Dowry Versus Bride Price
"Dowry" refers to money, goods or property that a woman brings into the marriage - it is paid by the woman's family to the man's family. Dowry is practiced mainly in South Asian countries, such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka.
"Bride price" refers to money, goods or propriety paid by the groom or his family to the parents of the bride. It is paid by the groom's family to the bride herself. Bride price is practiced specially in Arab countries, some parts of South-East Asia like Thailand and Cambodia, parts of Central Asia, and in much of sub-Saharan Africa.
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Famous quotes containing the words dowry, bride and/or price:
“If a marriage is going to work well, it must be on a solid footing, namely money, and of that commodity it is the girl with the smallest dowry who, to my knowledge, consumes the most, to infuriate her husband. All the same, it is only fair that the marriage should pay for past pleasures, since it will scarcely procure any in the future.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“I was disappointed in Niagara—most people must be disappointed in Niagara. Every American bride is taken there, and the sight of the stupendous waterfall must be one of the earliest, if not the keenest, disappointments in American married life.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“I was like a social worker for lepers. My clients had a chunk of their body they wanted to give away; for a price I was there to receive it. Crimes, sins, nightmares, hunks of hair: it was surprising how many of them has something to dispose of. The more I charged, the easier it was for them to breathe freely once more.”
—Tama Janowitz (b. 1957)