Bride price and gender role in rural China

Abstract

Based on a qualitative analysis conducted in four provinces of rural China, this article sheds light into the adverse effects of bride price practice on women. Research has shown that the negative effect of the bride price practice on women is produced continuously rather than in a single step. The practice of bride price is a dynamic process, which involves the formation of three practical spaces, namely the physical space for negotiation, the public space for discussion, and the family space for allocation and use of bride price. In these three spaces, the interactive content of actions and language surrounding the bride price constructs women as an insider and an outsider; the approver and the performer; and family caregivers. This process continually awakens women's self-awareness but not beyond the scope of bride price, leading to their limited growth. This article examines how the increasing bride price in rural China influences women in the flow process, thus verifying whether high bride price can improve women’s status.

Chinese high bride price; Rural female role; Qualitative research; Space; Traditional culture.

1. Introduction

Despite the excellent sociological and anthropological studies conducted to understand the impacts of bride price and its influence on women, the conclusions remain inconsistent and contested because of differences in bride price and practices across regions and the nature of influence being dynamic. To understand the influence of bride price on women from the dynamic perspective, this study presents the key theoretical frameworks related to feminist critiques, gift exchange, and space theory.

Bride price has been an integral part of marriage rites and ceremonies in African and Asian culture, which involves the exchange of materials or money from the man’s household to the woman’s household and the practice differs across different regions. Studies have reported the potential negative impacts of bride price on women in some regions, which include forced marriages, early pregnancy, domestic violence, and female abuse and death [1] [2] [3]. Correspondingly, men turn out to be the gainers. However, contrary conclusions have been reported in China; paying a high bride price causes a heavy economic burden on male farmers, which makes marriages difficult and thus leads to poverty among men in the society [4] [5] [6]. The status of Chinese women has improved significantly with the rapid increase in the bride price [7]; hence, women have a clear advantage in sexual and emotional resources and in choosing whom to marry, in addition to their improved post-marriage bargaining power [8,9], as women are in a situation where demand exceeds supply. Then, are women the absolute beneficiaries of high bride price in rural areas of China?

The available literature has two main gaps. First, the negative impact of bride price on Chinese women is not severe and thus easily overlooked. The literature on the negative effects of bride price on women is available only for lowly urbanized countries, and a high bride price causes direct and serious physical and mental injuries to women, particularly in African countries but not in East Asian regions, such as China, especially when considering the traditional culture in social contexts. On the one hand, China's fertility culture makes marriages out of the essence of both sexes' love. Chinese society is a typical patriarchal society [10], with the fertility as the main feature, implying that the main purpose and motivation of marriages are to procreate and reproduce and thus to realize reproduction of the family. Confucianism laid the prescriptive rights and obligations regarding the roles of men and women, which make childbirth a necessity and rationality in a marriage. Under this type of fertility culture, the bride price plays a role in promoting women to irresistibly fulfill their reproductive obligations, which affects their autonomy. On the other hand, the Chinese social structure is based on the family; a Chinese family should not only have children but also pass the entire social value system on to individuals through "enculturation" and " socialization" [11]. Due to over-development of the family, producing "individualism" in Chinese society is challenging, as in the west, leading to the personal mission and role obligations being closely related to the family and suppressing the independence of individuals. Although individuals’ awareness of equal rights is gradually increasing in China, it is easy to return to the traditional meaning when it comes to family or marriages. Consequently, once women enter the practice of bride price, it is difficult to avoid the intrusion of family authority. The high bride price in China is not only a manifestation of women are precious due to the imbalance in the gender ratio but also a driving force that confines women to labels such as "beautiful, gentle," and " exquisite" in the context of " male gaze", promoting the materialization of women and loss of autonomy and reducing women's sense of happiness in marriages [12,13].

