There is strong pressure among Hindus to prefer sons, and this is most apparent through the example of India's exceptionally high prevalence of sex-selective abortions, and by other practices such as female infanticide and neglect that contribute to excess female mortality. The paper examines how, why, and to what degree son preference has a detrimental impact on the survival and status of Hindu females in India. Drawing from persistent socio-religious themes--reverence for the female in the traditional roles of wife and mother; a pronounced emphasis on the importance of the family unit; goddess worship; the strong desire for sons; dominance of the male; and subordinate status of the female--there is evidence of both discrimination against the female and a corresponding acknowledgement of her special powers and value. It is concluded that the widespread practice of dowry is the major, but not sole, cause exacerbating son preference to the extent that India sex ratios are abnormally imbalanced in favor of males. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Religion in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester, 2004. / March 23, 2004. / Son preference, Sex selection / Includes bibliographical references. / Kathleen M. Erndl, Professor Directing Thesis; Bryan J. Cuevas, Committee Member; Aline Kalbian, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_176205 |
| Contributors | Sineath, Sherry Aldrich (authoraut), Erndl, Kathleen M. (professor directing thesis), Cuevas, Bryan J. (committee member), Kalbian, Aline (committee member), Department of Religion (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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