible for giving dowry. The common perception is that since men work harder at providing for their families, then women should be obligated to bring some of their family’s wealth to the groom’s house (Peoples and Bailey175). Even though the woman pays the dowry, she does not get any rights from it. The main idea of presenting presents and gifts to the groom is to show honor and appreciation (Hasan 400). However, many places in India today have outlawed the practice because it has become marred with greed. This has had a negative effect to the extent that some brides are killed or chased from their new homes if the parents do not provide sufficient wealth.

The lobola custom and the dowry customs in India affect women directly. They are both a reflection of societal view of the woman as a source of property. In the lobola custom, the bride’s parents expect some form of compensation for marrying off their girl. Hence, they benefit economically after the marriage happens. In the Indian custom, the bride becomes a source of wealth to the groom’s family by the gifts she presents.

Family participation is necessary in both customs. Marriage is not considered an individual affair where the lovers can stay together without interference from other relatives. The women leaves her father’s care to her husband’s family. The new family has the same obligations that the parents had and they expect the woman to be productive. Families know each other through their children’s marriage.

I think that both the lobola custom and the Indian custom of presenting dowry are outdated. They should be abolished. The lobola custom gives the husband’s family the right to treat the woman as they see fit. The woman in powerless in her new home and she does not have any advantage. She is forced to do some cultural practices that she may be opposed to because of the lobola. The Indian custom should not be recognized because it has led to greed and increased materialism. People marry for the wrong reasons and they mistreat those who are unable to offer enough wealth.

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Works Cited:

Funso, Afolayan. Culture and Customs of South Africa. Westport: Greenwood publishing group, 2004. Print  

Hasan, Zeba. “Blasphemy of Dowry in India and an Insurgence of an Artist: Neelima Sheikh against the System.” European Scientific Journal 2 (2014): 400-412

Kaminsky, Arnold P. and Roger Long D. India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic. Santa Barbara: ABC_CLIO, 2011. Print

Kuper, Adam. Wives for Cattle: Bridewealth and Marriage in Southern Africa. New York: Routledge, 1982. Print .

Peoples, James and Garrick, Bailey. Humanity: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. New York: Cengage Learning, 2008. Print