Female Infanticide and Foeticide Essay

Past Indian governments have accepted the damaging effects of dowries towards women and made it illegal through the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, yet the policy broadly defined the punishable aspect of the practice making it difficult to enforce (Shenk, 2007). As a result of the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 failing in implementation, the Indian Government passed two amendments in the 1980’s. The changes increased the severity of punishment, and made the demand of a dowry illegal that

I like the way you put it out clear that different cultures hold different social values. Some cultures are westernized while others are still in the traditional way of living where a man is the bread winner of the family.

On the first page of the reading it said that girls in India are “fed less than boys and are given less medical care” (Goldberg, 2009, p. 171). I knew females were considered of less value in India, but it still surprised me to read this. I do not understand how a parent can look at their child and decide they are worth less because of their sex. All the boys that are desperately desired in India and other countries would not exist without women.

I remember coming home from school one day and my mom handing me a flyer. I didn’t think much of it until I saw the large, bold lettering on the top. The words read, “IT’S A GIRL.” Normally that phrase was treated as a joyous occasion, but the font and serious theme of the flyer made me think otherwise. I continued to read and became more disturbed by the subject the flyer was discussing. My stomach tied into one large knot and I became physically sickened by the flyer. It spoke of horrible events occurring in the lives of females around the world and particularly tiny, newborn girls. This both disgusted me and sparked something inside of me. I didn’t understand why anyone would treat a precious baby like that, but I was determined to find out.

With such importance placed on a boy child- male dominance rises, abortion rates increase and women have no importance or role in the society. As the male population goes up, the society is more prone to banditry, rapes, sexual harassment cases, eve teasing, rioting and militarization. Shortage of women also leads to socially disruptive behavior and mental health issues.

In every culture there is a stark differentiation between males and females. In my culture as in many others, men are viewed as the stronger sex and are viewed as having unbreakable hearts. Young men are not lectured by their mothers the way they lecture their daughters. In our culture, just because the boys do not get pregnant, there is not a heavy

Essentially, abortion equates to the loss of a potentially influential benefactor and hinders a jiva from reaching enlightenment by interrupting the Karmic cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Although the majority of the present populations of Hindus maintain a pro-life stance, Indian culture has developed a gender preference for their offspring. In modern times, some Indian women are using abortion as a way to give birth to boys as opposed to girls. This preference is credited to the social and economic value of men. Males can receive inherited land from parents, protect their parents or care for them in need, and are generally more involved in the

The discrimination of a female in the developing Indian society begins at the determination of sex. Compared to their male counterparts, at the determination of the fetus, females are more susceptible to being aborted by the mother. According to T.V.Sekher and Neelambar Hatti: “recent studies of female infanticide, new biases in sex ratios at birth and infant and child mortality rates indicate that extreme forms of daughter discrimination resulting in death have persisted (Miller 1981: Coale and Bannister 1994)” (Sekher, Hatti). This discrimination is acted through many forms during early life. Discrimination can be represented by choice infanticide and/or sex-based abortion. Within developing India there is a low

Despite the fact that the maternal mortality ratio is considered one of the main indicators of a country’s status in the area of maternal health, the burden of maternal mortality is only a small fraction of the burden of maternal morbidity; the health problems borne by women during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Maternal deaths have been described as the tip of the iceberg and maternal morbidity as the base. Yet, women who survive life-threatening conditions arising from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth have many common aspects with those who die of such complications (1, 2).

The age old problem of female related issues affecting the Indian society adversely continues to exist today in the 21st century. The advancement of new age, technology, scientific inventions, standard of life, and change in life style has failed to bring- in change of the mindset. The problem of female infanticide in India seems to be persistent. The alarming records collected by local, regional, national and international bodies only reflect the drastic decline in the male- female ratio. The matter is of serious concern and what is required is not only law but the change that each one has to bring- in understanding that when Nature was impartial in evolving man and woman, why has the society then brought about gender discrimination.

“Son preference and Daughter Neglect in India” talks about the ideology of son preference in India and what it means for the health and care of girls who survive infancy. A key factor driving gender inequality is the preference for sons, as they are deemed more useful than girls. Boys are given the exclusive rights to inherit the family name and properties and they are viewed as additional status for their family. Another factor is that of religious practices, which can only be performed by males for their parents ' afterlife. All these factors make sons more desirable. Moreover, the prospect of parents ‘losing’ daughters to the husband’s family and expensive

Facing this problem is not easy at all. We have to make families aware about the importance of girl child for the balance of society.

The once mystical women have fallen from being worshipped as goddesses and possessors of the mystery of child birth1 to mere child bearers. If females are the oppressed among humans, perhaps they can take heart from the fact that failing to escape after mating, the male gets eaten by the bigger and stronger female black widow spider.2 The strong oppress the weak which is in concordance with the laws of nature, and the same goes for humans. But humans are supposed to be at least a cut above the other

The family is the matchmaker in the Indian marriage tradition who arranges the marriages for their son or daughter. It is the male’s family who is in charge for arranging the marriage. Arranged marriages plays a huge part in India traditions and is a part of Hindu marriage rituals. Seldom do they pick the individual pick for themselves, if they do it must be approved by the elders. For families who are picking a woman for their son, the most important concern is the social status of the woman’s family as reputation is a mark of what kind of what she will be. The women family only the other hand has more pressure in finding a husband for their daughter due to the responsible of having to give gifts to marry her off, similar practice to an illegal system call the dowry. They will most likely be responsible for taking care of the wedding cost. Marriage dowry is where the wife family pays the husband family sometimes in land or money for her marrying and living with his family. Women often do not have an objection to whom they will marry be are subject to whoever they family feel is the best fit. Once

In India, women and young girls are not given the opportunity to thrive in a male-dominated society. Women are slaughtered as part of an honor killing to protect men in their society and are discriminated prior birth when girls are aborted in preference of a male heir. Women are shunned for not fitting into societal norms and for their sexuality and are constantly forced down because they are not seen as equal. Gender discrimination has become the norm in their society. Women are perceived as second class residents centered on their gender and are deemed inferior in both their professional and private lives.  Gender discrimination has become an immense