Traditions and reproductive technology in an urbanizing north Indian village.
This article addresses the practices of prenatal sex determination and sex-selective abortion through ethnographic research in Shahargaon, a Jat village undergoing rapid urbanization and cultural change in north India. The paper presents the sociodemographic outcomes of sex-selective abortion practiced within a system of patriarchy, manifested in terms of son preference and daughter disfavor. It argues that changes from an agriculture to an urban economy have led to a decrease in family size among Shahargaon Jats. In spite of improvements in educational and economic status, there is a reinforcement of son preference and daughter disfavor in the Jat community in Shahargaon. Jat couples are using prenatal sex determination and sex-selective abortion to achieve smaller family size and to reduce the number of daughters in a family.
Khanna
S K
SK
Department of Anthropology, Oregon State University, Corvallis 97331-6403, USA.
D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005191:Family Characteristics / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007237:Infanticide / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012743:Sex Preselection / Q000379:methods*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018881:Suburban Health; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014507:Urbanization / Q000639:trends*