Adiyen,

In earlier days women were not working/allowed to work and hence i assume that was the reason why the parents spent money for the marriage of their girl and many times voluntarily gave gold/silver/vessels etc for their girl child. In these days, women are studying, working and are quite self sufficient. But why is the tradition of bride’s side spending for the marriage needs to be followed? Why can’t both bride and groom side bear the marriage costs equally?
There are some families who are ready to split the marriage costs but still the major prevalent tradition is that the bride side should bear the major costs.

Following this above question, there is quite a stark difference in the way a daughter-in-law is treated at her in-law’s house compared to the way a son-in-law is treated at his in-law’s house with more respect.

Do dharma shastras say anything about these? Why this bias is present?