This is not a sentimental rambling, but a long one instead about something that quite frankly deeply upsets me.
The plight of women across the developing world is often underestimated by the intransigent citizens of these countries. Where the, often, old and stifling culture causes them to be unable to stand up against the injustices in their society. But often many victims are unable to see themselves as that - they steadfastly believe in their society - even if it hurts them.
Women are often underappreciated in childhood - only reared to serve their family and then the man they will inevitably marry. As for these women, marriage is their only prospect in life and they are often consigned to a fate where their worthiness as a mother and a wife is based upon their ability to produce numerous boys. As opposed to girls, boys are seen in many places to bring honour to the family whilst girls are merely seen to inconvenience them. This is because the archaic yet illegal practice of dowries are still undertaken (particularly in India). These are given to the husband’s family upon marriage - this is seen to take money away from the family whilst a boy would then bring in this money.
In India, women are deemed “useless” by their husbands if they haven’t produced boys and often ultrasounds are used to determine the sex of the child. If a girl, she is then illegally aborted by her parents. These illegal abortions mean that 7,000 girls are aborted every day on average.
The continued abortions of girls have incredibly detrimental effects on the societies. The preference for boys mean that in some areas of India and China (which also suffers from the same problem due to the one-child policy) the sex ratio is so heavily skewed that for every 100 girls there are almost 140 boys. This means that there will be numerous boys who have not even the slightest hope of marriage, which in these societies is the only way of earning respect and signifies maturity. Often in China, single men are the “bare branches” of society and without a wife these men will continued to be tethered to their home and their family. The lack of women has led to an increase in gender based crimes such as rape and kidnapping/trafficking. This will only get worse as in 2020 it is estimated that there will be 35 million surplus males in China and 25 million in India.
Women are often forced by their husbands to abort girls - one daughter may be accepted, but after that only boys will be loved. Even the mothers appear to undervalue their daughters in certain circumstances as the society has stated that boys are the more important so they are given the best food in the house, they are taken to school whilst the girl stays at home and if ill they are ones that are given routine medical treatment.
This propensity to favour boys is not just limited to the developing world - even in the Western world some families have a great need to produce heirs and due to the fact we live in patriachal societies where the family line is passed on through males there will always be a bias (even if subconscious.)
In China, due to the rapid economic growth the fortunes of many women have already improved. Women are leaving the rural areas, where gender based discrimination is rife, for the city where numerous educational and working opportunities exist for them. Whilst being a factory worker is not the most glamourous of jobs what is represents is more important. This reflects the newfound liberation experienced by Chinese women, which can only be a good thing. If this is then echoed in other developing countries then perhaps, one day, these outdated practices may be wiped out entirely and the ratios of men to women may be stabilised suggesting the healthy outlook of the society towards women.
http://mediastorm.com/publication/undesired
