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The
Girl Child
 The
status of women in most 'third world' and developing countries remains
a cause for concern. Why do we have such a preference for a male child?
What is it that a male child provides parents with, that a female child
cannot?
Many parents have a mistaken belief
that the male child will be a support for parents in the old age. The government
has tried to counter this mindset by providing more means of social security
to the elderly, but such schemes only target the educated urban population,
not the rural villager. Thus, parents still look upon their children as
a main source of support in their old age. They fail to realise that daughters,
if well brought up and educated, can also be a great support to their parents
- not just financially, but emotionally as well. When parents fall ill,
who is more likely to look after them? A daughter or a son? Who can parents
expect more love and companionship from? A son, a daughter-in-law or a
daughter? When a mother wants to go shopping, buy a sari, a salwar kameez
or a jewellery item, who does she go with, her son or her daughter?
It is believed that a daughter is
only yours till the day she gets married, because she leaves the home and
goes away. The son, however, lives with the parents for his entire life,
providing them with companionship and support in their old age. The fact
is that the reverse is true: a son is a son till he gets a wife, a daughter
is a daughter till the end of your life.
The bias against daughters arises
largely because of economic reasons. Sons are viewed as "social security"
in areas where resources are scarce, avenues for savings limited, and public
support for the elderly non-existent. Daughters, on the other hand, require
large dowry payments at the time of marriage. In fact, one of the direct
causes of the preference for the birth of a male child and the increasing
cases of female infanticide is the dowry system. It is imperative that
we abolish this evil which can only be achieved through education.
The preference of a girl child is
mostly seen in India and China, and in these countries female infanticide
is practiced on a large scale. Female infanticide is prevalent amongst
the uneducated rural population of India, who live in extreme poverty,
and this brutal practice reflects the low status accorded to women - especially
in those countries with dominant 'patriarchal' societies. However, the
abortion of a female foetus is a common practice in upper middle-class
and wealthy urban Indian families as well. It is shameful to know that
no other country in the world prevents a doctor from disclosing the sex
of an unborn foetus, except India. Why? Because once parents get to know
that they are carrying a girl child, many opt for an abortion. Even more
deep-rooted is the perception that the woman is inferior to the man. This
is a perception which runs through the mind of every Indian - educated
or not and it is visible in every aspects of our culture. When the well-meaning
aunt of a groom laughs and jokingly says "Aakhir hum ladke waale hai!"
(After all, we're from the boy's side), or when the proud grandmother gifts
her daughter-in-law diamond solitaire earrings on the birth of her grandson
and a simple gold pendant on the birth of a granddaughter.
The next time you as a daughter expect
your parents to bow down to your husband's wishes, or as a husband, if
you expect timely 'gifts' from your in-laws, remember that you are only
contributing to further strengthen the roots of this accursed evil.
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