Second, studies suggest that the bride price benefits women by placing them in a segment of the bride price. The process of bride price is not static but exhibits a dynamic flow, starting with a clear discussion of the bride price going through the circulation and display of bride price and ending with the distribution and use of bride price as a social phenomenon, different processes involve different geographical space and social space. For example, the different locations to negotiate, discuss, or use the bride price and the different social relationships to affect the bride price offer the means to explore how the bride price constructs female roles. " Throughout the history, women have been excluded from certain spaces in history, or confined to certain spaces. Like apartheid, the living space of men and women has been 'isolated and unequal. "The construction of women's 'normative space' often explains the gender role [14], the profound exposition of space and gender, particularly space and women, and constantly breaks through the gender-based spatial relationship and reveals the various spatial relationships related to gender [15]. From the social-constructivist perspective, spaces can be the effective media for both reproduction and renunciation of gender orders [16] [17] [18]. Studies have contributed to a better understanding of how gender relations are expressed in and through spatial arrangements. It has unraveled the structures, agents, and processes that stabilize but may also transform unequal gender relations in spatial settings. Some scholars have defined Xiaotong Fei’s community research on blood relationship (cha xu ge ju) and custom society as "qualitative spatial sociology" [19], which offers insightful and brilliant analyses from the spatial perspective, demonstrating the influence of different locations and social relationships and behaviors on the bride price and gender order. Spatial perspective can help better understand how the practice of bride price affects women.

Literature based on marriages or gift exchange has made substantial contributions to enhance our understanding of the relation between bride price and women. In "The Basic Structure of the Kinship System", Levi-Strauss proposed that marriage is a form of gift exchange and women are the most direct gift [20]. The exchange of gifts represents a moral contract, which involves multiple obligations including “obligation to give, obligate to receive, and obligate to repay”, making the gift-giver the creditor of the recipient who is imposed to repay. Under the pressure to repay, the daughter is forced to become an exchange gift [20]. Through exchange, men have established a mutually beneficial social relationship. In other words, marriages do not represent an activity between men and women but a contract between men. Women are not one of the exchanges but the content of the exchange, that is, the gift itself, resulting in the construction of gender identity of men and women, and women are educated to become "women" [21,22]. The exchange of bride price for women is not merely a mutual benefit for a certain time period but also a “one-off payment for life”. The bride price not only exchanges the woman herself but also obtains her lasting family role obligations, and the payment of bride price represents the transfer of women’s rights, with the bride formally becoming the man’s family [23], which implies that the female identity and identity norms exist in the consensus of both families for a long time, stimulating the roles for women.

In addition, the theories of feminist critiques are noteworthy. From the feminist perspective, gender roles point out social regulation of behavior patterns for people with different biological genders to confirm their identity and status, which suggests that feminism is not a natural or an established concept but a socially established concept [24]. Judith Butler postulated the gender performance or 'doing gender' to describe women’s behavior in daily life and to express the influence of gender roles and gender cognition on gender identity [25]. Feminist critique can help us interpret the performance of gender roles in the bride price, positing that men and women display gender-appropriate behaviors to reaffirm their gender identities.

Based on the aforementioned studies, the present study demonstrates and analyzes the practice of bride price and its influence on women to explore how bride price affects rural women in China and what are its impacts. The present study explores how the rules of bride price affect women's identity and self-perception and exert a negative impact on women in a stepwise manner, thereby refuting the theory that a high bride price is beneficial to women. This study adopts a qualitative approach to analyze the influence mechanism of bride price in the feeling and cognition of women from the individual or subjective perspectives by exploring interactions around the bride price and sorting out women’s self-narratives. Through the production of knowledge [26], bringing obscured daily life experience of women into the researcher’s field of vision and revealing the “black box” of the negative influence of the bride price on women from a dynamic and subjective perspective to provide multiple understanding ordinary Chinese rural women.

2. High bride price in rural China

2.1. History of bride price

Bride price refers to the process of a man gifting something to a woman's home and proposing to the woman. Having paid the bride price indicates the formal establishment of engagement, without which the marriage cannot take place [27]. Paying the bride price is obligatory [8] and is deeply ingrained in rural China.

