Bride price in a Rwandan marriage

This research paper contributes to the existing literature, and debates on bride price. The study grounds its analysis of experiences, perspectives and lived realities of men and women who have been married and their bride price has been paid using interviews to voice the missing pierce in literature. The research argues that bride price is widely supported because it is believed to formalise marriages, unify families involved, maintain Rwandan culture, and a way of appreciating the bride’s family. On men’s side, bride price helps them to fulfil their need for a sense of ‘‘real manhood’ and hegemonic masculinities – granting them greater control over women through an act of payment. The findings revealed that a significant number of women have been socialised to belief that payment of bride price brings them respect among parents and their peers and see non-payment as depriving them of certain advantages in society. The paper recommends that future research should include the perspectives of men who have failed to meet the bride price requirements to find out the challenges associated to the failure to meet the societal expectations.