arora@ellie.UUCP (Kulbir Arora) (11/04/85)
A couple of months ago I had come across an interesting piece in
TIME (Sept. 9, '85; pg 53).
Now seems to be a nice time to quote it verbatim on this group :
"WHAT IS A WIFE WORTH ?"
" Elsewhere, the value of marriage may be incalculable, but in the
United Arab Emirates, men feel that it is not worth $50,000. Women often
demand sums of that size in the Emirates, where dowries are supplied by
grooms rather than by brides. Young women in this Persian Gulf federation
of sheikhdoms view the dowry as an insurance policy. Because Islamic law
allows men to take up to four wives and obtain divorces easily, brides
believe they risk losing their husbands' affection.
But as the price of an Emirates bride has increased, the sheikhdom's men
have turned to foreign brides, particularly from India, Sri Lanka and the
Philippines, who typically settle for dowries of only about $1000. Such
marriages are now thought to account for as many as half of all those in
the sheikhdoms, raising government fears that the region's Arab identity
will be diluted. To lure men away from the non-Arab brides, the government
is considering a national fund to subsidize the dowries of grooms who
marry native brides. Some women in the Emirates have another solution :
give wives more rights, they say, and the bride price will drop."