The Enduring Value of Bridewealth in Post-Apartheid Rural South Africa

• In Event: 2266 - Family Section Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 11. Gender, Ethnicity, and Family in the African Context

Abstract

The payment of bridewealth or lobola is a longstanding cultural practice that has persisted in South Africa despite significant societal shifts over the past two decades. Lobola has always been a complex and contested practice that both reinforces gender inequalities and, at the same time, provides status to women and legitimacy to relationships. In this paper, we describe rural South African women’s perceptions of lobola, their experiences related to lobola and marriage, and how they reconfigure lobola to fit within “modern” life course aspirations and trajectories. We draw on interviews with 43 women aged 18-55 to examine desires related to lobola and the meanings of lobola given current social, economic, and health (HIV) conditions in rural areas. Drawing on the theory of vital conjunctures, we show how lobola offers women complex future horizons. Although women value the economic security, social status, and respectability lobola offers, they also lament how lobola curtails their freedom to pursue education and limits their autonomy from not only a husband but also his family. Thus, for many women, lobola represents a trade-off in which they give up some power in exchange for financial security for themselves and their children. We conclude that the way women incorporate lobola into their desires and plans reflects tension between the expectations of “modern” women in a post-apartheid context in which rights feature prominently but economic security is not guaranteed, and cultural scripts reinforce traditional gender norms but also ensure social and economic support.

Authors

• Christie Sennott, Purdue University

• Sangeetha Madhavan, University of Maryland

• Young Eun Nam, Purdue University