Son Preference in India - Essay Example

DD Month YYYY SON PREFERENCE IN INDIA: THE FATE OF THE GIRL CHILD WHO SURVIVES INFANCY Is the son preference considered as a key factor of declining sex ration in developing countries? Various articles have documented preference of son in India and other developing countries. The articles have suggested an abundant collection of theories and literature about the political, economic, and family causes that tends to sustain the preference of sons. The research will offer a comprehensive tests of literatures surrounding the preference of son using household data. Using the necessary research method, the paper will investigate the causes of son preference, the problems associated with it, and some of the solution of son preference in India and other developing countries. Based on the research, their a strong evidence for the relationship when looking at the attitudes surrounding the preference of sons. However, there is a weak relationshop and less pervasive when focusing at some of the behaviors that are motivate by the preference of sons. Expression of behavior as a result of son preference are subjected to situational contingencies that are not related to the bias that girls receive. It is therefore imperative to maintain the difference between the behavioral discrimination and the attitude prejudice when evaluating the theories surrounding the preference of sons. The paper will therefore, research on the problems and manifestation that arises as a result of son preference. For instance, the sex ratio in India is declining at a fast rate and if the same continues, then the girl child may be declared instinct. The paper equally makes an attempt to understand the fate of the girl0child who is lucky enough to survive through infancy. The paper has identified ten sources for the research. A brief summary of the findings of these sources has been outlined below Annotated Bibliography Arnold, Fred, Sunita Kishor, and T. K. Roy. "Sex‐Selective Abortions in India."Population and development review 28.4 (2002): 759-785 The author of this article demonstrates the prevalence of high sex ratios of male to female children. It is indicated that selective sex abortions are always on the rise so as to maintain the cultural as well as parental preference of male to female children. Despite the government efforts to introduce policies aimed at curbing this vice, the same policies have proved over and over again to be unsuccessful. This is mainly due to the societal encouragement and preference of sons to daughters. Das Gupta, M., Zhenghua, J., Bohua, L., Zhenming, X., Chung, W., & Hwa-Ok, B. Why is Son preference so persistent in East and South Asia? a cross-country study of China, India and the Republic of Korea. Journal Of Development Studies, 40(2), (2003).:153-187. According to the article, the author articulates that son preference has persisted in East and South Asia. The issue is recorded to be in the face of sweeping the social and the economic changes in the listed countries. This is attributed to the same family system which comes up with strong disincentive to raise their girl child while viewing the contribution of women to their household. The only parameters that can slow the changes include the female education, employment, and urbanization without the help of direct efforts by the civil society and also the state. The paper therefore concludes that more effort can be carried out through the mass media, social movements, and also legislation. Dissapearing Daughters. Action Aid, 2(3), (2015) :2-27. According to the article the preference of sons in India is a phenomenon that is well documented. The implication for the skewed ration has brought about policy and research policy. What is slightly known is the underlying determinant of preference of sons and their implications for the living girls. The brief highlights finding from the article shows and explains the meaning of the son preference culture and the care and health of the living girls. The article also explains the strong ideology of the son preference in India and some of the factors that will diminish the strength. Garg, S., and A. Nath. "Female feticide in India: Issues and concerns." Journal of Postgraduate Medicine 54.4 (2008): 276. This article focuses on the prevalence of female feticide among the Asian culturally and specifically the Indian culture. The author argues that the prevalence of the practice female feticide stems from the misuse of technology. The article indicates a number of factors that contribute to female feticide. Some of these factors are the system of dowry in the Asian culture in which the females are the ones who pay dowry and the masculine nature of the Indian community. The willingness of to pay for the female feticide procedure advanced from both the girl’s as well as the husband’s family equally contributes to this practice. As a solution for the end of this practice, the author contends that there should be an increased awareness from the NGO world as well as the medical fraternity on the negative impacts of this practice. Jena, Krushna Chandra. "Female Feticide in India: A Serious Challenge for the Society." Orissa review (2008). This paper outlines how laws and government interventions that ought to be utilized so as to curb the female feticide practice. The author contends that despite the existence of laws prohibiting the female feticide practice, there is no proper mechanism that has been laid down on the implementation of those laws. According to Chandra, it is not enough that a country has enacted laws prohibiting female feticide; those laws ought to be implemented in order to fully gain from their benefits. There is equally a need to of changing societal perceptions to the girl-child if this practice is to be eradicated. The author of this article has stressed that the composition of the Indian society ought