Dowry In Marriage Essay

While it may seem obvious that gold is used in weddings to show wealth status, some believe that gold use to and still is used as a dowry in marriage. A dowry is money brought by the bride to her husband for their marriage. The bride wears all of her gold at the wedding ceremony to show her new family how much wealth she is bringing them. By showing off her wealth for the ceremony the bride is demonstrating that she is a good fit for her new family. “Dowries, though officially banned, dominate most wedding proceedings in India, and in Kerala, the largest portion of the dowry is usually gold” (Larmer 2009). Dowries are still continuing today even with all of the laws in place today. All of the gold that the bride wears to the wedding is what the family will receive for accepting her into their family. Her wearing the gold is to show the family all that they will be receiving through the marriage. This is to show them that the marriage will be worth it and that she is a worthy bride to be marrying their son. The main reason for gold in an Indian wedding is to give the groom’s family a dowry that is completely in gold. It is easy to think this too be true due to India’s history with gold and dowries, but when one looks at all of the facts it is clear to see that this has changed in India and …show more content…
This is not considered to be a dowry because the bride owns the wealth that she is giving and will continue to own it throughout her marriage. She has control on what happens to the gold and how it is used, this is her power in her new household. This gives women more power in India then they have had before. This shows how the culture in India has changed, which is why dowries are no longer relevant to gold and weddings. This is not the only instance that proves that the gold is not longer apart of dowries in