Wife selling: Difference between revisions
In the lede, clarified that not alll wife selling was to new husbands and replaced "custom" for the general case with "practice". |
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== History and practice == |
== History and practice == |
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Wife selling occurred in Europe in addition to that in Britain.<ref>Valenze, Deborah M., ''The Social Life of Money in the English Past'' (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006 (ISBN-13 978-0-521-61780-2)), p. 250 (author prof. history, Barnard Coll.).</ref> In [[Hungary]], in 1114, the [[Synod]] of Gran said, " |
Wife selling occurred in Europe in addition to that in Britain.<ref>Valenze, Deborah M., ''The Social Life of Money in the English Past'' (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006 (ISBN-13 978-0-521-61780-2)), p. 250 (author prof. history, Barnard Coll.).</ref> In [[Hungary]], in 1114, the [[Synod]] of Gran said, "When a wife of noble birth or aristocracy has left her husband for the third time, she receives mercy, but when she is from the common people, she is sold."<ref>Schmidt, Alvin John, ''Veiled and Silenced: How Culture Shaped Sexist Theology'' (Macon, Ga.: Mercer Univ. Press, 1989 (pbk. ISBN 0-86554-327-5 & casebound ISBN 0-86554-329-1)), p. 127 & n. 28 (n. omitted) (author sociologist), n. 28 citing the Synod's 53rd canon & von Hefele, Carl Joseph, ''Conciliengeschichte'', vol. 5 (Freiburg: Herder'sche Verlagshandlung, 1886), p. 324.</ref> Germans "considered the wife as negotiable property ... [and] sold them to the conquering Romans".<ref>Schmidt, Alvin John, ''Veiled and Silenced'', ''op. cit.'', p. 127 & n. 29, citing Bruder, Reinhold, ''Die Germanische Frau im Lichte der Runeninschriften und der Antiken Historiographie'' (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1974).</ref> |
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In rural [[India]], in the late 20th century, wives have been sold, including in the region of [[Bundelkhand]]. When loans from wealthy men, as "unofficial lenders",<ref name="FarmersSellWivesPayDebtsRuralIndia-CNN-p1">[http://articles.cnn.com/2009-10-22/world/india.farmers.selling.wives_1_lender-farmer-s-wife-village-leaders?_s=PM:WORLD Sidner, Sara, ''Farmers Sell Wives to Pay Debts in Rural India'', CNN, Oct. 22, 2009], as accessed Oct. 8, 2011.</ref> have high interest and the interest accumulates, "lenders demand payment. Some farmers .... say because of years of little rain and bad harvests they are forced to give money lenders whatever they ask for. |
In rural [[India]], in the late 20th century, wives have been sold, including in the region of [[Bundelkhand]]. When loans from wealthy men, as "unofficial lenders",<ref name="FarmersSellWivesPayDebtsRuralIndia-CNN-p1">[http://articles.cnn.com/2009-10-22/world/india.farmers.selling.wives_1_lender-farmer-s-wife-village-leaders?_s=PM:WORLD Sidner, Sara, ''Farmers Sell Wives to Pay Debts in Rural India'', CNN, Oct. 22, 2009], as accessed Oct. 8, 2011.</ref> have high interest and the interest accumulates, "lenders demand payment. Some farmers .... say because of years of little rain and bad harvests they are forced to give money lenders whatever they ask for. Sometimes that includes their wives."<ref name="FarmersSellWivesPayDebtsRuralIndia-CNN-p1" /> Cases may be reported to the police. However, "Ranjana Kumari with India's Center for Social Research .... says ... there is little support for women in India who have the courage to file a case with authorities.... '[T]he women themselves tend to withdraw these cases.'"<ref name="FarmersSellWivesPayDebtsRuralIndia-CNN-p1" /> The Indian government in 1998 said in a report, according to [[CNN]], "the region is prone to what it calls 'atrocities,' including the buying and selling of women."<ref name="FarmersSellWivesPayDebtsRuralIndia-CNN-p2">[http://articles.cnn.com/2009-10-22/world/india.farmers.selling.wives_1_lender-farmer-s-wife-village-leaders/2?_s=PM:WORLD Sidner, Sara, ''Farmers Sell Wives to Pay Debts in Rural India'', CNN, Oct. 22, 2009, p. 2], as accessed Oct. 8, 2011.</ref> "Social workers say this isn't just about poverty, but also an indication of the low social status of women in poverty-stricken areas such as Bundelkhand."<ref name="FarmersSellWivesPayDebtsRuralIndia-CNN-p2" /> While "the status of women and girls ... [is] low ...., attitudes are slowly beginning to change, Kumari says."<ref name="FarmersSellWivesPayDebtsRuralIndia-CNN-p2" /> The frequency of such cases is unknown.<ref name="FarmersSellWivesPayDebtsRuralIndia-CNN-p2" /> |
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== Criticism == |
== Criticism == |
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Revision as of 20:26, 16 October 2011
An editor has nominated this article for deletion. You are welcome to participate in the deletion discussion, which will decide whether or not to retain it. |
