Does Son Preference And The Patriarchal Society Play A Role In Gender Inequality

In society these days there is a noticeable difference in the treatment of men and women, the most common examples would be found in the social, business and culturally convention realms. These ways of life have double standards in many different ways. There are many ways to convey the ways of discrimination towards women by men.

Since the beginning of time gender inequality has been an obstacle towards the human development of countries around the world. The Human Development Index was created to showcase the average achievement of males and females. However, females have been oppressed of their opportunities throughout time, which contradicts the main idea of the Human Development Index. To understand the difference between developed and developing countries and the reason for the gender gap between males and females there need to be an understanding of the indicators that are addressed through the key dimensions of Gender Inequality which include reproductive health, education and political representation. Through the use of the indicators, gender inequality demonstrates that there are variations within developed nations such as Norway and a developing nation such as Cameroon. Although gender inequality is present in both countries, the Human Development Index indicates that the developed country Norway is more advanced in regards of gender inequality then the developing country Cameroon. The development of a country does not completely reflect the position of gender inequality; but it is evident through the indicators of life expectancy, birth rate, education and economic status that a more developed country is more advanced in reducing gender equality.

In the typical Indian family, gender construction manifests itself especially in the roles of men and women in the household. As Judith Lorber so aptly put, “gender is a process of creating distinguishable social statuses for the assignment of rights and responsibilities” which in turn, creates the social differences that define a “man” and “woman” (Lorber). It is these differences that are used to construct and maintain an established gender order within the family. In the conventional Indian family, the order is such that the roles of the women in the household revolve around the roles of the men. This structure was something that I saw from an early age in my parents’ marriage. Though my parents defied the Indian norm of the arranged marriage, they still represented the quintessential model of an Indian couple in many other ways. My mother left her job to become a stay-at-home mom when I was about six years old. However, even before she left her job, she was implicitly expected by my father to shoulder most of the housework including cooking, cleaning, and caring for my older brother

Gender inequality is displayed in many countries around the globe. In India, the society begins gendering as soon as a child is born. In most cases, the birth of a daughter is unwelcome but that of a son is celebrated. The boys are brought up bold and outgoing while the girls are expected to be at home and do chores. While the other discriminations like economic or social discriminations are present outside the home, but gender discrimination is present outside and inside households. In a familial setup, the father is the head of the family and decision maker. The mother generally performs the ‘home making’. Even if the woman is employed, she is expected to do the domestic chores, in addition to her job. Even though she earns, she does not have the freedom to plan her salary or decide anything.

Gender inequality plays a critical role when it comes to social progress. As a woman,

think social institutions have different influence and shape gender inequality depending on where you live and where you're from. Such as in Africa they have high discrimination in social institutions, due to how their government is run. There they believe that men have the power and women are the “weak ones” who need to stay home and cook and care for their children. Even for a women to give birth to a daughter in other countries is looked down upon they want to have a son so that he can take over the father's farm and whatnot.

Another supported claim that attributes to this idea of inequality and gender relations is the insights from three indigenous scholars living in India, which I had the privilege of looking in depth to their encounters. They were able to infer that female fetuses are often at times killed off and men are always subject to be the dominant figures in societal practices. They have provided insights that advancement in technology has provided a way that women wouldn’t be treated like valueless customers, but rather provide population control incentives such as nation-state prosperity. (Dube, R., Dube, R., & Bhatnagar) This will be a future planning strategy that might undermine well with the current situation of this issue at hand today.

People often said that daughters were “someone else’s treasure” and that the sooner you parted ways with them the “better off” everyone was (Sheth 9). As a result of this male dominated mindset and society, women were caught in a cycle of misery and restraint that was seemed impossible to abandon (Indian Women). Unfortunately, it gave rise to some of the most evil practices in the Indian culture, such as Sati, child marriage and the limitations on female education.

Parent understand that their girls are a burden and their sons are a gift, and this is what their sons and daughters grow up believing. The dowry placed on girls plays greatly into the sex-selected abortion rate in India. Boys are plainly and simply a better financial investment. Boys will not cost the parents money for marriage, in fact, with a marriage, they are guaranteed to make the parents money. Parents forced with the decision to have a girl and deal with the financial consequences, or abort and hope and pray for better luck in the gender of their child next time around. Quite often they chose the

Institution, ones traditions, and everyday lives are filled with examples of men in positions of authority over women” (Kay, 2012). Inequalities in gender can be seen in marriage as well as parenting. It is believed that by many that a man should have a higher income than a female. In some cases women are being paid less than men in their work place and yet they hold the same credentials as men, this is where secondary status comes in. In most households it’s the female who cooks and clean look after the kids while the men work but roles can be divided when faced with certain duties, to accommodate one another. “Gender inequality forms the basis of sexism, misogynist and the prejudiced beliefs that males overpower females” (Anon. 2016).

Women’s need to conform to cultural discrimination under the pressure of society and family to choose boys over girls contributes to the beginning of the gendercide cycle. The violence against females never stops; it is a constant battle against females throughout their lives. There are many causes of this violence that create a never ending cycle. One of the major causes is cultural discrimination. In Indian culture, the boy is valued more than a girl mainly “because parents look to their sons to support them in old age” rather than their daughters (FAQ). According to tradition, once daughters are married, “they do not care for their own parents, but rather their husbands’ parents” (ibid). Therefore, society sees more value in a male over a female. A male can support his family more than

Gender inequality is a social problem that is widespread in society. It is referred to as the unfair treatment of individuals based on one 's gender. Historically, laws have opposed women to go to school, access certain jobs, and purchase property. Gender inequality has been experience through culture – honor-killing, sex-selective abortion, and society – occupation, gender roles, and education. The social expectations of men and women differ between cultures that are constructed socially and culturally. These expectations are displayed in roles, and behavior believed both by men and women and their interdependent relationships. Gender inequality can be further understood through the structure of sexism. Discrimination takes place in gender inequality for the reason that men and women are treated on the basis of gender alone (Amjad, R., Ashfaq, M., Kousar, R., Saghir, A., 2010).

Child marriage is one of the most severe violations of human rights that needs attention in India, “where 46 percent of children are married formally or in informal union before they are 18.” While child marriages affect both genders, girls are affected a lot more since they are a bulk of the victims. They are more likely to be involved in child marriages than boys as 30 percent of girls between 15-19 are currently “married”, while only 5 percent of boys between 15-19 are “married”. So why do child marriages exist when families know that the social, economic and human risks are so elevated? The answer is in India’s deep roots in tradition, culture and religion.

It is regrettable that female infanticide and foeticide are rapidly decreasing the female population throughout India. The main factors that is responsible for the increase in the incidence of female infanticide and foeticide is the low status of women, son preference, and the practice of dowry across all casts groups.

When a review was taken we realized that a majority of women, at least 59.8% wanted two or more sons while 33.1% wanted at least one son. It has been observed however that son preference is not universal and that more than half of Indian women express a balance of sons and daughters. The percentage of women preferring equal numbers of boys and girls is 54.1% while women preferring more boys to girls are 46%. The reason as to why more than half of Indian women express a preference for sons is because of various factors. One of the principal factors is education. It is found that educated women are less likely to prefer sons over daughters. With an increase in primary level schooling, there is a decrease in son preference. Hence the decrease of this preference is even more profound with exposure to secondary level education. Other factors that analysts have seen a negative association