argue that virginity is valued in those societies in which young men may seek to better thei hances in life by allying themselves through marriage to a wealthy or powerful family. In pre- serving a daughters virginity a family is protecting her from seduction, impregnation, and pa ternity claims on her child. This is most critical when certain kinds of property transactions are involved In societies in which dowry is given (or daughters inherit), it would be attractive to seduce a dowered daughter (or heiress), demanding her as wife along with her property. Her parents would be reluctant to refuse, since the well-being of their grandchildren would depend upon their inheritance from both of their parents, and another man would be unlikely to marry the mother if it meant that he had not only to support her children but also to make them his heirs.(The widow with children would be a different matter since these children would have received property through their father and would make no claims on their stepfather beyond support, for which in any event their labor would provide compensation. To illustrate that upward mobility through marriage with a dowered daughter or heiress i ot foreign to dowry-giving societies, let us consider a common theme of European fairy tales. a poor but honest young man goes through trials to win the hand of the princess, who inherits her fathers kingdom. Or, he wins her heart, and through the good offices of a fairy godmother or other spirit helper, they evade her wrathful father and are eventually reconciled with him This more or less legitimate means to upward mobility is not so different from the illegitimate one, by which he wins the girl through seduction This line of reasoning was familiar to the 17th- and 18th-century English. As Trumbach tells mare. For a womans property became her husband s and she took his social standing .. To steal an eiress was therefore the quickest way to make a man s fortune this was the common doctrine of the stage before 1710-and it had a special appeal to younger sons. [ 1978: 101-102 All of the dowry-giving societies in the sample value virginity except the Haitians Neverthe- less, as Herskovits, writing about Haiti, points out: "Even though pre- marital relations are com of an unmarried girl fortunate, and she is severely beaten for it by her family"(1971: 111). Their fear of her seduction suasion to give her a child and this achieved abandons her to show his contempt for the family that has formally refused to accept him as a son- in- law"(Herskovits 1971: 110). To avoid child bearing, women and girls resort to magical means of contraception and the more effective ab The majority of societies that exchange gifts and give indirect dowry also expect brides to virgins. This is particularly true in the case of gift exchange, in which a bride 's family gives quantities of property along with her receiving a more or less equivalent amount from the fam ily of the groom. As noted earlier gift exchange is a way of ensuring that the two families are of equal wealth or of equal social power. Impregnating a girl would give a boy and his family a claim on that girl and an alliance with her family, even though they would have to come up Table 2. a test of the value on virginity according to the type of marriage transaction Marriage transactiona Virginity Bride. Bride. N=125;Chi- square=27.13;p<0001 women exchange is omitted because of the small number of cases iNcludes token bride 724 american ethnologistI argue that virginity is valued in those societies in which young men may seek to better their chances in life by allying themselves through marriage to a wealthy or powerful family. In pre￾serving a daughter's virginity, a family is protecting her from seduction, impregnation, and pa￾ternity claims on her child. This is most critical when certain kinds of property transactions are involved. In societies in which dowry is given (or daughters inherit), it would be attractive to seduce a dowered daughter (or heiress), demanding her as wife along with her property. Her parents would be reluctant to refuse, since the well-being of their grandchildren would depend upon their inheritance from both of their parents, and another man would be unlikely to marry the mother if it meant that he had not only to support her children but also to make them his heirs. (The widow with children would be a different matter, since these children would have received property through their father and would make no claims on their stepfather beyond support, for which in any event their labor would provide compensation.) To illustrate that upward mobility through marriage with a dowered daughter or heiress is not foreign to dowry-giving societies, let us consider a common theme of European fairy tales. A poor but honest young man goes through trials to win the hand of the princess, who inherits her father's kingdom. Or, he wins her heart, and through the good offices of a fairy godmother or other spirit helper, they evade her wrathful father and are eventually reconciled with him. This more or less legitimate means to upward mobility is not so different from the illegitimate one, by which he wins the girl through seduction. This line of reasoning was familiar to the 17th- and 18th-century English. As Trumbach tells it: Stealing a son ... was not the great crime. It was, rather, the theft of a daughter that was the real night￾mare. For a woman's property became her husband's and she took his social standing.... To steal an heiress was therefore the quickest way to make a man's fortune-this was the common doctrine of the stage before 1 710-and it had a special appeal to younger sons. [1978:101-102] All of the dowry-giving societies in the sample value virginity except the Haitians. Neverthe￾less, as Herskovits, writing about Haiti, points out: "Even though pre-marital relations are com￾monplace, . ... the pregnancy of an unmarried girl is regarded as both reprehensible and un￾fortunate, and she is severely beaten for it by her family" (1 971 :1 11). Their fear of her seduction is well founded, for if they disapprove of a suitor and reject him, the young man "uses all per￾suasion to give her a child and, this achieved, abandons her to show his contempt for the family that has formally refused to accept him as a son-in-law" (Herskovits 1971:1 10). To avoid child￾bearing, women and girls resort to magical means of contraception and the more effective abor￾tion. The majority of societies that exchange gifts and give indirect dowry also expect brides to be virgins. This is particularly true in the case of gift exchange, in which a bride's family gives quantities of property along with her, receiving a more or less equivalent amount from the fam￾ily of the groom. As noted earlier, gift exchange is a way of ensuring that the two families are of equal wealth or of equal social power. Impregnating a girl would give a boy and his family a claim on that girl and an alliance with her family, even though they would have to come up Table 2. A test of the value on virginity according to the type of marriage transaction. Marriage transactiona Dowry and Virginity Bride- Bride- Gift indirect valued None wealthb service exchange dowry Total Yes 3 16 6 9 18 52 No 26 27 10 3 7 73 N = 125; Chi-square = 27.13; p < .0001. aWomen exchange is omitted because of the small number of cases. blncludes token bridewealth. 724 american ethnologist