article
The meaning of dowery: changing values in rural Greece
Journal of modern Greek studies • 1 (1) • Published In 1983 • Pages: 243-270
By: Du Boulay, Juliet.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this paper, Dubolay explores the change in the meaning and form of dowry since the 1950s. Traditionally for the family of the bride, the dowry was a burden, 'emptying the house' of its wealth, and reflected a general attitude towards women as inferior and morally vulnerable. However, the attitude of the groom's family was more favorable based on the daughter-in-law's contribution to the household and family reproduction. With the rise of a cash economy in the 1950s and 1960s the dowry changed from goats to money, and the evaluation of the bride from one based on her family honor to personal qualities based on such things as educational attainment. The scarcity of men due to outside labor opportunities has driven up the cost of dowry.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Inheritance
- Gift giving
- Regulation of marriage
- Mode of marriage
- Family
- Parents-in-law and children-in-law
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Greeks
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2003
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Europe
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southeastern Europe
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 2002
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1964-1980
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1930-1970
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Ambéli, Euboea, Greece
- NotesAdditional notes
- Juliet Du Boulay
- Special Issue: Women and men in Greece: a society in transition
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 84642094
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Greece