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Chapter Three. Phases of Life |
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as women marry between fifteen and eighteen, no stigma because of bridal pregnancy |
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As the girls of all groups of Konyaks were accustomed to marry between the ages of fifteen and eighteen, the birth of a child lacking a legal father was not a frequent occurrence. Girls who were neither betrothed nor married occasionally became pregnant, but their lovers were usually willing to marry them, particularly if the parents made concessions in the matter of the bride price. Moreover, there were always some impecunious men anxious to obtain a wife, and such men were usually prepared to marry a girl made pregnant by a lover unwilling to wed her. No social stigma was attached to a wife whose marriage had been contracted in such circumstances. |
