what is self respect marriage

Self-respect marriage is a concept that originated from the Self-Respect Movement in India. The movement was started to promote rational behavior and acquired a much wider connotation within a short period of time. One of the major sociological changes introduced through the self-respect movement was the self-respect marriage system, whereby marriages were conducted without being officiated by a Brahmin priest. Periyar, the founder of the movement, regarded the then conventional marriages as mere financial arrangements and often caused great debt through dowry. The Self-Respect movement encouraged inter-caste marriages, replacing arranged marriages by love marriages that are not constrained by caste. The Self-Respect Marriage Law, or Suyamariyathai, was legalized in 1968 by the state of Tamil Nadu, which allows two Hindus to marry in the presence of a marriage registrar without any religious ceremony. The Supreme Court of India has also recognized the validity of self-respect marriages under Section 7(A) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The concept of self-respect marriage was envisioned as an idea that could counter the patriarchal and casteist trends of traditional marriage and reframe marriage as liberatory.