Sex Selection in India
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Sex Selection in India
The Increasing Sex Ratio in Favor of Boys in India
Introduction
The Indian society shows an overwhelming preference for the male child. The chauvinistic preference has been socialized over the years because of the supposedly high cost that is attached to raising a female child. Many in the Indian society believe that the girl child is more of a liability while the male child is an asset. This is because the female child requires protection and large amount of resources channeled towards dowry payment. It is believed that the female child requires more care than the male child does. This particular perspective has led to various societal measures that are focused towards the reduction of the number of female children. These measures are the pre-natal sex selection techniques, female infanticide and abandonment of the female child. One of the measures in pre- natal sex selection is Female Selective Abortion. FSA has been one of the major contributing factors to the missing girls in Asia (Unnithan- Kumar, 2009). Selective infanticide and abortion in India and other Asian countries are a result of retrogressive culture that is deeply embedded in society.
In the Indian community, there has been and a great increase in not only the general population but more so the deficit of female citizens. In the past forty years, India has been experiencing a decline in the sex ratio. In 2011, the country recorded only 914 girls for every 1000 boys. This decline has been greatly attributed to Female Selective Abortion among mothers. A smaller percentage of this deficit can be attributed to selective infanticide (Yehuda, 2007). The gender imbalance has been aggravated by issues of class and technological improvements. Among the rich in India, technological improvements have promoted the increase of the procedures procured to aid in pre-natal sex selection. This is because most of the improved technology is acquired by private health institutions that are easily accessed by the richer members of the Indian society. The subsequent result has been a drastic reduction in the number of female children in the society.
Reasons for Selective Abortions and Infanticide in India
Cultural preservations. In Asian countries, there has been an increasing dearth of equilibrium in the ratio of the male to female children. The increasing imbalance has greatly favored the male child. In Pakistan, India, china, Korea and Taiwan FSA has been practiced for the last twenty years as a responsive measure to the growing preference for the male child. Female Selective Abortion is the act of killing a female infant. Termination of the pregnancy occurs because of norms embedded in the culture of the society. These particular norms place more value on the male child. The norms in these particular Asian communities subsequently put pressure in marriages and encourage gender inequality. Selective infanticide is also embedded in FSA. This is where, immediately after birth, the female children are killed.
Apart from, selective abortion, mothers in India also discard their daughters after birth. This has been for various reasons. One of them is that family resources have been channeled to the male child for a long time (Yehuda, 2007). This pattern was disrupted when the fertility rate among women in India was high. However, with the decline in fertility rates, mothers have increased their engagement in both selective abortion and infanticide. Mothers in India opt for these methods as a measure to ensure that they give birth to sons. The result is that there has been a growth in gap between the ratios of the boy to the girl child.
selective abortion in the rural areas. In the rural set up, poverty has also been a motivating factor for procuring selective infanticide. This is because the growing rates of landlessness and the increase in the value of dowry have increased the cost of bearing a daughter. The low levels of education among the women in the rural areas have also reduced their opportunity of acquiring financial emancipation through employed wages. Those who manage to find work undergo discrimination through the gender differentials that are applied in paying labor. Female infanticide then becomes a feasible option as a way of alleviating them from their poverty.
In other perspectives, FSA is seen as not only a channel of modernization but also a way of preserving traditional values. The values that are being preserved in this particular instance are those that concern the worth placed on the male child. The Indian traditions place great value on the male child and FSA encourages the birth of male children. This is more so in the rural set up where traditional values are greatly upheld. The main duty of the wife is to comply with the husband’s wishes. In a patriarchal society, men encourage the elevation of the male gender. This will mean that a male child is preferred to a female child.
Economic leverage. The conversion of society to one that values market-oriented economies continues to burry gender inequality deeper into the pillars of society. Such values water the positive implication of having a female child. One of these positive implications is the natural bond that exists between a mother and her daughter. Women will then have to be deprived of such satisfaction that comes with such bonding. This is one reason why some women opt for Female selective Abortion. This abortion is seen by women as a way of protecting their daughters from the agony of not being hindered from forming this natural bond with their daughters.
The male child is considered a source of the mother’s security during her old age. The male child is seen as a source of economic benefits and this qualifies FSA as a pragmatic measure. Many women justify selective abortions because they argue that during widowhood or old age, they can live off the wealth of their sons. Sons are a sign of affection and protection. This is because they continue family lineage and activities. They carry the family name and carry out publicized roles like death rituals. With the rise in the cost of living, FSA has become a feasible reproductive choice. It would be highly costly to raise a big family. The financial implications will be worse if the children in the family are daughters. FSA then becomes an economical choice.
