Parallel Brides Research Paper

Parallel Brides A berdel, or double marriage, is the marriage of a brother and a sister to another brother and sister. It is a very elaborate matchmaking process which involves two families essentially swapping daughters to marry each others sons. It requires several meetings of both families to discuss many marriage details like when and where the daughters shall meet to switch families and be brought back to their new homes to be wed. It is a very intricate and stressful procedure and if not followed correctly, could end up in the cancellation of both marriages. One of the advantages of the berdel is avoiding the mandatory donation of a bride price. A bride price is a certain amount of money from the groom's family or highly valued property or possession, given to the bride's family for the loss of a daughter, a worker and a member of the family and community. A bride price today may range from $2,000 to upwards of $7,000. The bride price will compensate for the loss of labor that the bride and perhaps her future children will be providing to another family. The bride price also reimburses that bride's family for all the effort and time put in
However, this is not so. Bride price demonstrates the value of women in their society. Women are viewed as an integral part of society because of the labour they contribute, the children they bear and their position as a member of a family and of a community. Women's rights, however, may be limited in comparison to men's. Many of these societies are patrilineal, therefore favoring the males in the family as they will be the ones to inherit land, wealth and other such royalties. The woman is merely responsible for creating another male to continue the patrilineage. Men in these societies, however, have no more say in the marriage than women do. It is essentially up to the elders to decide who marries