Changing Patterns in Men’s First Marriage among the Sereer in Rural Senegal

As marriage behaviour is often related to fertility patterns in many African societies, it is essential to identify the components of and the changes affecting nuptiality regimes. Because oftheir key position as decision-makers within the family, men generally control marriage processes. Using qualitative and quantitative data, we investigate in detail men’s first marriage in a rural area in Senegal. We show that young men tend to start their marriage process informally and delay the celebration for economic reasons. Different patterns are identified with their respective implications regarding the start of the couples’ sexual and reproductive life. Today men perceive that the onset ofconjugal life starts earlier but the statistics do not support this finding. We show that these results are not contradictory with each other and are related to the changes in the traditional markers ofmen’s entry into adulthood. Hence, these findings refer to different dimensions of the same process: precise events in time (ceremonies, payments) and more diffuse perceptions ofthe stages in the marriage process that lead to a legitimate union (negotiations).