Throughout history, the China’s patrilineal family system has followed the practice of paying for brides. Ever since the Zhou Dynasty, bride prices have been an indispensable part of marriages and the role and function of bride price have remained valuable [28]. Since the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, various political movements have been conducted to fight against the feudal convention of paying for brides [29,30]. However, the trend of asking for gifts for marriage has not been completely eliminated but has changed greatly [31].

In 1950, China's first "Marriage Law" was promulgated, which emphasized that the establishment of a marital relationship requires legal procedures rather than local customs and rituals. During this period, the bride price was paid mainly in the form of food and clothing in pairs, which contained blessings of good deeds in pairs (hao shi cheng shuang). During the Cultural Revolution (1966–1977), the corresponding bride price was "Quotations of Mao Zedong" and "Selected Works of Mao Zedong". In this system, if the bride's family asks for any form of bride price, they would be accused of "selling their daughters". After the 1980s, the political atmosphere eased, and the bride price became a part of the rural customs and has been growing constantly since then. Yunxiang Yan pointed out that marriage-related expenses have risen sharply since the economic reforms in the late 1970s. According to a survey of rural China in 1986, the income of villagers increased by 1.1 times between 1980 and 1986, whereas the cost of gifts increased by 10 times [32]. Table 1 s suggest that the bride price has exhibited an increasing trend over the past five decades in the village of Xiajia, Heilongjiang Province, northeast China. Without considering inflation, bride prices in Xiajia village have increased by 140 times (from 200 Yuan [US$30] in the early 1950s to 28,500 Yuan RMB [US$4300] by the end of the 1990s). After 2000, the bride price started being paid mainly in the form of cash, real estate, and car. The amount of cash rose from 30,000 to more than 300,000 RMB; the down payment for a house ranges from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands yuan, and approximately 100,000 yuan is required for buying a car. Thus, paying the bride price has become a major economic burden on farmers in many rural areas [4].

Table 1.

Trends of bride prices in Xiajia village, Heilongjiang province, China (1950–1999).

Year	Amount (Yuan)
1950–54	200
1955–59	280
1960–64	470
1965–69	740
1970–74	970
1975–79	1700
1980–84	2700
1985–89	7300
1990–94	11,200
1995–99	28,500

Source: Adapted from Private Life under Socialism: Love, Intimacy, and Family Change in a Chinese Village,1949–1999 by Yunxiang Yan. Copyright (c) 2003 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Jr. University. All rights reserved. Used with permission of Stanford University Press, http://www.sup.org/.

2.2. Political and social history

High bride prices are closely related to the surplus male population in China. The preference for sons and discrimination against daughters have long existed in China, resulting in an imbalance in the population’s sex ratio: in other words, the surplus male population, especially after the implementation of the one-child policy in 1980, is the result of people’s preference for the birth of boys, particularly in rural areas where gender-based discriminations are more serious. According to the 1982 census, China’s sex ratio at birth was 108.5, which increased to 111.3 as per the 1990 census, worsening to 116.9 in the 2000 census. The 2010 census showed a sex ratio at birth of 118.6. With the sex-imbalanced cohorts entering the marriage market, especially after the year 2010, Chinese men continue undergoing a severe marriage squeeze that can last for decades; by the year 2050, 12%–15% of young adult men are predicted to become bare branches [33]. Owing to the imbalance of the sex ratio, the bride price is gradually increasing, and the rural male youths have to pay more bride price to marry a woman. A high bride price is demanded rather than given voluntarily.

The high bride price has caused a heavy burden on rural men and their families who are impoverished by marriage. Therefore, research has focused mainly on men, while ignoring women. Women are particularly precious in the marriage market because of their declining population; however, it does not mean that rural women are the absolute beneficiaries of high bride gifts. Traditional habits are not women friendly [34]. Marriage transactions may cause gender bias, instead of promoting education and modernization, and are believed to be highly intense in south Asia [35].