to be changed and particularly as regards to the sex ratio of the males to the females. Lin, Tin-chi, and Alícia Adserà. "Son preference and children’s housework: The case of India." Population research and policy review 32.4 (2013): 553-584. This paper focuses on the performance of the household chores by Indian children in relation to the prevalence of sons to daughters. This article gives evidence from an analysis of a mother’s ideal proportion of the male child as a foundation. The evidence indicates that in cases where the proportion rises from 0 to 1, then the time that the girl-child takes in undertaking her household chores rises to by two and half hours. As a conclusion, the study shows that in situations where there is a prevalence of girls to boys in a family, then the girls are likely to spend most of their time doing household chores. Li, Nan, Marcus W. Feldman, and Shripad Tuljapurkar. Sex Ratio At Birth And Son Preference.Mathematical Population Studies 8.1 (2000): 91-107. Web. According to the article, India is one of the country that has a long history of discriminating against the women. The country is well known to prefer son over the daughters. This has therefore led to a lower number of women population. The country has introduced technology for sex detection ultrasound together with problems that neglect the girls that shows that a huge number of women are missing in India. According to the article, it is evident that the ratio of girls to their counterparts are lower compared to that in 2001. Additionally, the ratio of boys and girls has declined fasted compared to the urban areas. Consequently, according to the article the regulations that ban the rising pressure on the families to neglect girls is constantly ignored because the ultrasound technology is taken to be a rational way. Pande, Rohini P., and Nan Marie Astone. "Explaining son preference in rural India: the independent role of structural versus individual factors." Population Research and Policy Review 26.1 (2007): 1-29. This article identified three factors that are the major contributors of the preference of sons to daughters in India. These are household characteristics, village development and individual characteristics. The article analyzed a sample from rural women ranging from 13 to 49 years. All these women were also married. The study equally indicated that the level of a woman’s education plays a major influence on the preference of sons to daughters. The author contends that a woman whose education exceeds the primary level is likely to be accorded a variety of liberties. She is also likely to be given a different perception from the society. This is unlike the women who have no education exceeding the primary level. Such women may not be accorded many liberties and they are likely to be subjugated. Rasheed, R. (2011). Son preference attitude among Indian parents -- A silent emergency. The Times Of India, 2(3), n.d. According to the article, the son preference in Asia is regarded as a dominant cultural factor. This is because the parents believe that sons have an obligation of providing security to parents when they become old. The sons also undertake the responsibility of educating and marrying off their siblings. Additionally, the sons are preferred because they are believed to bear the family’s burden, bring dowry and also carry out the rites of the parents. On the other hand, the daughters are normally considered to be liability to the family since investing in them will only benefit their husbands. Vanneman, R., Desai, S., & Vikram, K. Son Preference in India. University Of Maryland, 3(2), (2005):2-35. According to the article, there is abundant son preferences in large sections in Near East, India, Korea, and also in China. The article has suggested that there is equally a massive collection of theories about political, economic, and family sources that tends to sustain the preference for son. The article also offers a comprehensive literature of son preferences based on the researches that were conducted before. With the help of Human Development Survey from India, the paper investigates the six proper measures of son preferences. From the article, there a strong empirical evidence from the relationship that indicates the attitudes of son preference. On the other hand, there is a weaker relationship that exists when looking at some of the behaviors that are fully motivated the preference of sons. Works cited Almond, Douglas, Lena Edlund, and Kevin Milligan. Son preference and the persistence of culture: evidence from Asian immigrants to Canada. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2009. Arnold, Fred, Sunita Kishor, and T. K. Roy. "Sex‐Selective Abortions in India."Population and development review 28.4 (2002): 759-785 Chakraborty, Tanika, and Sukkoo Kim. "Kinship institutions and sex ratios in India." Demography 47.4 (2010): 989-1012. Garg, S., and A. Nath. "Female feticide in India: Issues and concerns." Journal of Postgraduate Medicine 54.4 (2008): 276. Jena, Krushna Chandra. "Female Foeticide in India: A Serious Challenge for the Society." Orissa review (2008). Lane, Trevor. "In India, son preference declines with ideal family size, but remains strong." International Family Planning Perspectives 30.2 (2004): 100-101. Lin, Tin-chi, and Alícia Adserà. "Son preference and children’s housework: The case of India." Population research and policy review 32.4 (2013): 553-584. Mitra, Aparna. Son preference in India: Implications for gender development. University of Oklahoma. Pande, Rohini P., and Nan Marie Astone. "Explaining son preference in rural India: the independent role of structural versus individual factors." Population Research and Policy Review 26.1 (2007): 1-29. Pande, Rohini, and Anju Malhotra. "Son preference and daughter neglect in India." Washington, DC: International Centre for Research on Women (2006). Read More