"The man comes to marry the woman": Exploring adolescent boys' gendered expectations for bridewealth and marriage among the akwapim of Southern Ghana

A qualitative analysis of 28 in-depth interviews with adolescent boys aged between 12 and 15 years in the Akwapim highlands of Ghana reveals that the traditional practice of bridewealth exchange-called the customary rites among the Akwapim-fuels adolescent boys' expectations of increased male authority in marriage. Although the available literature on bridewealth argues that the traditional marriage practice of bridewealth exchange in sub-Saharan Africa gives men rights over women's sexual and reproductive capacities, as well as their household labor (Fortes, 1962), the findings of this article suggest that bridewealth payments influence not only these areas but male expectations for broader control over, and obedience from, their wives.