3. Methodology

We adopted a qualitative approach to record the experiences of married women from the micro perspective. Quantitative measurements can necessarily iron out the details that cannot be easily quantified such as contextual, nuances, silences, and absences. Snowball sampling was performed to select 27 young women (aged between 20 and 34 years) and 13 older women (aged more than 55 years), and one-on-one in-depth interviews were conducted in four provinces. We entered the village through personal connections and recommendation letters, and met the key people and the organization of local women in the village. Initially, the interview subjects were interviewed with their help and then expand the interviewees with the introduction of the original interviewees. The research object was young women belonging to ordinary families in rural areas, older women were interviewed to learn about changes in the bride price and their views on it. Studies in women should focus on the non-elite groups that make up the majority of women in China’s urban and rural societies, that is, ordinary women’s groups, because they are indispensable to the urban and rural societies [36]. Information was gathered through informal interviews and observations and the interaction between family members and villagers. Each interview lasted between 1 and 4 h and was conducted at participants’ home, cerbside, or farmland. All the interviews were conducted in the mandarin Chinese language and were tape-recorded following prior consent.

This multiple-site qualitative research was conducted in four rural provinces, namely Hei Longjiang, Shanxi, Gansu, and Jiangxi, in July 2018, September 2018 and February 2019. Table 2 shows the number of interviewees and their marital status in the four provinces. These four provinces are located in different locations in China and represent different regional culture and economic conditions of China. Jiangxi in the southeast, Shanxi in the middle, Heilongjiang in the northeast and Gansu in the northwest. Heilongjiang province was traditionally an industrial province in the north, but has since experienced industrial decline, which has more equal gender perception. Jiangxi, in contrast to Heilongjiang, has an extremely strong gender perspective. Gansu province is a relatively lagging economy among the four provinces, with a relatively weak modern and industrial culture, and, being inland, attaches more importance to traditional rituals and bride price. Shanxi province, located in the central part of the country, is influenced by both the modern culture of the coastal zone and the traditional culture of the interior, making the bride price manifest as a result of the collision of the two cultures. The three months were chosen because July is the busy farming season, September marks the Mid-Autumn Festival, and February marks the New Year. These three periods represent the time when migrant youths return to their hometown, which is convenient for the research work.

Table 2.

Samples distribution in the four provinces.

	young married women	older married women
Hei Longjiang	8	4
Shan Xi	7	3
Gan Su	5	4
Jiang Xi	7	2

Corresponding to the bride price is dowry, which refers to the payment of money by the bride's parents and does not increase with the increase in bride price in China; thus, high bride price does not mean more dowry. This content is not compulsory at the time of marriage and depends on the wishes of the bride’s parents. Therefore, this article does discuss the dowry system.

Ethical approval for this study was obtained from Faculty Academic Committee, and the committee members are Chengang Yang and Kenan Wei. The study was conducted with the verbal consent of the respondents. Participation was voluntary, and the respondents were assured that the information obtained from them was strictly used for research and academic purposes and were guaranteed the liberty to opt out from the study at their own convenience.

4. The dynamic construction of female roles in the practice of bride price

4.1. Outsider and insider

The practice of bride price begins with negotiation that takes place at the woman's home. The women’s role as an outsider and an insider is formed in this space. Male folk, such as father and elder male relatives of both parties participate and make suggestions publicly to decide what, when, and how much bride price should be made, which is forbidden for the woman, who thus becomes the outsider. However, bride price is a gift for women, which means that the woman is also an insider.

The expression of the bride price is a type of family power, and often, men participate actively to control the woman's marriage, with the woman being passively involved in switching rules between men as it is hard for women to comment in public discussions and even appear directly in the negotiation place. Spatial isolation often occurs between women and men in public spaces. For example, in the 19th century, British women eager to hear the political debates held in the House of Commons had to hide under the roof and look down from the gap in the central vent of the ceiling. In orthodox Jewish churches, women could only listen quietly to religious ceremonies led by men from behind the curtain and in the isolation room. In the physical space for bride price negotiation, no such visible barriers are present but a stronger isolation barrier is present to prevent women's participation.

