Marjorie's Dowry

Some years ago I worked for a telecommunications company and received a promotion to a department that earned me a ton of money over the course of about 6 years. Of the 5 people hired, I was the only black and the only male. The other individuals were female. I came to know (not in the biblical sense) them quite well as we went through training and navigated our careers. One of the young ladies was named Marjorie. She wasn't a strikingly attractive young lady. In fact she was relatively nondescript. If she walked into a room, she wouldn't draw very much attention. But she was a very nice girl who had a plan.

Majorie and I were amongst the few people who poured a majority of our salary into our 401k plan. One day I asked Majorie what motivated her to allot so much of her salary to 401k and she said, "It's for my dowry."
"Dowry?" I asked. I knew exactly what it was but in my lifetime had never heard anyone speak of or much less have one.
"Yes, dowry. If I'm to be taken seriously by my husband, I must bring something to the table."

I looked at Majorie long and hard trying to assess the words that she had just spoken. All of my years I had heard about how and why men should be taking care of a woman, and all she had to do was show up. She didn't have to bring anything to the table, and furthermore, once married, she didn't have to do much else. No cooking, cleaning, or caring for the children, (the man had better earn enough for her to stay home and not work AND pay for some cleaning lady to come and take care of the household). She was the prize and you'd damn well better take care of her or else she will pack up the kids and take half of what you might have already had before she came around. Majorie and no such disillusion. I really cogitated over what she said to me. It struck a nerve. Here was a woman who refused to buy into society or the media's false inflation of a woman's worth. She, first of all, knew that she wasn't the most attractive woman on the planet. But not only did she have a clear sense of her own value, she also knew the value of all women.

She didn't allow herself to become disillusioned over beauty-we all know that eventually that fades. She came bearing gifts. And if a man is supposed to support you solely, shouldn't you bring something to the table? There was a time when a family put money aside so that the daughter would have something to offer the husband when they wed. Nowadays, she just comes with the clothes on her back and laundry list of things YOU need to do. And if she manages to assemble a nugget or two, she won't let you forget that she brought all of this to the table and you brought nothing. Or she will discriminately eliminate you as a candidate because you ain't got shit.

I'm not saying we should go back to the days where a woman came with a dowry, but keeping in mind that at one time there was an intrinsic value assigned to her via a dowry, what is a woman's true worth today?

The Prince