Gender Equality and Inequality in Rural India

Blessed with a Son

C. Vlassoff

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9781137374929
• eBook ISBN:
  9781137373922
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Social Sciences

As India strives to improve overall social and economic conditions and gender relations through policies such as the abolishment of dowry, increasing the legal age at marriage, and promoting educational opportunities for girls, serious challenges remain, especially in rural areas. Gender Equality and Inequality in Rural India focuses on the extent to which economic development has resulted in positive changes in women's empowerment and reproductive health, as well as in sex preference. Based on a study from a village in Maharashtra where impressive gains in economic development have occurred in recent decades, Carol Vlassoff examines the impact of son preference on fertility and rural women's economic empowerment and other aspects of reproductive behavior. She provides evidence of the added value of their employment beyond the traditional wage labor and domestic spheres, and argues that policies aimed at closing gender gaps in social inequalities must be complemented by policies fostering employment opportunities for women. While many studies have demonstrated the importance of social empowerment for improved reproductive health, this is the first to separate out the differential effects of social and economic factors. This work goes even further than economic arguments by demonstrating, on the basis of a robust statistical analysis, that women's education and their professional labor force participation contribute to better health and wellbeing of rural society, including through reductions in fertility, son preference, and infant and child mortality.

1

The Importance of Sons in Indian Culture

People will tell you they want three children, two sons and one daughter. But this means nothing unless they have one or two sons. Take my neighbour. She had seven daughters before being blessed with a son. You will always say, “Maybe the next one will be a boy,” and go on having children up to old age.

(Shekuntala,¹ Gove village, Field notes, 1975)

At the beginning of the longitudinal study described in this book Shekuntala’s statement illustrating the preference for sons was widely acknowledged in India. Now, almost four decades later, in a country that has generated phenomenal economic and technological advances, it is useful to reflect on how much has changed. To what extent does Shekuntala’s pronouncement ring true today? In the following pages this question is addressed in the context of rural India by an in depth exploration of factors relating to the desire for sons, including both its motivations and consequences. While previous research has examined these interrelationships at a single moment in time, this study is unique in covering a span of over three decades, 1975 to 2008.² It presents both qualitative and quantitative data on historical processes and outcomes in a Maharashtra community where impressive economic development has taken place, and analyzes the degree to which gender equality³ is also occurring in the context of economic progress. Before discussing the study in detail, this chapter presents a brief overview of the evolution and development of son preference in Indian culture, and the accompanying decline in women’s position. Previous research on son preference in India, and its influence upon fertility decision-making and outcomes, is then briefly reviewed.

A Brief History of Women’s Position in India

From ancient times Indian women have been seen as the responsibility of others, whether as daughters, wives, or mothers. This was captured in the prescriptions of Manu, the law-giver, writing around the beginning of the Christian era: “She should do nothing independently even in her own house. In childhood subject to her father, in youth to her husband, and when her husband is dead to her sons. She should never enjoy independence” (Basham, 1967, p. 182). It is widely agreed that, in the early Vedic period (c. 2500–500 BC) women enjoyed considerably more freedom than in later times. They married in adulthood (as opposed to childhood subsequently) and were free to choose their own husbands. Many remained celibate (Altekar, 1938). Married women severed all ties with their parental home upon marriage and became, in effect, the property of their husbands’ family, but they enjoyed autonomy in running the household and were not treated as servants to others in the joint family, as in later periods (Altekar, 1938). Couples aspired to having many children, and ten sons were recommended (Altekar, 1938). The wife had no property or inheritance rights but her stridhana, usually jewellery, given to her upon marrying, was intended for her own use and not as an offering to her husband or his kin (Altekar, 1938).

In the later Vedic period religious changes began to affect women’s position. The upper castes became increasing preoccupied with rituals, among which was a decree that only a son could perform oblations, a religious ceremony, to the dead. Some religious scriptures reflected the declining status of girls, such as the Aitareya Brahmana⁴ which states, “The son is a boat of salvation, a light in the highest heaven. A wife is a comrade but a daughter misery” (Thomas, 1964, p. 58). Interestingly, Gautama Buddha (563–483 AD), although revolutionary in many respects, considered women inferior to men; a nun could never advance to the level of the male brethren (Basham, 1967).

