Gender regimes, reproductive strategies and child sex preferences: A comparative study of villages in Jammu and Leh

ABSTRACT

Much of the literature on sex ratio imbalances in India has focused on the North–South divide or exclusively on the North-western states of India. In this paper, we draw on ethnographic research on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, where the child sex ratio (0–6 years) plummeted in the 2011 census. We study two villages in the Hindu dominated district of Jammu and two in largely Buddhist Leh (in Ladakh) to understand how the gender preference for children is shaped in this culturally heterogeneous state. Our findings reiterate the importance of context in understanding sex ratio patterns and gender preferences for children, especially in the wake of declining fertility, which in some regions has led to intensified discrimination against girl children. We examine features such as the organization of kinship and marriage structures that entail diverse forms of post-marital residence, old-age support, workforce participation, household division of labor and political participation in the four villages. By engaging in detailed comparison, we propose that when underlying reasons for the devaluation of women in general, and daughters in particular, are absent (as in case of the Leh villages), the availability of sex-selective technologies does not have an adverse effect on demographic outcomes.

ABSTRACT IN DOGRI

अज्ज तक भारत च लिगांनुपात असंतुलन पर मता हारा साहित्य उत्तर- दक्खन बशकार जां विशेश रूपै च भारत दे किश उत्तर पश्चम रियास्तै पर केंद्रित रेहा ऐ इस लेख च असें जम्मू-कश्मीर रियास्त दे च'उ ग्रांए गी नृवशंविज्ञान (Ethnographic) अनुसंधान आस्तै लेदा ऐ। जम्मू-कश्मीर रियास्त च बाल लिंग अनुपात (0-6 साल) 2011 दी जनगणना च मता डिग्गी गेआ हा, जिदै कन्नै एह् चैंता होई गई जे शायद इस रियास्त च लिंग चयन दा प्रसार मता बधी गेदा ऐ। असें जम्मू दे मती हिंदू अबादी आहले खेतर ते लेह दे बड्डे पेमाने पर बौद्ध अबादी आहले खेतर ज़िले दे चऊ ग्राएं दा अध्ययन कीता ताकि एह समझी सकचै जे सांस्कृतिक रूपै च बखले इनै खेतरे दे ग्राएं च लिंग वरीयता कियां आकार लैंदिया न। साढ़े निष्कर्ष लिगं अनुपात दे तरीके ते उसदी वरीयता गी समझने च स्थानीय संदर्भ दे म्हत्व गी दस्सदे न खास करी जिसलै समाज च प्रजनन क्षमता घटा करदी ऐ ।

असें इ'ने द'ऊं जिलें दे च'ऊं ग्राएं च उंदी व्याह संरचना, व्याह्ता जीवन च रौहने दे थाहर, रिश्तेदारियां, बजुर्गे दा रक्ख-रखाव, बाह्री कम्मै च भागीदारी, घरै दे कम्मै काजै दा बटोआरा ते कुड़ियें दी राजनीतिक हिस्सेदारी जनेहियें विशेश चीज़े दी जाँच कीती दी ऐ । नेड़े थमा चौने ग्राएं दा तुलनात्मक अध्ययन करने पर एह् आक्खेआ जाई सकदा ऐ, जे सामान्य रूप च जनानियें ते विशेश रूप च धीयें दे मुल्ल जित्यै घट्ट नेईं हैन (जिंया लेह दे ग्राए च अध्ययन करने दा मामला) उत्थै लिंग निर्धारण तकनीके दा होना कोई विशेश म्हत्व नेईं रखदा ।

KEYWORDS:

• Son-preference
• child sex ratio
• fertility decline
• gender roles
• religion
• Jammu

KEYWORDS:

• पुत्तर वरीयता
• बाल लिंग अनुपात
• घटदी प्रजनन क्षमता
• लिंग भूमिका
• धर्म
• जम्मू।

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Women whose children are currently unmarried.

2 Women whose children have children.

3 CSR refers to the sex ratio of children between ages 0–6 years.

4 A women’s movement in Manipur for improving their status in society.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Charumita Vasudev

Charumita VASUDEV is currently in the final year of her PhD at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India. For her dissertation, she is exploring factors which make sons a more preferred choice for parents and families. She has conducted fieldwork in villages of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh to understand the cross-cultural variations in gendered preferences for children. Her research interests include social demography, gender studies, marriage and family, fertility, health and child mortality. She has previously published in Economic and Political Weekly.

Ravinder Kaur

Ravinder KAUR is a Professor of Sociology and Social Anthropology at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India. Her main areas of research are gender, sex ratio imbalances, marriage, family, technology, and social change. She has published widely in Indian and international journals. Two recent publications are “Gendered parenting and returns from children in contemporary India: A study of IIT students and their parents” in Current Sociology (Feb. 2021), https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0011392121990022 and “The Gendered Biopolitics of Sex Selection in India” (with Taanya Kapoor) in Asian Bioethics Review (2021), https://doi.org/10.1007/s41649-020-00159-7. She has co-edited two books: “Too Many Men, Too Few Women: Social Consequences of Gender Imbalance in India and China” published in 2016 by Orient Blackswan Ltd. and “Marrying in South Asia: ‘Shifting Concepts, Changing Practices in a Globalising World’” (with Rajni Palriwala) in 2014 by Orient Blackswan Ltd.