"Dirty Sex" - Female infanticide in India. M/F ratios as low as 730 women to 1000 men......

[A HERETIC I AM]

<snip>Every 10 years, the census of India comes out with a damning statistic: the country’s abysmal female-male ratio. As per the 2001 census, there were 933 females for every 1,000 males in the country. In Punjab, there are 790 women for 1,000 males. Some girl children are killed in the womb, others perished as infants, while many women succumb in a desperate bid to have a male child. The lopsided sex ratio further marginalizes women. Pressured into serving as fertility machines, women are trafficked illicitly or even shared among brothers and kinsmen. This visual narrative by ruhani kaur looks at some such women in Punjab and Haryana.

<snip>In their book, Bare Branches: Security Implications of Asia’s Surplus Male Population , political scientists, Valerie M Hudson and Andrea M den Boer warn that the spread of sex selection in India — and China — is giving rise to a generation of restless young men who will not find mates. “History, biology, and sociology all suggest that these surplus males will generate high levels of crime and social disorder,” the authors say. “Even worse,” they continue, “is the possibility that the governments of India and China will build up huge armies in order to provide a safety valve for the young men’s aggressive energies.”

Hudson and den Boer’s apocryphal theories have drawn much criticism. Perhaps, rightly so. But as David T Courtwright, a professor of history at the University of North Florida, usa notes, “The basic idea that demography is associated with social destiny…is very powerful.” Sociologists S Sudha and S Irudaya Rajan sum up the issue quite aptly: “Shortage of women leads to greater restrictions and control over them.”

The increasing intensity of violence against women in all domains of life is ample testimony to this. <snip>

Complete article here;

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20060228&filename=news&sec_id=50&sid=25


So, in essence, girls represent a financial burden for many lower caste Indians and are therefore eliminated. This causes even MORE subjegation of women because females are in short supply. I know this is not a new phenomena but the article was well writen and I had not thought of the overreaching demographic issues of having an overwhelmingly male population. More war? More strife?

[Kagemusha]

1. The "more war, more strife" thing is an old Republican boogeyman

I don't think it's a safe way to view any society. Where are these people gonna fight, anyway? More warm bodies doesn't do anything against a nuclear weapon.

[A HERETIC I AM]

3. Old Republican Boogyman?

Whether or not it is a safe way to view any society is beside the point. Where are they going to fight? Don't you mean "Who"?

Interesting that you inject Nuclear Warfare into this scenario.

The article talks about China and India. 2 rapidly developing countries with similar problems AND they happen to be neighbors.

Ah well, shit. It's just an article about how brown people treat their women. No biggie, just nuke em, eh? :sarcasm:

[Kagemusha]

4. Ooga booga.

Yes, the old thing about MASSES OF UNMARRIED MEN HUNGRY FOR FEMALE FLESH OVERRUNNING THE WORLD is an old boogeyman.

The treating of women like that sucks, pure and simple, but if the article was really about that, why all the rest of this junk? Oh, nevermind. I know the answer: sensationalism.

It used to be known as the Yellow Peril.

[ninkasi]

2. Before my youngest grandchild was born

my son and daughter-in-law both wanted a girl. Her name is Sarah, and at 13, she is the world to her parents and me. My son said if they ever decided to have another child, it would be fine if it were either, but he definitely wanted a girl the first time.