The status of women deteriorated considerably during the post-Vedic period (c. 500 BC–500 AD) when Puranic Hinduism gained momentum in an effort to reinstate Hinduism over Buddhism. Upon marriage a wife effectively became part of her husband’s property and caste laws were rigidly enforced. Much of the population became “untouchable” and women began to be treated “as a sort of perverse animal” (Thomas, 1964, p. 218). Child marriage became universal and parents who failed to marry a physically mature daughter were guilty of a serious offence (Altekar, 1938). Female education—now considered a waste because girls married so early—declined. Women’s education became associated with the class of dancers and prostitutes, professions requiring a wide knowledge of the arts. By 1000 AD only about 10% of females were literate and by the time of the Muslim conquests that took place from the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries, female literacy had died out completely (Altekar, 1938). The wife could not eat with her husband and had to be thankful for the leftovers on his plate (Altekar, 1938). A girl could be widowed in childhood, well before her marriage was consummated, and remarriage was strongly censured. The widow’s status in society also deteriorated and, by 600 AD, she was virtually banished from society. Her husband’s death was attributed to her misdeeds in present and previous lives (Fuller, 1900). Sati, the self-sacrifice of the widow on her husband’s funeral pyre, came into vogue around this time, and was more prevalent in northern areas of India where Brahmins were the predominant caste (Altekar, 1938). The practice of female infanticide appeared in some sectors of society, especially among the Rajputs in Northern India, who rose to power between the sixth and twelfth centuries.

Purdah, the total seclusion of women, seems to have been inspired by the Muslim rule, (Altekar, 1938). While it may have been adopted by Hindus partly to protect their women from Muslim capturers, it was also considered a mark of “respectability and high breeding” (Altekar, 1938, p. 207). Because of the exclusion of women from public life little is known about them during this period (Altekar, 1938).

British rule in India in the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century had both positive and negative influences on women’s position. Progressive measures included the prohibition of sati in 1829 and reforms in female education in the 1850s, in which schools were opened to both girls and boys. However, in the absence of reforming the practice of child marriage (which did not take place until more than half a century later), these educational changes had little impact because girls had to withdraw from school at an early age. Other progressive amendments included the sanction of widow remarriage in 1856, the denouncement of purdah, the passing of The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929, and the extension of voting rights to women in most states in the 1920s. Less benevolent effects of British rule on women’s status included an expansion of dowry which, according to Indian experts, was not curbed officially until after independence with The Prohibition of Dowry Act of 1961 (Srinivas, 1975). Prostitution also flourished during this period, frequently the result of poverty and the suppression of women’s freedom (Thomas, 1964).

Gandhi championed women’s rights during the struggle for independence, and Indian women were active in the Non-Cooperation Movement and other political demonstrations. India’s Constitution, which came into effect on January 26, 1950, guaranteed women equal rights, status, and opportunities, and sanctioned positive discrimination actions by the State in favor of women.⁵ The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 raised the age at marriage to 15 for girls and 18 for boys, prohibited the practice of polygamy and entitled women to seek divorce. Inter-caste marriage was also legalized by the Special Marriage Act, 1954. In 1956 The Hindu Succession Act liberalized property rights for female family members. The Prohibition of Dowry Act in 1961 stipulated penalties for giving and accepting dowries in marriage arrangements. In 1978 the Child Marriage Restraint Act (a revision of the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929) raised the legal age at marriage to 18 for girls and 21 for boys. The National Commission for Women Act in 1990 passed legislation to establish a national body to safeguard women’s rights and welfare. In 2001, the universal primary education program (Sarva Shishka Abhiyan) was launched, as was the National Policy for the Empowerment of Women, intended to advance, develop, and empower women in areas such as decision-making, economic enhancement, education, and access to contraception. The National Policy also called for greater advances in female education and compulsory birth registration (which enforced the registration of children on both sexes), both important steps toward the goal of universal compliance with the legal age at marriage for girls by 2010. To eliminate gender disparities in inheritance, the Hindu Succession Act of 1956 was amended by the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act of 2005 to give daughters equal inheritance rights with sons, including in ancestral property which was previously inherited only by sons. This issue is discussed in more detail in Chapters 6 and 8.