In the marriage set up, the wife is seen as a burden to her in-laws. This is one reason why the family of the bride is required to pay dowry. This notion was popular in India when women were not in waged employment. It was then the holistic responsibility of the husband to take care of the wife. The dowry was to act as compensation to the family of the husband for the expenses he was expected to incur. However, this perspective is still carried on in the Indian community in spite of the rapid increase of women engaging in waged employment. The continuity of this cultural practice is evidence of society’s chauvinistic values. A wife’s financial contribution in the family is perceived to be of little value.
FSA is also seen as a way of ensuring the well-being of the existing children. This is because the fewer the children, the more attention they are given by the parents. The resources that are availed to the family are channeled to the existing children. The male child is a source of wealth to his parents because of the dowry that he receives during marriage. Raising a girl would mean extra costs. However, it is profitable to raise the male counterparts. In the Indian community, raising a daughter is like watering someone else’s plant and watching them as they reap the profits of your labor. Among the upper caste landowners in India, selective abortion and infanticide is seen as a way of ensuring that they maintain their social status. A son would be able to acquire more land and resources through dowry. This would ensure that the economic status of the caste would be maintained.
Social pressure. The social implications of not giving birth to a son fall largely on the mother. Although the couple is to bear the social cost, most of the burden rests upon the wife. When a couple does not bear a son, the wife is usually stigmatized and goes through varied forms of torture. The India society will consider a mother infertile when she has not given birth to a male child. She will be called barren despite of her female children. The structural and ideological importance that is placed on the male child becomes the driving force behind FSA.
Women emancipation. Cases of FSA are not all results of compliance to the society’s norms. Some mothers procure selective abortions out of personal choices and preference. This has been one of the arguments of Indian feminists. Some Indian mothers undergo this procedure not as a sign of succumbing to societal pressure but out of their personal choice. This is then viewed as an act of women exercising their rights and freedoms over their own bodies. It is seen as women’s ability to have control over their bodies. The viewpoint of some feminists and pro-FSA is that the act represents the woman’s ability to protect her daughter from agony and torture that is evident in a chauvinistic society. The argument is that in such a society their daughters will undergo social control. It is also a sign of gaining freedom in a patriarchal society.
Technological advancements. Availability of technological advancement in India has also led to an increase in the cases of Female Selective Abortions. In the past twenty years, women in India have seen an ease in accessing technology such as foetal ultra sound. Such technology as the ultra sound allows the mother of the unborn child to know the sex of the child. The accessibility of the technology has grown because of the low costs of the machine. This is because the machine is manufactured locally. Apart from them being manufactured locally, population control officials increased their portability (Yehuda, 2007). After the move by the population control officials, India saw an increase in selective sex abortion in the late 1980s. The scan technology acts as a source of prestige and status for health institutions and this has helped in increasing the number of scanning machines in hospitals. The accessibility of the technology has subsequently increased the number of sex detection procedures that are being carried out. This has led to an increase in selective abortions being carried out. The abortions are done in order to rid of a fetus if the sex of the child is not wanted.
Emotional leverage. Scans carried out to determine the sex of the fetus acts as an emotional leverage for the mothers. A male fetus will lead to an increase in the mother’s attachment to the unborn child. This is because the male unborn child acts as the mother’s guarantee of a place in her marital home. The male child will therefore be a source of emotional satisfaction. The scanning technology is therefore viewed as a source of morality in the society. This is because it restores a mother’s peace of mind by allowing her to know of abnormalities in her pregnancy. A female child is considered an abnormal pregnancy. The scan not only allows the mother to detect abnormalities in her pregnancy but also gives her the opportunity to correct the abnormality. At only 20 weeks into the pregnancy, mothers are able to determine the sex of the unborn child. In cases where the child was a girl, abortion could be carried out and re-conception could occur. This method was considered better than infanticide because it involved less psychological distress and it took less time. This then became the basis for an increase in the number of selective abortions that take place in India.
Modernization. Society is undergoing varied forms of modernization. In the advent of westernization, there has been a great need to embrace Western values. One of these values is that which encourages individualism and having small families. In a bid to embrace modern values, some mothers opt for FSA in order to regulate the sizes of their families. This is usually a collective decision made by both the parents. FSA is then seen as the society’s conversion to modernization.
