The Dowry Classing Concept Based on Women’s Criteria at Karangsono, Wonorejo, Pasuruan; A Study of Berger and Luckmann's Social Construction

Abstract

Determination of the dowry among people of Karangsono Village was originally based on Islamic law by relying on convenience, lightness, and simplicity principles. However later, it was replaced by the so-called dowry classing concept. This article portrays the practice of the concept using social construction theory. This is field research with a qualitative descriptive method using Berger and Luckmann's social construction theory as the analytical tool. The data were from a study on documents, interviews, and observations. The conclusions are: (1) The dowry classing concept is based on the characteristic of the bride, namely marital status (single or widow), physical beauty, and age. The higher quality of the woman, the higher dowry she can get; (2) Determination of the dowry has undergone social construction based on three simultaneous processes. At first, the externalization process occurs through adaptation to religious texts and nowadays life context. Afterward, the process of objectivation is signified by the birth of new meanings which are clear in the actions of the wider community which turn them into objective facts. The last step, internalization, happens through the affirmation of the consciousness that everybody experiences personally and transferring process on the objective meaning.