Unfortunately, these enlightened policies appear to have had limited impact on female empowerment and gender equality in India. Although officially prohibited, dowry remains firmly embedded in marriage transactions (Rastogi and Therly, 2006; Diamond-Smith et al., 2008; Unnithan-Kumar, 2010), and the practice of child marriage remained entrenched in parts of Indian society for decades after the 1978 legislation. A study based on data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), 2005–06, found that 45% of women aged 15–24, including from both rural and urban areas, were married before the legal age of 18, and 20% of these had had a child within their first year of marriage (Raj et al., 2009). While gains in female school enrollment and literacy have been substantial over the past decades, overall adult literacy remained at 74% in 2011 and the gender parity index for literacy (female/male ratio) was 0.80 (Registrar General of India, 2011). In the following section several reasons for the limited impact of India’s progressive gender-related policies and programs are discussed, based on previous research.

Why Are Sons Important?

In India an estimated 250,000 “missing girls” were reported in 2008. In other words, the number of girl babies fell dramatically short of the number who would have been born in the natural course of events (World Bank, 2012b). In India, with abnormally unbalanced sex ratios at birth, “a deadly combination” of declining fertility, son preference and the widespread availability of sex selection technology were the underlying causes of this phenomenon (World Bank, 2012b).

In the modern context of Asia’s declining fertility, most couples still want at least one son and will often forego having daughters entirely in order to have a small family (Arnold et al., 2002; Seth, 2010; World Bank, 2012b). If the first child is a girl, however, they are more likely to continue having children until they have a son. The widespread availability of sex selective technologies (amniocentesis and ultrasound) in the 1970s and of legal abortion since 1971 have had the combined effect of allowing couples to determine the sex composition of their families (Arnold et al., 2002; Seth, 2010; World Bank, 2012b). Sex selection in favor of males has continued, despite economic growth and development in other spheres of society (Guilmoto, 2009; World Bank, 2012b). In addition to discrimination against girls at birth, there is considerable neglect of female children in terms of health interventions and child care. In India it has been estimated that discrimination accounts for about one-fifth of child mortality (Das Gupta et al., 2003). Throughout their lives until the age of 60, females in India suffer greater mortality than males. In more developed countries, the reverse is true (World Bank, 2012b).

Childless women are regarded as inauspicious (Bhargava, 2005) and occasionally childlessness has been used as a justification for men to seek other wives (Vlassoff, 1978; Das Gupta et al., 2003).⁶ Because marriage has little meaning without children, wives are motivated to begin childbearing soon after marriage. The necessity of having at least one son is deeply rooted in Indian culture. Women are expected to bear sons as part of their self-fulfillment as women and to help them gain respect in their husbands’ households (Das Gupta et al., 2003). A desire for sons often implies a desire to avoid having daughters because of the costs that they entail. All of these factors play a role in family size considerations and behavior.

In patriarchal societies such as India, kinship-related practices, including lineage and inheritance, have traditionally been patrilineal, i.e. through the male ancestral line. Daughters, on the other hand, typically marry into their husbands’ households (patrilocal), often forfeiting their rights to land and inheritance in their natal community (Agarwal, 1994). A wife becomes part of her spouse’s family, while her original place in her ancestral home is assumed by a sister-in-law who moves into it. It has been forcefully argued that this “broad organizational logic” within the kinship system effectively removes women from the social order: . . . only men constitute the social order, and women are the means whereby men reproduce themselves. Women are the biological reproducers, but it is through the father that a child acquires a social identity and is incorporated into the social order. (Das Gupta et al., 2003)

The strength of this system varies across India, being more rigid in the northwestern part of the country, but it is the backbone of the organization of Indian society. Changes in inheritance legislation have been made throughout India but they continue largely unimplemented in practice (Das Gupta et al., 2003). This issue is discussed in more detail in the next section.