I’m the only daughter, and spoiled at home, but that did not give me liberty to participate in the final negotiation. At that time, my parents wanted to ask for 180,000 yuan. My groom is a civil servant but his family conditions were average, and I suggested a little less bride price, which happened in private. The girl who says something about bride price in the negotiation place seemed to be quite powerful, which was not suitable anyway. (20190224)

My father, not me, determined the amount of bride price without discussing it with me. A total of 300,000 gifts still cost very high. (20190714)

In the negotiation space of bride price, patriarchy is expressed by bride price. Men participate in and determine women's dowry, which is negotiated for the benefit of their respective families. On the contrary, women can express their opinions only in private, and although their opinions may be adopted, they cannot express themselves in this occasion. They were supposed to close their mouth and listen quietly, and if they dare to speak before majesty, a group of people will chase and beat the women [37]. Patriarchy is practiced at the expense of women’s right to speak and make decisions in public spaces. In this space, a gender-separated wall is built, making women the outsiders.

Although women are marginalized and separated in the physical space, they are central to the discussion. Women cannot publicly express their opinions; however, their identity has always been at the center of the discussion. The bride price is paid to women, which reflects the value of women in the symbolic sense, resulting in comparisons and competition among women and families, for example, the daughters of neighbors and relatives become objects of comparison. Therefore, separating women from the discussion of bride price is difficult.

My bride price is 200,000 yuan, and my parents set this amount of bride price because one of my relatives is also married and her bride price is more than 200,000 yuan. My bride price did not reduce too much compared with her bride price. I am quite satisfied with this amount. It is generally customary to reveal the amount of bride price. (20191011)

Generally, the wedding time is close, and the bride price is almost similar, which means that if the bride price was 150,000 yuan last year, it should increase up to 10,000 to 20,000 yuan this year or next year. If there is no increase, it can be considered that the woman is not valuable. (20190813)

Families of both bride and groom have their own standards of bride price, which cannot be precisely determined because the bride price is negotiable. On one hand, the groom's family assumes that too high bride price may be "unworthy". On the other hand, bride's families assume that a low bride price means they have "lost." Whether it is "unworthy" or "lost", the woman cannot express her opinion in public, and this measurement is essentially centered on the "equivalent" exchange with the bride price, which makes the female identity appear in the space of negotiation in a symbolic form [20]. The controversy and negotiation of the bride price express the role of women as an outsider, as well as an insider.

4.2. Approver and performer

The evaluation of bride price in the public space constructs women as approvers and coordinators. The approver emphasizes the agreements on the bride price, whereas the performer emphasizes the obedience and cooperation of women, resulting from villagers’ discussion in the public space. After the amount and content of the bride price are determined, bride price of the family becomes the topic of discussion in rural public areas. The neighbors and villagers express the cognition and judgment of the bride price through interaction and comparison, thus transmitting the norms and significance of bride price. From the public standpoint, the high bride price is a manifestation of the bride’s family status, especially the bride’s status, which indicates that the woman has reached a certain standard and deserves respect and attention of the groom who then considers the marriage seriously. The meaning of "respect" and "importance" can be expressed precisely by the quantified figures that push women who receive less bride price are often pressured by public opinion and also express the standard of the ideal female spouse in the wedding market, including the figure, appearance, and personality of woman. Thus, women's thoughts are trapped in a particular social norm and social order, and restrain and adjust their behaviors accordingly.

Everyone takes bride price for granted and no one cares for the reason. On the contrary, if a family does not ask for the gift, a group of people talk about the possible reasons such as why didn't they ask for the bride price? And Whether something is wrong with this girl? Or may be sorry for the groom. It’s stressful if brides do not want any gift. I think it is necessary to ask for a high price, as I have to follow the custom. (20190809)

Different levels of bride price naturally cause differences in bride’s feelings, especially if the two brides have similar conditions. If the bride price of one is higher than the other, whoever gets the higher bride price will be happier, because higher bride price means the groom take marriage and the bride more seriously, and the bride married a better groom. If a wman is good-looking, she may get a high bride price, and the man is willing to give a high bride price, too. (20190803).

