On Tuesday 2004-01-20 17:29, ritu wrote: > Deborah Harrell wrote: > > This is a disturbing article (with some graphic > > description) about gender selection in Asia: > > http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3990133/ > > Have you read Elizabeth Bumiller's "May You Be the Mother of a Hundred > Sons" ? The methods of female infanticide mentioned by her are rather > disturbing too. > > About the article above, this ridiculous preference for boys is now > visible in the male/female ratio, at least in my home state Haryana. We > seem to have ~ 786 women for every 1000 men. There is a shortage of > suitable brides[remember, we are talking about a patriarchal society > where the marriages are arranged with due consideration to caste and > economic status...well, horoscopes too, but that isn't really relevant] > and demands for the same have become a normal feature in local politics > [" Find me a good girl to marry and you can have my vote"]. A lot of men > are now forced to 'buy' brides from neighbouring states and countries > and then they try to pretend that the Tibetan girl minding the stove is > actually a Harayanvi jat girl from a neighbouring village.... > > One of these days, one of these idiots might actually figure out that > they need the girls, even if just to ensure the next generation of > boys...but I am not holding my breath. > > Ritu
Bully for not holding your breath. It is a classic problem in economics. Rational action by individual actors produces irrational results in the aggregate. 1) It is very advantageous in political-economic terms for a couple to have a son. They behave rationally and have sons. 2) In the agregate this results in a shortage of women. (This is not unusual demographically. Historically one goes to war. This kills of young men and produces a crop of foreign women slaves that the young men then rape to produce more men. In short, powerful or affluent societies with a surplus of men import women.) _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
