Two
of our nieces are expecting, one of them her second baby and the other, her
first. The former is in the US and the latter, in India. Another lady we are very
close to is expecting her third child and she is in the US. So, it is going to
be babies and more babies around us shortly!
But
look, the two ladies in the US know the sex of their to-be-born. And, they are
well off enough to have the nursery in their homes nicely done up in blue or pink, color coordinated wall
papers, cradle, soft linen, diapers, feeding bottle, toys, with or without frills, etc. etc.
They
must be considering themselves very lucky. Just imagine their condition had
they been in India.
No
sex determination tests here. You can’t know whether it is pink or blue till
the baby is born. And then it will be too late to have the rooms done up, the
baby things bought to be congruent with the sex of the newcomer. Blue
thingamabobs for an infant girl? Tut, tut …
Of
course, the third lady, the one in India, can afford a short trip to the US (or
any other country where sex determination is not illegal) and come back with
the firm knowledge of what it is going to be. Things can be planned to
perfection, just as her counterparts in the US can do. Will she be doing that,
I haven’t the faintest, but I tend to think she would not.
But
this post is not about these ladies and their pregnancies. It is about why sex determination
is not allowed in India and is allowed in the US. Of course, we know why it is
not allowed in India. Child sex ratio. But, do you think it is the lack of
strong son preference that is the reason behind sex determination being OK in
the US? If you thought so, you need to think a little more.
It
is all about marketing. You are pregnant and it is going to be a boy. What if,
in your Google search, ads pop up that show off little things in pink? You
wouldn’t like it, of course, social conditioning. Hence, now with targeted
advertisements, Google is not going to stand by doing nothing and allowing
space to be occupied by irrelevant ads. To make them relevant, or, to filter out
the incongruent and irrelevant, of course, there are the sex determination
tests. Bingo!
Now,
to the crux of this post. You would not disagree that this type of stereo
typing is also a disease. No, I am not saying this is as pernicious, indeed as fatal
as sex determination is reportedly in India for XX fetuses. Yet, society can be
improved – yes, there is room for improvement even in the lands of milk and
honey – in the US, and the west in general. I do not know how bad it is now in
India, but it is getting worse. Sex based stereotyping is becoming more and
more the norm.
Indeed
there was a time, say thirty or forty years ago, till the age of 2 or 3, Indian
babies were unisex – you couldn’t distinguish a toddler from a toddleress! This
is how it should be. Indian are regressing, and regressing fast.
Given
that Indians are copying everything from the west, I would suggest that the
west start copying India and ban sex determination tests, Google
notwithstanding. One tit for a thousand tats is better than no tits at all!
Raghuram
Ekambaram
2 comments:
Sex based stereotyping is becoming more and more the norm.
Boy's should not cry.
Boy's don't wear pink unless they are gay.
Girls should not use swear words
Yes Balu. Now with your input it clear how pernicious the whole thing is. This is the point I wanted to make.
Thanks.
Raghu
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