The bride price is not only an auditory number but also a visual embodiment, making women a part of the visual presentation. Through the presentation of bride price by onlookers such as relatives and friends, the individual's sense of experience about the bride price is strengthened. During the presentation of bride price in a marriage ceremony, the woman becomes the content of presentation and is watched by relatives and friends. In some rural areas of Heilongjiang Province, a ceremony is organized during weddings to show guests the amount of bride price, which is highlighted by using special symbols on a red display board lifted by a staff member; with the exaggerated tone of the emcee and rhythmic drumming music, the bride cooperates with the arrangement from the master of ceremonies and bows to the groom's parents to express gratitude. In wedding ceremonies in rural Jiangxi Province, the bride wears a pair of gold necklaces, gold bracelets, and gold earrings, which are parts of bride price, and the cash of bride price is placed as a flower in a room for showing to the relatives and friends. The admiration and praise brought by the attention of the “audience” reflect the high standard of the bride price and indicate how bride price in public space strengthens the construction of gender identity and the relationship between the bride and groom [38]. The considerable bride price shows the recognition and appreciation of the man and the value of women. Therefore, when the bride does not ask for the bride price or asks for a low price, the woman has to bear the punishment of public's negative evaluation. To gain social recognition and circumvent the punishment of negative public opinion, women become the performers in this comment space.

4.3. Caregivers of the family

After experiencing display and circulation, the bride price enters the final link of the bride price practice, which is distributed and used in the family space and women assume the role of caregivers of the family. Paying the bride price suggests the construction of a ‘new moral economy’, that is, the completion of male obligations and the beginning of female obligations as the exchange item, which becomes the strongest and most consistent normative constraints. Although Chinese women do not face the physical persecution of abuse and violence associated with high bride prices as African women, Chinese women still conform to the order of male dominance. In the geographical space, as the woman is living in the husband's home (cong fu ju), she assumes more family roles in the family space and is required to fulfill the roles of daughter-in-law, wife, and mother to conform to the contract norms of bride price. Women are restricted to the home domain, confining themselves at home and fulfilling social expectations, as evident from the following statement:

I think the bride price culture exists for two reasons; first reason is the traditional culture prevailing in China, and another reason is the bride price being the compensation of the groom to the bride’s family. Because the culture forces woman to live in the man’s place of residence in most cases, it is impossible for me to be at my natal house and serve my parents like I used to, even if I am the only child. On the contrary, in case of the man, the marriage does not seem to affect his care for his parents after he goes out to live. And although I also had to take the responsibility of caring for his parents, his responsibility of caring for my parents was much less. (20190729)

In total, I own 168,000 yuan cash, 33,000 yuan jewelry costs, and the 36,000 yuan meeting gifts. Most of the cash was used in my new family, and some cash was used to start a business for my husband. After marriage, I stopped working and started doing housework and my husband used to go to city for work. We had a baby soon after the marriage and my main job was to take care of the baby. The pressure would have been great if we get married but have no children; so, the purpose of marriage is to have children. My mother-in-law is not in good health, so I am with my husband who works in the city and I have to take care of the baby. (20190227).

