Theexchange of women is an element ofalliance theory — thestructuralist theory ofClaude Lévi-Strauss and otheranthropologists who see society as based upon thepatriarchal treatment of women as property, being given to other men to cement alliances.[1] Such formal exchange may be seen in the ceremony of the traditional Christianwedding,[citation needed] in which thebride is given to thegroom by her father.
The structuralist view of kinship was laid out in Lévi-Strauss' grand statement:Les Structures élémentaires de la parenté (The Elementary Structures of Kinship). In this, he combinedMauss' ideas about the importance ofgifts in primitive societies with the role of theincest taboo in forcing exchanges of matesoutside of closely related family groups. The resultingexchange of women is asymmetric in that men have power over women which is not reciprocated. The resulting social structures provide a framework for treating the oppression of women as asocial construct rather than being a matter of biology.[2]
In "The Traffic in Women," Gayle Rubin articulated a feminist analysis of kinship, gender roles, sexuality, the incest taboo and taboo against homosexuality, as part of a historically evolving "sex/gender system."[3]
Men in ancientHebrew culture established and negotiated their relations with other men through the exchange of female relatives. This is seen inOld Testament narratives such as the stories spread across the books ofJoshua,Judges,Samuel andKings.[4]
InAfghanistan and remote areas ofPakistan, women may be exchanged in compensation for a debt or offence such as murder. This practice is known asswara. Pakistan's constitution prohibits this with a penalty of 3 to 10 years of imprisonment but the custom still persists.[5]
The exchange of women in the course of male bonding appears as a theme in the novelsThe Great Gatsby andTropic of Capricorn.[6]Indecent Proposal and other female-barter movies were criticized for promoting this theme.[7]
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