African marriages: for love or for money - Research Paper Example

Module African Marriages: For Love or for Money Marriage is defined as the union between or among two or more people for a variety of reasons, the main one being companionship (Gallagher 2). The reasons for getting married are as varied as there are marriage types. These marriage types are defined by how they are constituted, the number of persons involved, and sex of the individuals forming the union. The manner of marriage constitution varies across different countries, cultures, religions and localities such that some forms that are practiced in one are prohibited in the other. For instance, some cultures encourage or enforce arranged marriages while others do not tolerate the practice. Monogamy is mostly practiced in many Christian groups while others, like Islam give room for the type of polygamy where a man can have many wives simultaneously i.e. polygyny. Recent developments have resulted in amendment of many countries’ constitutions to allow and legally recognize civil unions, marriages involving people of the same sex (Gallagher 4). The aim of the study is to identify the main reason behind the various marriage arrangements practiced in Africa and whether they are based on money or love. In Africa, there are many types of marriages, all for various reasons, either beneficial to the individuals in the marriage, their extended families, or the society in general. These African marriages mainly reflect how lowly women are regarded in comparison to their male counterparts. Womenfolk have little say in social, economic, or political matters and are seen as victims in cultures that tend to foster the already rampant male domination. In running of families, women play a feminine role of housekeeping and they take care of both the husband and children. The husband, on the other hand, is the owner of the homestead including the people in it, the wage earner, and his word is supreme in matters concerning the family. Bearing this in mind, there are various marital union types in Africa which include traditional marriages, civil marriages, religious marriages and cohabitation. Traditional marriages may be arranged marriages, forced marriages, child marriages or wife inheritance (Chidili 407). REASONS FOR MARRIAGE UNIONS As is the case in the developed world, societies in African expect a marriage union to be beneficial to the parties involved. There are many reasons for getting married including but not limited to emotional, procreation, economic, legal, religious and spiritual reasons. Marriages based on emotional reasons are becoming popular in Africa due to the advent of civilization, which allows partners to marry purely because they are in love. In this case, the union offers an emotional field for each of the spouse involved. However, marriage for other reasons is widespread. For instance, children are considered as the father’s wealth and thus the more a man has, the wealthier he is considered to be. This causes men to have many children with their wives, resulting in marriage of particularly young women to older men since these women have a longer reproductive period. In addition, this is a leading cause of polygyny so as to maximize the number of offspring for each man; the other factor being that women are status symbols for African men (Nour 1645). Others get married to fulfill an obligation to a deity. Catholics believe that marriage is a holy sacrament if it is between two full Christians who have undergone all other sacraments as stipulated by their church doctrines. To ensure that children are protected and provided for, the government may intervene and two individuals forced into a nuclear family setup. Finally, two people may decide to get married for financial convenience, either to preserve their wealth if they are well off, or to achieve financial mileage. In African society, the financial gain could be for the spouses or for the whole family. The latter mainly gains if they are on the wives’ side mainly in the form of dowry and other financial favors (Kevane 24). MONOGAMY Based on the widespread Christianity in Africa, most of the marriages are monogamous since Christian teachings only allow for mixed sex and monogamous marriages. Though common, these marriages are usually between individuals with varied age gaps ranging from a few years to as many as 40 years, the man being the older of the two. Men usually get into these marriages either to have someone to take care of their families, give them children, or just to enjoy their retirement. On the other hand, women get into these marriages for security and comfort that these older men have to offer. Older men usually have acquired wealth and do not have many qualms over spending money. This characteristic is quite appealing to younger women with many needs. In conclusion, only the monogamous marriages between people of approximately the same age have a likelihood of having an emotional basis. Otherwise, money plays a central role especially when the union involves people with disproportionate age (Buve, Carael, Auvert, Ferry, Robinson and Anagonou 128). POLYGYNY In this type of marriage, a man uses or the parents’ resources to acquire wives. For the financially-able parents, this process is gradual such that at any stage in a man’s life, he can have a new wife. At first, wives are acquired to fulfill societal expectations i.e. to have as many children as possible. Later on, the younger wives are acquired to enhance the social status of their husbands and to take care of him in his old age. Poor families sell their female children to be