Unwanted female babies
Name(s):
Daughters as an economic burden
Entrenched cultural fixation on sons
Preference for male children
Female foeticide
Incidence
In India, daughters are considered an economic problem, notably because of the cost of ceremonies and dowry. The admissions to hospital of sick boys far exceeds those of girls, in one hospital by a factor of nine to one. Weak baby girls tend to be left at home to die. Tolerance for girl children had been growing until the last decade, when the availability of pre-natal sex determination techniques increased opportunities of control and female foeticide rather than infanticide. A 1991 survey found that 72% of rural couples and 53% of urban couples in India wanted to have at least 2 sons.
Claim
1. In India, it is argued that bringing up a girl is like watering a neighbour's plant.
2. Sons are an insurance against unemployment, sickness, and old-age. Daughters are nothing but an expense.
Aggravates
Strategy(ies)
Value(s)
Type
(F) Fuzzy exceptional problems