Closely associated with patriarchal norms of lineage and inheritance are economic considerations in the preference for sons. Economists have noted that children represent different “utility functions,” including a consumption utility (the pleasure that children represent to their parents), income utility (the monetary contributions that children provide), and security utility (support provided to parents, especially in their old age) (Leibenstein, 1957, 1974; Becker, 1981; Tisdell and Regmi, 2005). In India, economic motives for son preference can be located within this broad framework. In its patriarchal society, sons are expected to remain in their native households and provide economic contributions to their parents throughout their adult lives, including old age support when their parents are no longer able to work. Because daughters marry into their husbands’ families, their parents lose both income and security utility, although not necessarily consumption utility, referring to the contentment that parents derive from their relationships with their children (Pande and Malhotra, 2006). The costs of daughters are significantly greater overall, not only because of the investment made in their upbringing and education but also because they occasion significant dowry and marriage expenses (Das Gupta et al., 2003). As noted above, dowry was intended as a gift to the bride from her extended family at the time of marriage, intended for her personal use. It was also meant to strengthen the new bride’s position in her in-law’s family and to provide insurance in case of hardship (Naik, 1996; Rastogi and Therly, 2006). Over time, however, this bridal endowment has become the groom’s entitlement and has come to be seen as the financial compensation for the burden the bride places on her in-laws (Diwan, 1990). Although dowry has been prohibited in India since 1961, large gifts are still demanded or expected by prospective husbands, causing a major strain on the resources of families with female children, especially on the poor (Rao, 1993, 2006; Dalmia and Lawrence, 2005).

The main religious reason for son preference is based in the Hindu belief, more prevalent among India’s higher castes and briefly mentioned earlier, that only a male child can offer the appropriate oblations for the soul of a deceased parent (Das Gupta et al., 2003) and that, if these are not performed by a male descendant, the ancestors will be tormented in the afterlife (Patel, 2007). Such beliefs have also been found among other religious groups in India, including the Sikhs (Das Gupta, 1987) and the Muslims (Murthy, 1996).

Apart from the growth of gender disparities with the resurgence of Hinduism, very little seems to be known about the link between caste and son preference. However, it would seem that disadvantages along one spectrum, such as caste, would exacerbate other disparities such as educational and gender differences. Many researchers have explored the interactions between caste and gender, especially the gaps between high and low caste women in socioeconomic characteristics, such as education and mobility (Deshpande, 2002; Chandrasekhar and Mukhopadhyay, 2006; Siddhu, 2011). Lower castes are generally found to be somewhat disadvantaged, especially girls or women of the scheduled castes and tribes (previously designated as “untouchables”). Overall, research on health outcomes by caste and gender has been inconclusive. One study found significant mortality differences among lower caste groups but few sex differences (Subramanyam et al., 2006), while another large study of child undernutrition in India found no significant nutritional disparities by caste, gender, or rural residence (Subramanyam et al., 2010). Generally, the results of research on caste differences in socioeconomic and health status highlight disparities between the lowest and highest castes, but empirical evidence of gender differences, especially with respect to son preference, is lacking.

While socioeconomic, cultural, and religious factors may combine to produce a psychological preference for a male over a female child in India, the pleasure of having children is not limited to sons. As will be seen in this analysis...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• 1 The Importance of Sons in Indian Culture
• 2 Methodology of the Village Study
• 3 The Village Context: Changes over Three Decades
• 4 Empowerment, Gender Attitudes, and Reproductive Decisions among Married Women, Then and Now
• 5 The Influence of Son Preference on Fertility Intentions and Subsequent Behavior
• 6 Sons, Land Division, Inheritance, and Household Labor Allocation Strategies
• 7 Adolescent Gender Roles: Are They Evolving?
• 8 The Situation of Widows: Do Sons and Brothers Help?
• 9 Toward Gender Equality in Rural India: Prospects for Change
• Notes
• References
• Index