-- Source of Information : timeswellness.com, by Dr Vasundhra Atre --
On World Population Day, read on to know the myths that have led to a skewed girl-boy population ratio
‘Children are the gifts of God’ does not seem to work for some. If that child happens to be a girl, almost half of India
Female foeticide is a practice that involves pre-natal sex determination and a subsequent abortion if the sex of the foetus is female. The United Nations estimates that 2,000 unborn girls are illegally aborted every day in India
Myth: It is the mother who is responsible for the sex of the child.
Fact : It is not uncommon to see the mother being abused and held responsible if a female child is born. The fact is that the human body has 23 pairs of chromosomes. One of each pair comes from the father and mother of the child, respectively. 22 pairs are responsible for the development of different parts of the body. The last 2 chromosomes are responsible for the gender of the child. These last two chromosomes can be of 2 types - X chromosome and Y chromosome. If a human being has X and X as the last set, it will be female; if it is a X and Y set, it will be male. The mother is capable of only contributing the X chromosome; so she is responsible only for one X of the pair, which determines the sex of the child. The father contributes to the second of the pair either an X or Y. Hence it is the father who is actually responsible for the gender of the child.
Myth: Education and affluence will help eradicate gender bias.
Fact : The trend is far stronger in urban than rural areas and among the literate than the illiterate. Even some tribal areas are much better off than cities as far as sex ratios are concerned. For example government statistics of high income South Delhi , put the sex ratio as 762 females per 1000 males.
Myth: The government initiative of enacting the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act in 1994, which came into force in 1996, has helped control the situation of female foeticide.
Fact : Unfortunately this has not happened. There has been a concomitant rise in the number of private clinics providing sex determination test as a result of banning such practices in government hospitals.
Myth: Gender decides how a person behaves, the girl child is inferior.
Fact: Gender is constructed both socially through social interactions as well as biologically. It remains unclear to what extent the difference between boys and girls is due to genetics and how much is due to socialisation and conditioning.
Myth: A girl child is a burden.
Fact : They are pillars of society rather than a burden. The pre-existing social fabric which has always discriminated against women in terms of education, job opportunities, equality in terms and conditions, inheritance laws, has resulted in the girl child been treated as a burden. Today, with the social system accepting changes and even the legal system making necessary enactments and modifications women are seen to be occupying places of authority, they stand up for themselves and look after not also themselves but everybody that matters.
Myth: A boy will look after the parents in their old age; the girl will marry and go away, so why spend time and money in bringing up a daughter, is the general thinking in India
Fact : With the changes that have occurred in Indian society over time, the establishment of more and more nuclear families more and more elderly couples are living alone. In most cases in times of crisis it is the daughters who do the ‘taking care of’ even if there are sons in the family.
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