And now for something completely different – the anti-Michelle Duggar – Farzana Yasmin in Bangladesh.
A top human rights group in Bangladesh has praised a bride who disowned her husband within minutes of their wedding because he demanded a dowry.
Sultana Kamal of the Ask rights group said that Farzana Yasmin had taken a “principled and brave stand against the gross injustice of dowry payments”.
…
“Already she is facing recriminations with several parties trying to defame her and portray her as a loose woman. In fact she is a heroine of Bangladesh.”
Ms Yasmin’s decision to divorce her husband within minutes of their wedding in the conservative southern district of Barguna has sent shockwaves through the country, with supporters and opponents of her action fiercely arguing their
cases on Facebook.The “10-minute bride” told the BBC that she wanted other “dowry-oppressed women” in Bangladesh to be inspired by her actions, which correspondents say appear to be without precedent.
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Ms Yasmin – who has fled her home village to take refuge with friends and
family in Dhaka – denounced her husband as she was about to be taken to her
wedding car at the end of her marriage celebrations.She told the BBC that he and his family wanted to delay her departure until
they had received “gifts”, including a TV and a fridge.
Brave. Good luck, Farzana Yasmin!
What a courageous soul! All admiration to her.
The idea of a dowry is completely revolting. The husband and his family are essentially saying to their bride/daughter-in-law, “Sorry, love, but you’re not enough for us”.
Bravo for Farzana Yasmin!
Good on her – but I fear she’s likely to face violence from the full range of local male supremacists, rather than only the “dishonored” ex-husband’s clan.
What a brave, strong woman. I hope she stays safe.
That greedy woman. How dare she not pay this man to marry her? He is going to be supporting her from now.
More proof of the matriarchal conspiracy to control men.
Careful Julian! Some people won’t get the sarcasm…
Dowry and weddings is something weird.
Indian dowry has reached the point that NOT asking for one actually gets you fewer takers in an arranged marriage (many principled young men don’t ask for dowries and find themselves sidelined).
The reason behind that logic is that the only people who traditionally didn’t ask for Dowries were families who were desperate to get their sons married off. People assume there is something fundamentally wrong with the boy. Like “mental retardation”, drug problems, sterility…
Not asking for a dowry will actually get you fewer women accepting the idea of a marraige proposal than asking for one. So the more principled men have taken to asking for things similar to a wedding register in the west (Fridge, Motorcycle, Car, TV) things both him and the wife can use rather than the usual Gold or Money (or bonds and shares).
I am dead against Dowries. It’s really a ridiculous practice and people often marry out of greed and it’s a system so prone to abuse from both sides and it’s a system that encourages the mistreatment of women. Both from the point of dowry assaults and murders and from the girl’s own family who consider her a genuine burden because she is an economic one.
You go, Farzana!!
There is so much wrong with the custom of dowry, that it’s mind boggling that the practice still continues. One insidious result is the selective denial of higher education to daughters. If a woman is educated, she must marry a man more (or equally) educated, which means a higher dowry.
The practice continues because, while parents complain of the high cost of marrying off their daughters, they insist / bargain for the highest possible dowry for their sons. It is a feedback system locked in a vicious loop. Only women like Farzana can break it; I hope she and ilk will succeed – and soon.
Carp @ 8
What a fine way to comment on a serious social injustice…
By spamming!
Go give yourself a swirly.