Marriage-Related Exchanges and the Agency of Women among the Langalanga,Solomon Islands

This article examines the transformation of marriage-related exchanges and the agency of women among the Langalanga people in the Solomon Islands. The Langalanga perspective is distinctive because they have been the main producers of shell money in the region, and the persistence of bridewealth is important for their economic and cultural lives. Looking into the three essential components: kwatena (bridewealth), duuna (micro exchange network among new affinal kins), and launia (bridal dress), I discuss the roles women play in the process of marriage-related exchanges, with particular attention to the affective dimension. In recent years, it has become more popular to dress the bride in the expensive launia, and some Langalanga brides, who live in urban areas, have begun to take possession of the valuables, which contributes to their growing economic independence and autonomy. I argue that while marriage-related exchanges sometimes constrain the autonomy of women in Melanesia, the Langalanga case provides an alternative view.     

‘If You Find Out Who Her Father is I Would Be Interested to Know’ The Kwermin in an Eastern Min Context

In this paper the peripheral position of the Kwermin in the Min regional context is discussed through a focus on two gift‐presentations, those of bridewealth and those presented to fully initiated men at the end of their initiatory process. The items of the traditional bridewealth gifts are discussed as well as the debate that emerged, after the discontinuation of this traditional presentation, whether Kwermin should take up the large bridewealth payments introduced from the highland Bimin or go back to an earlier custom of sister‐exchange (abu) between clans without great emphasis on bridewealth. However, it is suggested that the present day monetary claims, without their actual payment, may eventually serve to strengthen the previous practice of abu. The gifts presented following full initiation are referred to as Afek's pubic hair and it is shown how these presentations can be understood as being Afek, or essential aspects of this highland's originating ancestor, creating novices as true men who are then presented to Afek in a way similar to the way wives are presented to husbands. It is suggested that such presentation of man to ancestress partly explains patriarchal Kwermin men's reluctance to fully accept highland ideology, preferring to maintain their allegiance with the cultural hero of the lower mountains and the lowlands, Webnok.     

‘On a nos mots à dire’: Kanak Women's Experience of Bridewealth in Lifou

Bridewealth in Lifou cannot be discussed on its own; rather it should be considered within the plurality of ceremonial acts which are needed to legitimize a marriage as customary. What do these transactions mean? Where does women's agency lie? Through a longitudinal analysis of ethnographic materials from my fieldwork in Lifou, Loyalty Islands, I consider how Kanak women are engaged in and perceive these ceremonial and cultural processes through a declared women's perspective that highlights their ability to make autonomous choices in an open ended historical context. I argue that it is a case of ‘positive agency’. I emphasize that local categories (june hmala and wenehleng) which define specific moments in this process can be subsumed under the anthropological term ‘bridewealth’. Further, I examine the meaning of money in bridewealth and the fact that the monetary contribution keeps increasing, raising local concerns about the need to regulate the amount circulating in marriage exchanges and its dispersion. Furthermore in Lifou there is no indication that the assembling of the bridewealth by the grooms implies a commoditization and (later) exploitation of women.     

'We've Paid your Vagina to Make Children!ʼ: Bridewealth and Women's Marital and Reproductive Autonomy in Port-Vila,Vanuatu

In Vanuatu, the practice of bridewealth is widespread. However, according to international and national development organizations based in the capital Port-Vila, this practice impedes women's freedom, including women's reproductive autonomy. In this paper, using data gathered in Port-Vila between 2009 and 2018, I examine the practice of marriage in Port-Vila and argue against this development discourse. I analyse the transformations of marriage showing the increasing autonomy of young people in the selection of marriage partners and the links between marriage, bridewealth and reproductive autonomy. I emphasize the changes in the nature of bridewealth marriage in a contemporary urban context and its implications for female fertility control. I conclude that bridewealth is only one among several factors that influence women's reproductive autonomy in Port-Vila.     

Bridewealth a Pardon: New Relationships and Restoration of Good Daughters

Bridewealth is recognized as vital in the reproduction and reconfiguration of Pacific environments and women play an integral role in this process. In contemporary Papua New Guinea (PNG), bridewealth is reconfigured by kin to acknowledge the considered actions of women as they enter into relationships with men. This paper will explore how women's choices impact and influence their experience of these exchanges and determine the role of women and their kin as they undertake these practices. Here I aim to understand how the social relatedness that frames bridewealth exchanges enables the practices of bridewealth to be used as a tool for recognition of women's choices, autonomy and personhood. Although women enter into relationships without initial kin approval, bridewealth practices converge ultimately with a women's autonomous choice of husband. Wardlow suggests (2006:86) 'bridewealth confers value and dignity on female gender', and going beyond her observation, I show that bridewealth has been useful in achieving this in regard to managing and supporting social, kin and affinal relationships. This article will explore two cases, to identify what each tells us about women's ability to act in ways that are beneficial to them and important to kin. I show how moral evaluations frame (pasin) and recognize (luksave) kin and social relationships that ultimately constitute their personhood.     

Bridewealth1 and the Autonomy of Women in Melanesia

Considering bridewealth in Melanesia from the angle of women's autonomy, in this introduction we review and analyse the various elements of this marriage practice that reveal its place in the symbolic, social and economic worlds of women. With an accent on social transformation, we discuss women's autonomy and agency in relation to the constraints that bridewealth puts on their lives, and on how they engage with it. Knowing what bridewealth is, and how the rules of reciprocity that it indexes obligate married women, the focus is on women's ability to act within these constraints or to redefine their contours, particularly with regards to economic and reproductive agency. The article, which serves also as the introduction for the special issue on bridewealth in the journal Oceania, discusses themes analysed in the collection, such as the moral prospects of bridewealth today, its relation to ‘capital’ in twenty-first century Oceania, the triad value/valuables/valuers, and the empowerment of women. It concludes with thoughts on gender inequality.