The statement of both interviewees clearly indicates that after marriage, women have to detach themselves from their own families to become part of the man's family. Moreover, they have to withdraw quickly from society, possibly for a long or short time period, to better fulfill their childbearing and family care responsibilities, but this is not the case with men. In terms of the exchange theory of bride price, two kinds of exchange occur in the practice of bride price; one is the exchange of female ownership, which changes from the woman’s parents and family to the man’s parents and his family. The other type is exchange of women and bride price that occurs between the man and woman, the woman and her family receive the bride price, whereas the man and his family receive the woman and her labor. In either type of exchange, the woman’s family obligation is established by default when the bride price is paid. This exchange can be understood as the bride price being a consumption centered on the man’s family and a purchase of the woman’s labor and fertility. Thus, men's expectations of women are the consensus brought about by the bride price or understood as taken for granted. In addition, the bride price is a sum of money meant for the consumption by the newly married family. Many women in rural areas quit their jobs after marriage to prepare for childbirth, partly because of the obligations imposed by the bride price in rural areas where childbirth is valued, and partly because of the financial support given by the bride price; these are the reasons why many women, as mentioned in the aforementioned interview statements, have children and are engaged in child care at home instead of working outside, and not because their husbands have high incomes that can support family expenses. The consensus and the reality of the bride price together contribute to men's expectations of women's obligations and women's implementation of their obligations. Failure of a woman to meet the normative obligations imposed by bride price payment can provoke social disapproval [39]. For instance, the newborn of Fan Caiyun, who was in Wushan County, Gansu Province, was taken away by her husband 14 h after birth. The husband asked Cai to return the bride price of 70,000 yuan to get back the child and agreed to divorce. Ten days later, with the intervention of some non-governmental organizations, the man agreed to temporarily return the child. Owing of the dispute over the bride price, the two had not reached a divorce agreement at the time of writing.

In the family space, a stricter and clearer gender order has been formed. As per an old saying in China, nanzhuwai, nvzhunei (i.e., men preside over external affairs and women take charge of internal affairs), the existence of the bride price makes this rule more dynamic. Machismo is a state of "pseudo-absence" [40], and female subjects are disciplined in a more private and subtle manner [41] in the family space. The bride price has become an invisible tool for controlling and restraining women. By catering to and maintaining the order of the patriarchal space, it continuously strengthens the image of women who conform to the traditional gender conventions, and finally, assume the role of caregivers.

5. Limited growth of female consciousness

Although the bride price practice has been constructing the women’s character, women have also achieved self-growth. In terms of consciousness, women do not agree with the practice of bride price in a patriarchal society and gain the motivation for self-liberation from it. For example, an interviewee stated "at least parents should not ‘sell’ their daughter, or the man should not ‘buy’ a wife … " (20190731), indicating that women have a clear understanding of the restrictive function of bride price practice. According to another interviewee, "The function of bride price is to promote equality between the man and the woman in the family to a certain extent. A woman is a well-paid wife and not a free servant in the house.” (20190730) Thus, bride price can be used as a tool by women to safeguard their own rights and status. "If you have economic power, you have the power of discourse. Bride price is a kind of economic power" (20191008). With the increase of bride price, men have to pay more to enter into a marriage contract. Moreover, a strategic improvement has been observed in the attitude of men and their parents toward women because a high expense is involved in "breaking" a marriage contract. In particular, when women hold a certain amount of bride price, women's right to be informed about family matters is strengthened. Bride price not only improves a woman's survival in her husband's family but also allows her to have more space in her native family. The value of women has increased due to the increase in bride price. Furthermore, family’s perceptions on rural women have changed from losing money to making money, and daughters are valued in the family of origin. In some areas of Gansu Province, parents have started paying attention to their daughters' education because higher education levels can help them acquire a high bride price.

Compared with the scenario in the past, women no longer have to ignore their own family status and place themselves in a subordinate position, hoping to protect their initiative and dominance, which indicate the awakening of rural women's self-consciousness. However, this kind of awakening is limited. On the one hand, women's access to power and the protection of their rights depend on the bride price, rather than their attributes as human beings, and such function of bride price is given by men, which can also be withdrawn by men. It precisely implies that bride price practice has changed men's control over women from direct to covert. On the other hand, the bride price reflects the importance men attach to women, which makes women feel superior, although this superiority is superficial. Women continue to follow the arrangements of the patriarchal system, acquiescing to the arrangements of the bride price by the elderly male members in the family, the judgment of the bride price on them, and the division of labor in the family. They do not tend to break the chains of patriarchal power carried by the bride price. The liberation of women’s self-consciousness does not go beyond the control of bride price.

