Matrimonial Expenditures and Egyptian Women’s Power Within Marriage

Abstract

Married women’s material resources are widely regarded as determinants of gendered power relations between husbands and wives. Although a growing literature describes the material transactions that accompany marriage, few empirical studies investigate their association with women’s postmarital outcomes. Using nationally representative survey data from Egypt (n = 6,987), I test the assumption that matrimonial outlays are associated with women’s power (as measured by respondents’ reported influence in making household decisions). I find that absolute matrimonial outlays mostly bear a weak positive association with Egyptian wives’ decision-making power. My results further show that proportional spending on marriage bears a much stronger association with women’s decision-making power. A higher percentage of marriage costs covered by the bride’s side carries a net advantage for women, suggesting that parental investments in daughters’ marriages signal familial support for the bride, thus enhancing her power.

Recognition of power: The agency of Kurdish women in their everyday practices

“…Accordingly, it is important to take into consideration women's acquisition of material resources through their husbands. Salem (2018), in her ethnographic work on the domestic resources of married Egyptian women, underlines how matrimonial transactions enhance married women's power. It is possible to interpret these facts from a fixed point of view, focusing on husbands’ authority as the ones who support the family financially, and to argue that despite the wives’ control over their children and over the household in general, they remain the inferior partner.…”

Economic rationales for kin marriage: Assessing the evidence using Egyptian panel data

“…status and power within the conjugal union. Salem (2018) shows that the value of matrimonial expenditures by the bride's side along with the value of the deferred dower are positively associated with wives' decision-making power, while the value of the prompt dower is negatively associated with women's decision making. Taken together with the finding that Egyptian women's decision making is reduced in kin unions (Crandall et al 2016;Salem and Shah 2016), it may be that the matrimonial expenditures are mediating the influence of kin marriage on women's decision-making power within the conjugal union.…”

“…First, kin marriage has been shown to have negative effects on infant and child morbidity and mortality in populations where the practice is concentrated across generations (Bittles 2001). Second, kin marriage has potential implications for women's power and status within the family, as noted above (Hoodfar 1997;Reilly 2013;Salem 2018;Sholkamy 2008;Weinreb 2008). Third, scholars need to explore alternative explanations that account for the persistence of kin endogamy in spite of modernization theory's prediction that it would diminish substantially over time (Abbasi-Shavazi, Mcdonald, and Hosseini-Chavoshi 2008).…”

“…In Egypt, the prompt dower consists of a sum of cash that is given by the Muslim groom or his family to the bride before marriage (usually at or after engagement). The Muslim bride typically uses this money to purchase household goods, clothing, and other items for her trousseau(Hoodfar 1997;Salem 2018). Roughly 85%-90% of the population of Egypt is Muslim.5 In Egypt and elsewhere, the deferred dower is a sum of money noted in Muslim marriage contracts as an entitlement owed to the wife in case of the husband's death or divorce.…”

Understanding the Decision-Making Process of Women to Engage in Cohabiting Relationships

“…The participant in this vignette sees cohabitation as a litmus test when couples do not entirely reject the notion of marriage, but it is chosen for its flexibility to permit the pursuit of a personal domain such as a career (Smock & Kroeger, 2015). Similarly, studies that have investigated the power dynamics in intimate relationships demonstrate that women's autonomy and their capacity to effect changes in relationships may be influenced by their schooling (Agadjanian & Hayford, 2018:1240Salem, 2018Salem, :2616.…”