married and the proceeds used to cater for family needs (Auvert, Ballard, Campbell, Carael, Carton and Gehler 886). ARRANGED MARRIAGES Various factors are considered when parents chose spouses for their underage children. These include financial and heritage factors. The two children, betrothed to each other at an early age, are not given the chance to break off the engagement as doing so is a taboo. Their views are ignored while society honors only the decisions made by adults who may not share the same values as the children for whom they make the decisions. FORCED MARRIAGE In African societies, women are forced to marry husbands with whom they have nothing in common. In this case, the parent, usually the father, takes a daughter, usually underage, and sells her off to a rich friend for the financial gain. On the other hand, the husband-to-be takes matters into his own hands and kidnaps the bride, takes her home to be his wife and later settles the matter with the girl’s parents who usually have no objection so far as dowry is paid. These women end up in the large population of African women who suffer silently in their marriages. LEVIRATE MARRIAGES In eastern, central, and southern Africa, if a man dies, many cultures demand that his younger brother or his mature male children should inherit all his earthly possessions including his wife mainly to protect family property. This is a typical case where the desire for property supersedes reason and love because if the man died of venereal diseases his brothers go the same route since going against cultural expectations is a taboo. CHILD MARRIAGES Child marriages are widespread all over the world and this constitutes one of the most dangerous and unfair forms of marriages. It involves forcing into marriage a person who is not of age and with no knowledge of how to deal with adult life. In this case, girls are married off by their parents forcefully to older men, some of whom are of the same age as their grandfathers. Reasons for Child Marriages. There are many reasons why parents give out girls as young as 8 for marriage to older men. Poverty is a key driving force that results to child marriages. Poor parents use their authority as seniors and sell off their daughters in order to cater for their poor families and afford bride price for their sons. Secondly, virginity is highly valued in Africa, especially due to the backward belief that a sexual relationship with a virgin can cure venereal diseases. This belief has increased demand for virgins making the bride price higher such that only the affluent polygamous men can afford. To capitalize on this emerging source of income, parents go to the extent of selling girls off before they can shed their milk teeth. The other factor is gender discrimination whereby boys are considered heirs to the society and girls are considered to be on the move. These differences result in inequitable treatment of these children with girls receiving unfair treatment including little or no education, or being sold off for their brothers to be educated. Finally, African countries do not have adequate laws to protect the girl child from unfair treatment. For instance, constitutions recognize traditional marriages which include child marriage (Nour 1646). Consequences of Child Marriages. Early marriages deny girls basic needs like the right to education, right to enjoy life, right to grow up decently and make free and informed choices among many others. In addition to these, early marriage has severe health consequences on the girls, most of which are life threatening. For instance, pregnancy increases vulnerability to tropical diseases like malaria and since the immunity of these girls is still in developmental stages, maternal deaths are widespread in Africa. Secondly, these girls are at a high risk of contracting HIV and other STDs which may result in ill health and eventual death. Third, their reproductive systems are not fully developed and giving birth may result in fistula or death of the mother, the infant, or both (Nour 1644-47). CONCLUSION In the civilized parts of Africa, love has a role in marriage as there is the concept of dating and freedom to choose mates for marriage. On the other side, the backward Africa still practices material-driven marital practices. Parents selfishly sell their daughters off to people who in turn misuse their innocence in return for a few cattle or other material gains that the parents get. In conclusion, many marriages in Africa resemble a modified version of the slave trade that should be curbed by the respective governments. Works Cited Auvert ,B., Ballard, R., Campbell, C., Carael, M., Carton, M., and Gehler, G. 15:885–98. HIV infection among youth in a South African mining town is associated with herpes simplex virus-2 seropositivity and sexual behavior. AIDS, 2001. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. Chidili, Bartholomew. "Marriage Without Love." Academic Search Premier. Asia Journal of Theology. 2001. 15.2: 407. Web. 2 Oct. 2011. Clark, S. ‘Early marriage and HIV risks in sub-Saharan Africa’. Studies on Family Planning, 2004. 35:149–58. Gallagher, Maggie. ‘What is Marriage For? The Public Purposes of Marriage Law’. Louisiana Law Review, 2002. Human Rights Watch. ‘Just die quietly: domestic violence and women’s vulnerability to HIV in Uganda’. The Watch, 2003. Kevane, Michael. ‘Marriage in Africa: Simple Economics’. Ahfad Journal, 2002. 19.2: 24. Web. 2 Oct. 2011. Nour, Nawal M. ‘Health Consequences of Child Marriage in Africa’. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2006. 12.11: 1644-1649. Web. 2 Oct. 2011. Read More