• Female infanticide has existed for thousands of years
• in Greece (200 BC) authorities did not oppose the killing of handicapped, female and unwanted children
• preference for male babies still persists in areas of South Asia, Middle East and Africa.
• is it justified in a modern, globalised world?
• parents in rural China have a preference for male babies as they are seen as a ‘pension’ for their old age. Similar ideas are found in parts of India and Pakistan where labouring in the fields ensures some income for families
• huge sums (dowries) have to be found to ‘get rid of daughters’ by marriage
• preference for male babies has led to sex-selection; abortion which targets female foetuses almost exclusively and general neglect of girl children
• all this has led to a distorted gender imbalance, e.g. a recent report claimed that some 110 million Chinese males will not be able to find a wife
A sample intro. Add your own scope and thesis.
The gender preference for children has been largely based on two theoretical frameworks that have little to do with each other. One is gender discrimination, and the other is parental investment. Gender discrimination approach focuses on the preference of boys over girls. This is primarily studied in Asian countries. Where parental investment is concerned, no clear factor emerges on why some parents prefer girls over boys, sociologists have opined that care in old-age could be a driving factor for some parents.
Sample paragraph.
Son preference remains common in countries from East Asia to South Asia, extending even to the Middle East and Africa. But what is largely forgotten is that increased levels of crime, anti-social behaviour and violence are statistically proven to come mostly from males. One may be tempted to say that while parents want a male child, they are unable to raise a male child that is worthy of worship.