Female infanticide & dowry system
We live in a country where, not the rich or the poor, but the position of women as a whole has waxed and waned. Thinking about the older times – when women would be treated as goddesses - they were privileged with every kind of rights we talk about today – then the later times when women were treated as ‘a purposed mistake’ or an ‘unwanted belonging’. There was hardly any difference between what were in those times – the ‘Dalits’ and women. We don’t decide rules for a gender, or for the society; we believe in our hunch. Why was there ever a discrimination between two genders? Why did one have to be the superior? We never asked these questions, because people’s intuitions became rules – These were the rules.
The earliest age we know was the Rig Vedic age – where women enjoyed every possible freedom. They could choose whom to marry, they had the right to education. There were no social norms against women (like sati and child marriage). However, as years pass by, society changes, all social custom changes. The rules HAD changed for women. They were suppressed under the power of men. The later Vedic period and the Gupta period saw the brutality of men towards women. The epics and Puranas equated women with property. No religion favored the freedom of women.
A caste system prevailed for years. However, it wasn’t an issue in case of women rights as along with the Dalits, women too, were under repression. They had to accept the purdah and a sati system. Girls were married off at a young as a thought was pinned to everyone’s mind – ‘women are guests in their parent’s houses. They are better married off’.
All these lead to the introduction of dowry system. Parents made huge loads of money/property to their family where their daughter is getting married. Poor people considered it a bad omen to have a girl child, because they did not have enough to pay dowry. This in-turn led to the practice of female infanticide.
Indians prefer sons over daughters; we believe in patriarchal society (a society led by the males. It is expected that marrying a son will extend the family lineage. Girls are primarily considered a liability until they are married off. Spending money on educating a girl is equated to investing in a venture that has already failed.
Technology, undoubtedly has done wonders. However this technology was used for eradication of girl children – female infanticide – killing the female fetus. This is one of the many reasons how technology is misused (it still is in many parts of India).
Little do those orthodox Indians know, that, female infanticide means killing the future male heirs. How would sons be born if there are no females? When did this thought ever come to any orthodox Indian citizen’s minds – Hardly ever. Slowly and steadily things are changing. As education is being promoted well, we understand the importance of both genders equally; we understand how women and not just a liability but are the strength of a household.
The practice of killing the girl child is a cruel and abominable act that must be stopped. The only way for that is to spread awareness and make people realize the consequences of not saving their daughter. It is a social and moral responsibility of every citizen of this country to put an end to this inhuman practice and also spread awareness about the need for believing in the merits of women to play multiple roles in the life of the nation as they have proven to be outstanding performers in different professions. Nature too has gifted women to play different roles of a daughter, sister, wife and mother with equal ease and success.
The earliest age we know was the Rig Vedic age – where women enjoyed every possible freedom. They could choose whom to marry, they had the right to education. There were no social norms against women (like sati and child marriage). However, as years pass by, society changes, all social custom changes. The rules HAD changed for women. They were suppressed under the power of men. The later Vedic period and the Gupta period saw the brutality of men towards women. The epics and Puranas equated women with property. No religion favored the freedom of women.
A caste system prevailed for years. However, it wasn’t an issue in case of women rights as along with the Dalits, women too, were under repression. They had to accept the purdah and a sati system. Girls were married off at a young as a thought was pinned to everyone’s mind – ‘women are guests in their parent’s houses. They are better married off’.
All these lead to the introduction of dowry system. Parents made huge loads of money/property to their family where their daughter is getting married. Poor people considered it a bad omen to have a girl child, because they did not have enough to pay dowry. This in-turn led to the practice of female infanticide.
Indians prefer sons over daughters; we believe in patriarchal society (a society led by the males. It is expected that marrying a son will extend the family lineage. Girls are primarily considered a liability until they are married off. Spending money on educating a girl is equated to investing in a venture that has already failed.
Technology, undoubtedly has done wonders. However this technology was used for eradication of girl children – female infanticide – killing the female fetus. This is one of the many reasons how technology is misused (it still is in many parts of India).
Little do those orthodox Indians know, that, female infanticide means killing the future male heirs. How would sons be born if there are no females? When did this thought ever come to any orthodox Indian citizen’s minds – Hardly ever. Slowly and steadily things are changing. As education is being promoted well, we understand the importance of both genders equally; we understand how women and not just a liability but are the strength of a household.
The practice of killing the girl child is a cruel and abominable act that must be stopped. The only way for that is to spread awareness and make people realize the consequences of not saving their daughter. It is a social and moral responsibility of every citizen of this country to put an end to this inhuman practice and also spread awareness about the need for believing in the merits of women to play multiple roles in the life of the nation as they have proven to be outstanding performers in different professions. Nature too has gifted women to play different roles of a daughter, sister, wife and mother with equal ease and success.
We live in a country where, not the rich or the poor, but the position of women as a whole has waxed and waned. Thinking about the older times – when women would be treated as goddesses - they were privileged with every kind of rights we talk about today – then the later times when women were treated as ‘a purposed mistake’ or an ‘unwanted belonging’. There was hardly any difference between what were in those times – the ‘Dalits’ and women. We don’t decide rules for a gender, or for the society; we believe in our hunch. Why was there ever a discrimination between two genders? Why did one have to be the superior? We never asked these questions, because people’s intuitions became rules – These were the rules.
The earliest age we know was the Rig Vedic age – where women enjoyed every possible freedom. They could choose whom to marry, they had to right to education. There were no social norms against women (like sati and child marriage). However, as years pass by, society changes, all social custom changes. The rules HAD changed for women. They were suppressed under the power of men. The later Vedic period and the Gupta period saw the brutality of men towards women. The epics and Puranas equated women with property. No religion favored the freedom of women.
A caste system prevailed for years. However, it wasn’t an issue in case of women rights as along with the Dalits, women too, were under repression. They had to accept the purdah and a sati system. Girls were married off at a young as a thought was pinned to everyone’s mind – ‘women are guests in their parent’s houses. They are better married off’.
All these lead to the introduction of dowry system. Parents made huge loads of money/property to their family where their daughter is getting married. Poor people considered it a bad omen to have a girl child, because they did not have enough to pay dowry. This in-turn led to the practice of female infanticide.
Indians prefer sons over daughters; we believe in patriarchal society (a society led by the males. It is expected that marrying a son will extend the family lineage. Girls are primarily considered a liability until they are married off. Spending money on educating a girl is equated to investing in a venture that has already failed.
Technology, undoubtedly has done wonders. However this technology was used for eradication of girl children – female infanticide – killing the female fetus. This is one of the many reasons how technology is misused (it still is in many parts of India).
Little do those orthodox Indians know, that, female infanticide means killing the future male heirs. How would sons be born if there are no females? When did this thought ever come to any orthodox Indian citizen’s minds – Hardly ever. Slowly and steadily things are changing. As education is being promoted well, we understand the importance of both genders equally; we understand how women and not just a liability but are the strength of a household.
The practice of killing the girl child is a cruel and abominable act that must be stopped. The only way for that is to spread awareness and make people realize the consequences of not saving their daughter. It is a social and moral responsibility of every citizen of this country to put an end to this inhuman practice and also spread awareness about the need for believing in the merits of women to play multiple roles in the life of the nation as they have proven to be outstanding performers in different professions. Nature too has gifted women to play different roles of a daughter, sister, wife and mother with equal ease and success.