Gender, Culture and Power in a Global Context: Female Infanticide

Female Infanticide is a rising problem in many countries as a result the abuse of female infants and the large role it plays in gender discrimination. By definition, female infanticide is the deliberate killing of baby girls. This abuse can come at two different times: either during pregnancy once the parents find out the baby is a girl or after the mother gives birth to the child. Depending on the time, the mother must either get an abortion, or starve the child. Granting this action does not occur in our country, it sadly does in in others; specifically in India and China. In China, in the year 2000, 40-617-103 females fell victim to female infanticide and in India, in 2001; there were 39-284-065 victims. Although both countries support female infanticide, their reasons for the abuse differ.

In India, female infanticide occurs because of the economic burden females bring forth. When females reach the age of maturity and are traditionally married off, approximately 18-21 years of age, they must have a large dowry in order to receive the consent from the opposing family, to the marriage. Dowry is defined as the money, property, or even goods that a bride offers her husband at marriage. This dowry may be hard for families to pay considering that 40% of the Indian population is in some form of poverty. In addition to the economic burden that a female bring to the family, once the woman get married off, they tend to leave their family’s legacy behind. As a result, females are often seen as temporary members and drainers of their family’s wealth. In many traditional Indians eyes, the negative consequences of having a female outweigh the possible benefits and therefore that ideology makes female infanticide much more understandable. The abuse females must endure is partially due to cultural traditions. The women are expected to pay a dowry; they cannot control it. In reality, these baby girls are being killed for something they cannot control.

However, in China female infanticide is due to the “One Child per Family” policy and because of male favorability. Back in 1979, China issued the “One Child per Family” policy for the population was already exceeding sustainable limits. In order to keep the population bearable there needed to be a policy that limited families to only one child. If a family were to have more than one child, the family would have their wages reduced and be denied some social services; thus male favorability was created and female infanticide was promoted. This policy would then slow the population rate from rising and allow the country to improve the quality of life as a whole for the Chinese population. Men are much more desire by families because they thought that a male would far exceed a female in the work force and thus receive better pay. Also, parents define males as more suited to provide for them at their old age.

We find that the female infanticide in India connects to Callie from Middlesex by the fact that neither, the girls in India or Callie from Middlesex can control what happens to them. The girls are born girls, genetic makeup defines that; not them. Callie’s genetics cause her to change. She had no say in whether she wants to or does not want to change; her body was physically going to change no matter what.