Marriage institution. The marriage institution is important in influencing the decision to procure a selective abortion or infanticide (Unnithan- Kumar, 2009). A marriage experiences pressure to secure a reproductive future for the family. Society has inherent pressures that revolve around issues of inheritance, status and a secure future. These pressures are subsequently exerted on the basic social unit, which is the family. FSA is then dependent on the value that is placed on a child in regards to the child’s ability to help the family secure a financially stable future. Selective Abortion or infanticide of the female child is based on the child’s ability to give the family a reproductive future.
The value of the girl child in India can be understood by analyzing the social institution of marriage. India places less value on the girl child because of the value that is placed on the boy child. The boy child is considered the general reproduction of the community. Values obtained from the Hindu religion and Ayurveda encourage preference for the male child. This is because the male sex is seen in closest association with blood. Blood is then seen as the main substance of relation. Furthermore, semen is regarded to be the most pure form of life.
A marriage institution is the main way through which transmission of blood is regulated. To ensure that the male child aids in the continuity of the patrilineal heritage, great control is exercised over the institution of marriage. The patrilineal heritage should be protected from all impurities. The male child is given the responsibility of patrilineal purity by ensuring that he is married within the same caste system. This then acts as the basis for placing more value on the male child. Mothers are then forced by constrains of these societal values to undergo Female Selective abortion.
Central Problem
In India, the wife’s dowry becomes the basis for discrimination from the in-laws. Pressure is put on the wife to give her husband gifts associated to dowry. This then becomes a heavy financial implication on the wife’s family. This particular financial implication is the motivation behind selective abortion carried out by many mothers. Unnithan-Kumar identifies a case study where a wife was compelled to get her husband a motorcycle (Unnithan- Kumar, 2009). The wife received physical abuse from her in-laws and her father was finally forced to borrow money in order to purchase a motor cycle. Some members of the Indian society believe that in procuring a selective abortion, the couple is aiding the family from evading financial constrains that would arise from raising a female child.
India has enacted various laws that are geared towards restoring gender imbalance. However, the society has held firm to its cultural beliefs. This is evident in the devaluation of the woman’s financial contribution in the family setup. The irony is that in the last twenty years, out of the 10 million early terminations of fetuses that India has recorded, majority of them were procured by educated women (Yehuda, 2007). Educated women are more likely to carry out selective abortions than those who are poorer and uneducated. This is so because education exposes women to alternative methods of family planning and they are able to make informed decisions. However, the poorer and uneducated are well educated on the method and those who are informed are not able to meet these costs that are involved while carrying out the procedure
Missing Girls
Due to unequal treatment and discrimination in the globe, there are currently 100 million women missing in the world. This figure is a representation of the number of female members of the society that have died due to discrimination that was evident in their inaccessibility to resources. India has the highest female deficits in the globe. India is closely followed by China. The issue of the missing girls is a global catastrophe. In the 21st century, it accounts for more deaths than the casualties of famine do and major epidemics do. The issue of the missing girls is a representation of society’s deviation from the expected sex ratio.
India has recorded a masculine sex ratio over the past twenty years. The rise in sex ratio has been attributed to infanticide and female selective abortion. This substantial growth in the sex ratio has also been caused by the neglect of the girl child. Economic prosperous states like Punjab and Gujarat have recorded dwindling sex ratios. Out of the 12 million girls that are born in India every year, a third of them barely survive through their first year while a quarter of them do not see their fifteenth birthdays.
Solutions
The problem of sex ratio imbalance can be alleviated trough changing the society’s perspective of the girl child. Much of the gender-based discrimination that occurs is because of the traditional perspective held by the society. This perspective is shown in society’s violence towards the girl child. This violence begins before the birth of the child through selective abortion. The discrimination that the girl child is subjected to cuts across the different social classes, economic groups and caste systems. The implication of this is that the girl child has been made an endangered species without any barriers to assure her security and exemption from this discriminatory treatment. In order to tackle this issue effectively, there is a need for a change of the mentality of the society towards the value of the girl child. Sensitization and advocacy will help in to build an image of a professionally skillful, economically sufficient and educationally capable girl child.
Awareness on the girl child’s welfare will help in restoration of the gender imbalance in India. Laws that provide equal opportunities to the girl child should be communicated and explained to the members of the society. Such laws are like the 2005 Amendment Act and the 2006 protection of women against violence. These laws avail equal opportunities for the girl child to acquire employment, property and other resources. Measures that encourage gender equity should be undertaken. Such measures include financial support of families with female children.