Wife selling was the practice of a husband selling his wife, in some cases to a new husband. There was an English custom and a Chinese custom, among others. Husband selling, done by a wife, was far rarer, at least in the English custom.[1]
History and practice
Wife selling occurred in Europe in addition to that in Britain.[2] In Hungary, in 1114, the Synod of Gran said, "When a wife of noble birth or aristocracy has left her husband for the third time, she receives mercy, but when she is from the common people, she is sold."[3] Germans "considered the wife as negotiable property ... [and] sold them to the conquering Romans".[4]
In rural India, in the late 20th century, wives have been sold, including in the region of Bundelkhand. When loans from wealthy men, as "unofficial lenders",[5] have high interest and the interest accumulates, "lenders demand payment. Some farmers .... say because of years of little rain and bad harvests they are forced to give money lenders whatever they ask for. Sometimes that includes their wives."[5] Cases may be reported to the police. However, "Ranjana Kumari with India's Center for Social Research .... says ... there is little support for women in India who have the courage to file a case with authorities.... '[T]he women themselves tend to withdraw these cases.'"[5] The Indian government in 1998 said in a report, according to CNN, "the region is prone to what it calls 'atrocities,' including the buying and selling of women."[6] "Social workers say this isn't just about poverty, but also an indication of the low social status of women in poverty-stricken areas such as Bundelkhand."[6] While "the status of women and girls ... [is] low ...., attitudes are slowly beginning to change, Kumari says."[6] The frequency of such cases is unknown.[6]
Criticism
A wife being subject to sale was a consequence of her being a man's property, according to sociologist Alvin John Schmidt.[7] The religious Commandment against coveting one's neighbor's wife has as part of its basis that "the wife is definitely seen as property", wrote Schmidt.[8] Schmidt argued that teachers of Judeo-Christian tradition who teach on this Commandment "without drawing attention to the property concept of woman"[8] "might [be] ... unknowingly contributing to sexual inequality."[8] Inequality and inferiority are, according to Schmidt, "negative".[9]
Wife selling was criticized by Pope Gregory VII in the 11th century,[10] although at other times the Christian church supported it.[11]
Christians and earlier Hebrews were, according to Schmidt, influenced by the belief that "woman [was] ... unequal to man",[12] producing "sexist theology".[13]
See also
U.S., Scotland, or Wales: For wife selling, if any, in those countries, see Wife selling (English custom).
References
- ^ Whether husband selling occurred outside of the English custom has not been discovered in the course of researching this article.
- ^ Valenze, Deborah M., The Social Life of Money in the English Past (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006 (ISBN-13 978-0-521-61780-2)), p. 250 (author prof. history, Barnard Coll.).
- ^ Schmidt, Alvin John, Veiled and Silenced: How Culture Shaped Sexist Theology (Macon, Ga.: Mercer Univ. Press, 1989 (pbk. ISBN 0-86554-327-5 & casebound ISBN 0-86554-329-1)), p. 127 & n. 28 (n. omitted) (author sociologist), n. 28 citing the Synod's 53rd canon & von Hefele, Carl Joseph, Conciliengeschichte, vol. 5 (Freiburg: Herder'sche Verlagshandlung, 1886), p. 324.
- ^ Schmidt, Alvin John, Veiled and Silenced, op. cit., p. 127 & n. 29, citing Bruder, Reinhold, Die Germanische Frau im Lichte der Runeninschriften und der Antiken Historiographie (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1974).
- ^ a b c Sidner, Sara, Farmers Sell Wives to Pay Debts in Rural India, CNN, Oct. 22, 2009, as accessed Oct. 8, 2011.
- ^ a b c d Sidner, Sara, Farmers Sell Wives to Pay Debts in Rural India, CNN, Oct. 22, 2009, p. 2, as accessed Oct. 8, 2011.
- ^ Schmidt, Alvin John, Veiled and Silenced, op. cit., p. 124 and see pp. 124–129.
- ^ a b c Schmidt, Alvin John, Veiled and Silenced, op. cit., p. 126.
- ^ Schmidt, Alvin John, Veiled and Silenced, op. cit., p. xiv and see p. xv (both in Introduction).
- ^ Schmidt, Alvin John, Veiled and Silenced, op. cit., p. 128 & n. 34, citing von Hefele, Carl Joseph, Conciliengeschichte, op. cit., p. 19.
- ^ Schmidt, Alvin John, Veiled and Silenced, op. cit., p. 128 & nn. 35–36, citing Menefee, Samuel Pyeatt, Wives for Sale (N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, 1981), pp. 56 & 140.
- ^ Schmidt, Alvin John, Veiled and Silenced, op. cit., pp. 128–129 (quoting p. 129).
- ^ Schmidt, Alvin John, Veiled and Silenced, op. cit., p. 129 (sexism defined by author as "an attitude, belief, or practice that subordinates an individual or group on the basis of sex", per id., p. xvii (Introduction)).
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