Sent to Psychohistory to start a new topic:
Here is the link to a Guardian article on female feticide in India:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/24/india-families-aborting-girl-babies?CMP=EMCGT_250511&
The study based on the 2011 census shows that female feticide is prevalent more among the upper sections of the society, who can afford the expensive gender determination tests and selective abortions, than among the poor. It suspects that expatriate Indians living in the U.S. may also be practicing it.
One obvious differentiator between the Indian/South Asian people, wherever they live, and those of the rest of the world is the caste system. Parental practices among the lower castes are certainly less advanced than those among the upper castes mainly for two reasons: poverty and lack of education, which generally run along caste lines. But female feticide does not appear to follow this divide.
What is it then that drives the Indian parents to prefer boys over girls? It ought to be something that permeates the whole population. Could it be dowry?
Suzarin