While trying to restore gender balance in India, it is important to educate the society on the effects of a falling sex ratio. It is important for the society to be educated on the implications of a widening gap in gender imbalance. Such implications are like the society converting into polyandry. This is a society where a wife marries more than one husband. Another implication is the forceful abduction of females due to the increase in the number of unmarried males. The gender imbalance would also lead to a rapid increase in childbearing and the effect of that would be bearing weak children. The media can be an important tool in the dissemination of this information.
The district authorities need to increase their accountability in the implementation process of fertility policies. This will pave way for effective implementation of these policies. The support of the district authorities could leverage the bureaucratic system of the government. The district authorities’ proactive role will strengthen the accountability mechanism applied in the implementation process. This kind of accountability will ensure that the offenses committed against the enacted law are punished as stipulated in the law. The accountability will help in the reduction of impunity in regards to the policies and laws. In this context, cases of feticide must be thoroughly scrutinized and health institutions must maintain concise records of feticides.
An integration of the district administration with the tax department will help in effective implementation of the fertility policies. This kind of cooperation will ensure that the incomes of different clinics are crosschecked with those of the performances from the ultra sound procedures. An integrated policy network will give a cohesive unit that ensures transparency in the activities of medical practitioners. A strengthened horizontal and vertical relationship between the Income Tax Department and the district administration will give a monitoring unit that allows easy interaction between the two bodies.
Distortion that has been brought about the high sex ratios has caused the policymakers in India to seek solutions that are geared towards increasing the value of the female child. One of the distortions of gender imbalance the marital choices of the man in India and other Asian countries have been affected. Due to deficits in the female population, the male population is forced to seek spouses outside the boundaries of their countries. Countries like Korea and Taiwan have men who began marrying foreign women due to an increase in the use of ultra sound technology. The implication of this process is that the male is tasked with the responsibility of engaging in a costly process of finding a bride. The men also face the possibility of not finding a wife. The imbalance has also costs on the women. In a country like China where the men marry women from Vietnam, there have been cases where the women are tortured. Many of these women have their rights infringed. Some of them are kidnapped while others are forced to engaging in prostitution (Yehuda, 2007).
India must seek solutions that will help to gender balance in its society. The high sex ratios must shift towards equilibrium in order to negate the distortion brought about by the gender imbalance. One of the solutions undertaken by the Chinese government is initiation of public campaigns that emphasize on the importance of daughters in the society. These campaigns also encourage doctors to disclose the sex of children in order to reduce the number of selective abortions that are being carried out. Indian has initiated campaigns to shame the medical practitioners carrying out the abortion (Yehuda, 2007).
In finding the solutions that can aid the issue of gender preference in India, many myths have risen. One of the myths is that the values of the female child can be reconstructed in the society by increasing the ability of women in society to access resources. One of the measures geared this particular affirmative action is the education of women. Through education, women increase their opportunity of equal employment opportunities as those of the men. This particular measure managed to meet the expectation of its proponent because the number of employed women in India increased with the increase of the girl child’s exposure to education. This meant an increase in the amount of contribution that the woman could put into the family set up. The husband and his husband would then be relieved of the financial burden that the woman would earlier cause them.
The efforts of the campaigns have bore little fruit in India and China. Black market procedures have instead been on the increase and practitioners are carrying out ultra sound scans against the strict warning. Another impact of the campaign is a reduction in the price of the procedure. In the rural areas, many medical practitioners have the procedure easily accessible to the rural dwellers. Desperate parents can easily access the procedure from black market practitioners (Yehuda, 2007).
Fertility controls should be geared towards having a financial implication on those who are carrying selective sex abortions. This will help in discouraging mothers from undertaking the procedure. The government of countries like India and China can impose subsidies or tax on carrying out the procedure. Currently in India, there are high financial charges on those who are carrying out unlicensed births. The fines are embedded in Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act.
Role of the Constitution in Gender Imbalance
Fertility policies embedded in the constitution help the reduction of gender discrimination in India. While coming up with fertility policies it is paramount for the policy makers to understand the decision process involved before procuring selective abortions or infanticides. This understanding will assist in coming up with effective designs for fertility policies. There is also a great need to change the perspective of the society concerning the girl child. Perspectives can be changed by launching effective social campaigns. The civil society and the government also play a role in the alleviation of the skewed Indian sex ratio.
