Fascinating article in today’s Washington Post by Emily Wax about how Indian brides-to-be are holding out for one particular convenience before committing to marriage: an indoor toilet.
But wait, you may say: women in India don’t have the leverage to make such demands, do they?
Well, some of them do. As Wax explains, the “son preference” exhibited in India (and elsewhere) has produced an unintended consequence for those sons once they are grown:
A societal preference for boys here has become an unlikely source of power for Indian women. The abortion of female fetuses in favor of sons — an illegal but widespread practice — means there are more eligible bachelors than potential brides, allowing women and their parents to be more selective when arranging a match. …
Satellite television and the Internet are spreading images of rising prosperity and urban middle-class accouterments to rural areas, such as spacious apartments — with bathrooms — and women in silk saris rushing off to the office.
We have more to say in SuperFreakonomics about the plight of Indian women, particularly as affected by satellite TV; here’s a clue.
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This is precisely why I don’t worry too much about the whole “son-preference is going to mean the end of women” meme… as women become more scarce, OF COURSE they’re going to become more “valuable” as partners, and they’ll be able to chose “the cream of the crop” of suitors, who can provide them – and in some cases their families – with the conveniences of modern life.
At that point parents-to-be are going to stop and think about what’s so great about sons, anyway – especially if they’re not going to be able to find a wife to pass on the family name/genes/etc anyway?
I’d be amazed if the 50/50 split drifted even as far as 60/40 before these forces dragged things back in line.
Well, women should be scarce and of course, throughout the world’s population, men outnumber women greatly on average and women are beginning to decline.
you guys need to know that India is as diverse as diverse can be.In my state (Kerala) women outnumber men.
Look, I’m pro-choice, but doesn’t this seem a bit perverse?
Women who are born may have slightly more leverage vis-a-vis the men in their society than if the sex-selection abortions had not taken place.
But then there are the countless female fetuses terminated!
Seems that has to be factored in.
Really, though, shame on the superfreaks for their shoddy work on climate.
Heh, I dont see this shift of power happening, ever. This idea may be applicable for a minority (just a handful villages in Haryana, compared to 900+ in India) but will not become the rule..the “son preference” is steeped in Indian culture..and the statement “The abortion of female fetuses in favor of sons — an illegal but widespread practice — means there are more eligible bachelors than potential brides” – is untrue and should not be taken as a fact. Yes, female foeticide has been happening for ages and still continues but there are still more young men than women in India.
Currently, no, women are not bagging better husbands – the choice isnt even theirs, for the majority. A typical male graduate from a middle-class home chooses from 20-100 women (already filtered from the 1000 that his parents browsed) in his community to decide whom to marry. The woman’s family chooses for her.
Women are also not being kidnapped to be wives (@LatoshaDC – it could be that a very small number of them are, but this cant be generalised). And they still have to bear an average of 3 children because…well, they are expected to..however “attractive” they are. Some men even have 2 wives. So while talking numbers and trends, it may be wise not to hypothesise after looking at news from small pockets but at the bigger picture.
Well, that’s how it’s supposed to be in the world. More eligible bachelors than eligible bachelorettes because the role of the male is to be competitive with other males for a female.
Even in North America, there’s more eligible bachelors and less potential brides and most families prefer having more sons than daughters because sons are handy and safe while daughters are a liability and concern.
An abundance of men is always better than women and it’s been that way for years. There will also be a shortage of women in the world as well. Think about being one of the few women in the world and yet there are so many men out there.