From Respect to Friendship? Companionate Marriage and Conjugal Power Negotiation in Middle-Class Hyderabad

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Gilbertson
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Companionate Marriage ◽  
Conjugal Power

scholarly journals “Marrying Out” for Love: Women’s Narratives of Polygyny and Alternative Marriage Choices in Contemporary Senegal

2016 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hélène Neveu Kringelbach
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Moral Legitimacy ◽  
Popular Discourse ◽  
Women's Narratives ◽  
Childhood And Youth ◽  
Family Narratives ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Youth Experiences ◽  
Companionate Marriage

Abstract:This article examines the ways in which childhood and youth experiences of living in polygynous households shape the aspirations of middle-class Muslim Senegalese women to companionate marriage. Increasingly, such aspirations are fulfilled through marriage with European men. In contrast to an enduring popular discourse according to which women live happily with polygyny throughout the Senegambian region, this article shows how some middle-class women’s choice to “marry out” is explicitly linked to family narratives and personal experiences of suffering. In a context in which many of these women face strong familial opposition to marriage with non-Muslim European men, this article suggests that the women’s narratives provide moral legitimacy to their “alternative” choices.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document