Ban on the use of ultra sound. In 1976, a ban was introduced in India to stop the use of the ultra sound machine on the determination of the sex of the child (Yehuda, 2007). This is after the government of India had noted the influence of the machine on the sex ratios of the country. However, such laws have not put a stop to the practice of FSA. One of the arguments for the procedure is that the choice of whether or not to abort the child should be left absolutely to the mother of the child (Unnithan- Kumar, 2009). Doctors have continued to carry out the procedure and in the last twenty years, India has seen the early termination of 10 million fetuses (Yehuda, 2007).
Illegalization of pre-natal sex determination. During the period between 1988 and 1977, the government enacted laws that made pre-natal sex determination an offense. If the procedure was carried out with the purpose of carrying out an abortion, it was considered a penal offense. Various movements were launched to protest against female feticide and prenatal sex determination. A monitory board was formed in 1984 in Bombay. This board was to monitor aspects of sex determination and pre-selection. The board was also to record the use of technology in sex determination. The legal framework of the techniques was to be documented by the board.
Pre-natal diagnostic technique act. In 1994, the central government passed the Prenatal Diagnostic Technique Act. The law stipulated that it was illegal to determine the sex of fetuses. Communication of the sex from the doctor to any individual including the parents was also declared illegal. The law also illegalized advertising of diagnosis facilities. The law allowed the procedure to be carried out only in specific conditions. In registered health institutions, an expectant mother could be allowed to undergo the procedure. The woman had to show a history of child defects in her family. Apart from this, she was also supposed to be above that age of 35. Those found guilty of an offense within this act were to be imprisoned for different numbers of years depending on the degree of their offense. This particular act bore fruit because in the census carried out in 2001, there was a decline in the sex ratio.
Pre-conception and pre natal diagnostic technique act. The Prenatal Diagnostic Technique Act was amended in 2003. It was renamed the Pre- conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Technique Act. The amendment made provision for the for pre implantation techniques. The amendment gave the government more control on ultra scanning. This acts as a check for sex selection. These fines help in giving an estimate of the monetary value of a son. These initiatives will also help to regulate the population growth in India and China. The Act has seen India record an increase in the sex ratio. The number of girls increased from 895 to 904 in the January 2012 per 1000 boys.
The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Act of India has various structures that ensure its implementation. One of the implementation procedures has been setting up various websites and help lines. These hotlines and websites act as channels for forwarding complaints and malpractices. The judicial system is also being sensitized on the importance of the Act. Awareness is being created among judges and prosecutors concerning the role of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Act. Following this sensitization process, the doctors have been convicted with a few being de-registered.
Challenges in Implementation of Laws
However, these legislations have faced a number of challenges. One of these challenges is the ineffective provisions of the laws. The 1971 Medical Termination Act had many loopholes. The loopholes were detrimental to the implementation of the act. The law was only effective in the jurisdiction of public health institutions. This meant that private health institutions were free to act however, they wanted to. Private clinics needed only registration from the government and they could carry out the different test that the government had banned.
These laws also had poor monitoring during the implementation process. The poor monitoring was attributed to poor resources. The defined structures also lacked the capacity to carry out effective inspection and monitoring. The committees that were set up to give advice were also lagging behind on their duties. The political leaders also exert pressure on those implementing these laws in a bid to have control over them. Lack of comprehension of the law that has led to victimization of expectant women.
Another challenge that these acts have faced is dearth of concern from the government. The government has been reluctant to invest in the implementation of these laws. This is because the issue of a high sex ratio is not yet perceived as a global or local catastrophe. The government’s intervention has therefore been minimal. Attempts to challenge the government’s participation have been difficult due to the various bureaucratic procedures that have been put into place.
The laws that have been passed with regards to the issue of sex ratio imbalance are not geared towards empowering the women. The woman’s inferiority has been the basis for the rise in sex ratio. It is therefore important to empower the woman so that she is aware of her rights and her equality in the society. The laws need not to be preventive but prohibitive. They should prohibit practices that encourage gender discrimination. An example is the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1927 that did not illegalize child marriage but merely prevented it.
The ignorance of the citizens to these laws has also been detrimental to their effective implementation. The lack of knowledge on the effects of a high sex ratio hinders the success of fertility policies. The Succession Act remains unknown to many. This Hindu act allows a daughter to inherit from her father. Ignorance is detrimental to the implementation of the laws passed in regards to the alleviation of the sex ratio imbalance.
Medical practitioners have laws that govern their actions. These practitioners are expected to register their ultra sound equipment. Apart from this, they are also expected to keep a record of sex determinations. The government of India carries out random inspections in medical institutions within the city and general state. Cases are filed against the doctors who do not comply with these regulations.
