Female Infanticide in India According to a 2011 census, Indian men outnumber women by nearly 40 million. The startling gender gap, activists say, is the result of infanticide. Nearly 50,000 female futures are aborted every month, and untold numbers of baby girls are abandoned or murdered (Grammy's 68). Even If the girls do make it past their teen years, they are typically treated poorly, if not abused, and receive much fewer benefits from their family, such as the quality education that a male child might obtain.Another exemplification of neglect for the female population was during the Song dynasty In China between the years 960 and 1279 AD, where a brutal practice called foot binding rapidly became popular among higher classes, but eventually spread to the lower classes to indicate an image of wealth to rest of the community (Augural 26). Currently, both of these modern societies of India and China still experience strong preferences for male children.
The case In India has become so extreme that in some areas, such as the region of Punjab, there are only 752 girls for very 1000 males (Patella 54).Overall, during periods of centralization, India is shown to fall back into the traditional pattern of female infanticide and keeps the idea alive through mums of decentralization by enforcing Hindu philosophies. Female Infanticide along with any other form of abuse to girls, was not common during a period of rapidly developing decentralization resulting from something such as an epidemic or a recovery from a war. The main contributing factor of why female infanticide remained a traditional practice despite Indian's lapses into long periods to centralization Is the rise of Hinduism.One example Is after the Muslim conquest In the Indian subcontinent, from the 13th to 16th centuries, when Hinduism began to rise into the power of being the dominant religion in India, while the practices of thoughts which stressed more equality among genders, such as Buddhism, began to fade Into the background (Grammy's 71).
As found in The Laws of Manuscript, a Hindu doctrine that gives specific laws on how to follow ones dharma, women should have very little power, even in their own house (Patella 164).With these mess circling India during times of great decentralization, it was only expected that the practice of female Infanticide would remain a constant ritual In the history of India. Furthermore, although Manuscript, like other patriarchal religious law books of its time, does prescribe the subservience of women to men; it condemns men who are derelict in their duty to care for and protect the women under their Jurisdiction. 'Off with his rules to honor and never violate women, his laws pertaining to them seem regressive in comparison to those of many other ancient cultures.For example, "Those who seek great prosperity and happiness should Manuscript says, never inflict pain on women. Where women are honored, in that family great men are born, but where they are not honored, all acts are fruitless.
Where women pass their days in misery and sorrow because of the misdeeds of their husbands, that family soon entirely perishes, but where they are happy because of the good conduct of their husbands, the family continually prospers. (3:57-58) It's therefore ironic that this text is most often referred to when Justifying violent actions against women.Instead, the text is suggesting that women should only be protected so that they may raise great men. After the popularization of these laws in 200 BCC to 200 CE, the typical role of women in these infanticide societies was non-existent outside of the home. They had no power in politics, warfare, or even the ability to have their own occupation.
A higher caste female could not work outside of the family, making heir role in society sufficiently less than it was before the end of the Guppy Empire.During the height the Empire, Indian's population was growing rapidly and the society began to move to a more centralized one. A woman's main purpose in life was to first find a husband and then bear their children. Often, women were killed along with female babies since they had not provided their husband with a son. "Sons are called upon to provide the income; they are the ones who do most of the work in the fields.
In this way sons are looked to as a type of insurance. With this perspective, it comes clearer that the high value given to males decreases the value given to females. (Puerperal, 174). During the same era even higher castes showed a tendency of infanticide, proving that it is not something that occurred for poverty reasons.
More likely, female infanticide was considered a luxury because poorer families needed to have every member of the family working to accumulate enough food. While female infanticide was instituted in the upper-classes, it spread to the lower branches quickly as they too sought to achieve this ideal image of wealth and beauty.Historically, the practice of female infanticide in India was limited upper- caste groups due to the custom of hyperemia (marriage of a woman to a man from a social group above hers) because of the worry as to how to get a suitable match for the upper caste women. " (Patella, 289). Today in India, female infanticide is still a quandary and yet it has not been obliterated from Indian's history.
The Laws of Manuscript have seemingly permanently instigated the idea of killing girls since they are seen to serve little to no purpose in the society.Tradition makes people ignorant, specially if this practice has been around for nearly a thousand years. This ignorance has allowed these modern day women to overlook the tragedy that they continue to carry on through generations. With the aid of larger companies, such as EUNICE, lower-class Indian women will have the access to education about this matter, hopefully erasing it once and for all from the future.
