Just to stay on topic..... kankaiRiver --Not being a Nepali myself, I find your description of social structure uncomfortable yet I can accept it as a generalization of traditional values. The root of all these value issues come down to women's rights. If a society has women depending on men for support (which most do on a global scale) it takes special initiatives by government to bring women out of financial/social dependency. Every culture needs to elevate its social systems to allow individual rights and freedoms to all of its people. I hope that Nepali women, as a whole, come out of a patriarchal dependency by having more economic freedom in the future. Family structures are the most valuable structures in the world and must be supported. Women need to have the opportunity to make unions that are healthy and supportive emotionally. If the Nepali culture supports the higher education of all its people, I beleive the dowry system may be a thing of the past.