The Game Theory
Introduction
The game theory is a way of analyzing and the process of making strategic decisions. The theory is used in various disciplines like Political Science, Biology, Economics and Psychology. The theory studies decision-making models that show the interaction of conflict and cooperation while making decisions. John von Neumann greatly developed the modern game theory where he focused on strategies of equlibria where the players are involved in a zero-sum game. The theory studies the interaction of individuals interact with one another in order to achieve their desired goals. The theory has a cooperative and a non-cooperative model. In both theories theory the general motive is to act in a way that will maximize the gains of the individuals of the game. The theory has three branches that are general equilibrium theory, mechanism design theory and decision theory (Owen, 1968).
In the decision theory, the game is considered to have one player who is against the forces of nature. The theory places focus on the formation of beliefs and different preferences. In relation to sex preference in India, the mother is seen as the player who is against the forces of nature. The major argument of the decision theory is that an individual’s preference is dictated by the decision’s ability to maximize the value if an expected results. A mother’s decision for or against selective abortion is dependent on the value maximization that the decision will give. Risky alternatives like procuring selective abortions of female fetuses are preferred because of the social value that will be placed on the mother. A son will also give his family financial value.
Illustration of the Game Theory and comparison to theoretical framework
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Key
Mothers in India are faced with varied options during the period of their pregnancy. These options arise from the fact that society has different expectations concerning the child that is to be born. Society’s preference is to have a male child born. This is because of the social, cultural and financial value that is placed on the boy child. After carrying out an ultra sound to determine the sex of the child, the mother is faced with three options. If the child is a girl, the mother can either keep the child or carry out an abortion until she conceives a male child. If the child is a boy, the mother may opt to stop conceiving or she can continue with conception with the hope of bearing more male children.
A mother’s option to keep a female child will mean that she will have to bear the costs of raising a female child. These costs include dowry payment during marriage. Social stigma has also been quantified as the fine that the mother has to pay for giving birth to a female child. These costs act as the consequences of the mother’s decision to keep a female child. The option of aborting the female child will mean that the mother will have to incur the costs of carrying out the procedure. The procedure has then to be done until the mother conceives a male child. The implications of this are that the cost of procuring the abortions is not predictable. The mother is also charged a fine each time she exceeds the limit of one child. Once the mother conceives a son, she is remunerated. The remuneration represents the value that the society has placed on the male child. The mother’s payment is also similar to the payment that she will receive when the son’s wife pays dowry. The mother’s decisions are influenced by value maximization. She will pick the option that will give her the monetary value.
Theoretical framework 1
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Key
The theoretical framework resembles the game theory because in both the preferences are determined by value maximization. In the theoretical framework, the decision of the mother to procure an abortion is influenced by the remuneration that she will acquire when she conceives a male child. Thee same applies in the game theory.
Game Theory in Business
The competitive aspect of the business theory is similar to that of the game theory in sex preference. This is because in both aspects, the players’ preference is directed by its ability to satisfy the needs of the players. In both the set ups Nash equlibria are experienced. This is where the players. This is a concept that is solution based where by a general assumption is made that the players of the game are aware of the strategies of the other players in the game. In the business set up, the norms of rationality govern the strategies applied in the games. When it comes to the issue of sex preference, the decisions of the women are similarly affected by the norms of the society. The norms of the society are inevitably the strategies that the society applies against those who diverge from societal goals. The players in Nash equilibrium do not deviate from their strategies because they represent the best responses of the players.
Conclusion
The predicament of gender imbalance in India has created an opportunity for the society to delve into the issue of reconstruction. This reconstruction is in regards to the distorted image of the girl child. The reconstruction should begin with changing cultural perspectives that discriminate against the girl child. A shift on the value of the girl child will help to establish equilibrium on the sex ratio. India’s participation in empowering women in the society will help in forecasting a society that has reduced levels of sex selection abortion. This will be in line with the global fight against the missing women in many Asian countries. I believe that India’s willingness to alleviate the living standards of the girl child is a sign of its ability to move away from negative patriarchal practices. The hope of the female children yet to be conceived lies in the ability of the society to embrace new cultural perspectives.
Reference List
Owen, G. (1968). Game Theory. Philadelphia: Saunders.
Unnithan- Kumar, M. (2009). Culture health and sexuality: Female Selective Abortion- Beyond ‘Culture’: Family Making And Gender Inequality In Globalizing India. 12(2), 153-166.
Yehuda, 2007, E., A. (2007). Sex Preferences, Sex Selection, and Women’s Labor Supply. Berkeley: University of California.
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