6. Conclusion

In this study, a qualitative research approach is applied to understand the practice of bride price and the experiences of women, shedding light on the complex and dynamic interplay between bride price practice and women’s experiences. The study presents two key arguments. First, female identity is persistently shaped in the space of bride price. Spatiality of the bride price makes the process of construction gradual and gentle, rather than one-step and rough, to women. In the physical space of negotiation, parents and relatives shape female identity and women become an outsider, as well as an insider. Women can express their opinions in private but cannot participate in public discussions in essence, thus compromising on the dominance of bride price. In the public space of comment, the shaping power comes from the villagers and relatives, with women becoming the approver and the performer, feeling the pressure and encouragement of public opinion in the village environment, avoiding the accusations of low-sale bride price, pursuing high-sale bride price that results in the gaze, admiration, and praise from others, and gradually accepting the gender norms established by bride price. In the family space of bride price, ethical rules brought on by bride price exchange prompt the woman to fulfill the obligations after the man pays the gift and to become caregivers of the family. Second, bride price promotes women’s self-awareness; however, this kind of promotion does not go beyond the control of bride price to women who rely on money to protect their rights. These findings re-organize the discussion about the influence of high bride price on women in the Chinese context.

Unlike the fate of women in some African regions, the practice of bride price in China does not push rural women into an abyss; however, assuredly, it is just another form of female oppression and still a shackle on Chinese rural women. The bride price constructs gender identities dynamically and gently under different spaces. A series of cultural operations, disciplines, and integration trajectories are hidden in the practice of bride price. Individuals repeat the various provisions stipulated by the culture without realizing them to ensure their own value and legitimacy in the culture. Indeed, bride price helps women meet social expectations, and at the same time urges women to meet social expectations. Along with the different spaces of bride price, women step into the role construction from an obedient daughter to a decent bride, and finally to a qualified wife, mother, and daughter-in-law, which further strengthens the women’s character. From the perspective of space, we discuss the influence of bride price on women in detail.

Bride price represents three attributes for constructing female roles in different spaces, namely patriarchal expression, social identity, and market power. Bride price is an expression of patriarchy, and controlling the practice of bride price is difficult for women. Additionally, bride price is an expression of social identity. In rural areas of China, a quasi-marital relationship has been established by bride price. A consensus exists on the functions of bride price, such as compensation, protection, and respect. Bride price is also an expression of market power. In the mate selection market, the imbalance between supply and demand has led to a rapid rise in bride price. Female population has become scarce, and bride price reflects the women’s value. The interaction among the aforementioned three attributes provides vitality to the bride price, while exerting negative effects on women. A high bride price is not women's right but women's obligation, that is, the women need to ask for a decent bride price, obey the arrangements, and fulfil their obligations. In the whole process, the bride price emphasizes the gender identity of women, covering the special meaning of "female" as the universal meaning of "person". This article does not intend to deny the importance of either bride price as a wedding ceremony in China or the gift exchange for the establishment and development of a newlywed family but attempts to interpret the natural expression of high bride price on female role in daily life based on the facts and women’s experiences. The high bride price is manifested as a cultural system that leads to the formation of women’s concepts and experiences under the synergistic effect of social identity, patriarchal expression, and market forces, all of which gradually erode female autonomy.

Reflecting on the negative effects of high bride price on women from the perspective of space and gender role, the classical theoretical framework that discusses bride price practice provides a glimpse that bride price culture has been playing a role in the creation, planning, and consolidation of gender roles and that it is a multi-dimensional and continuous process. In this process, women are not completely passive and use the bride price as an opportunity to challenge the traditional concept of inequality between men and women and rationally construct their family status and rights. However, women’s growth in this process is very slow and limited. It has been said that Chinese women’s ideology is moving between the new and the old and the tradition and the modern, which suggests that these women are modern externally but conservative at heart. Even if they are liberated, many old ideas are still left behind [42]. Thus, the bride price practice cannot be regarded explicitly as an emancipatory practice.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences, Beijing, China under Grant 18CSH009.

Submission declaration and verification

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder.

Declarations of interest

None.