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SIRENSONGS
Indologist At Large
Articles Posted: 15; Links Seeded: 569
Member Since: 9/2006Last Seen: 4/04/2009
Member Since: 9/2006Last Seen: 4/04/2009
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Dateline: Anywhere, India. - Infanticide, feticide - all names for gender- based murder, or a form of genocide. India's "gender ratio" is falling, particularly in more prosperous areas where parents can afford a gender determination test of the fetus.
Since girl babies are unpopular (primarily because of the South Asian tradition of dowry, or the huge costs incurred in "marrying off" a daughter), countless families choose to abort female fetuses. Those who can't afford the prenatal test often murder or abandon girl children after birth.
Laws have been passed against both dowry and feticide (to prosecute the doctors and parents), consciousness-raising campaigns have been organized - all have been of very little use facing these deeply entrenched customs. This problem is not restricted to a particular religious or ethnic group, but has cut across socioeconomic and caste lines.
Just a couple months ago, a village well in Punjab, one of India's more propsperous states, was found stuffed with remains of hundreds of fetuses. Every single one of them was found to be female.
"50 Million Missing" is the name of a Flickr.com photo group started by Rita Banerji. Rita hopes to eventually represent each and every one of the missing girls with a photo, to put a human face on the numbers. See www.flickr.com/50_million_missing
Rita saw my photos on Flickr and asked me to join. As I uploaded the photos, I realized what a massive undertaking this was - five photos, ten photos, drops in the bucket. Fifty million! As the faces appear on screen, I type a tiny note about each woman or girl - where I saw them, what they were doing. The enormity of the situation dawned on me.
I'll let Rita explain the rest (below).
Meanwhile, if you have photos of Indian women and girls, please join 50 Million Missing and upload them. At this time, there are only about 500 photos - there is a long way to go, in more than one sense.
From the 50 Million Missing site:
"Through rampant feticide, infanticide, and the murder of young women by their husbands and inlaws for dowry, India has managed to invert its population ratio from 10:9, women to men, as is normal for any population, to 9:10. Further more India has also warped the gender ratio for 1/5 of the entire human population.
"It is the HOPE of this website to have as many possible of the 50 million missing represented by a photograph. These can be of Indian women or girls, of any age, and community represented as portraits or shown as engaged in various activities -- which is life. It would help very much if there is a small personal commentary with the photo about the girl or woman so we can reverse the process of dehumanizing Indian women.
"This is India's silent genocide -- and it is time for it to stop. I am also hoping that at some point those of us who are able to, will collectively either put out a book or start a touring exhibition -- and so bring this matter to head."
Visit the website at: www.flickr.com/groups/50_million_missing
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- Public Discussion (15)
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16
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8.3
{"commentId":574506,"authorDomain":"sirensongs"}
How do I put HTML into my post? (sheepish smile)
{"commentId":574506,"threadId":"82976","contentId":"604537","authorDomain":"sirensongs"}
- 5 votes
#1 - Thu Mar 8, 2007 11:37 AM EST{"commentId":574666,"authorDomain":"smackcover"}
I want to know that as well! Been trying. My latest post, I had help doing it.
As for your article -- I am so glad that you are working to make more people aware of this base and tragic practice. I will check out the flickr site.
{"commentId":574666,"threadId":"82976","contentId":"604537","authorDomain":"smackcover"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":574853,"authorDomain":"ignoblus"}
Here is a great place to start learning html. It is a little more geared toward writing web pages rather than just adding a little bit here and there into comments on NV, so most of it can be skipped, but it's still a useful reference.
Most of it is pretty simple. To include a link, you need this:
<a href="URL of page to link to">text you want to display </a>
So,
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/50_million_missing">50 million missing photo</a>
gives you:
Try it in the comments box and you'll be able to see if it works without even needing to post your comment. Unfortunately, that URL isn't right. Maybe you want this:
{"commentId":574853,"threadId":"82976","contentId":"604537","authorDomain":"ignoblus"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":574868,"authorDomain":"smackcover"}
Thanks ignoblus!
{"commentId":574868,"threadId":"82976","contentId":"604537","authorDomain":"smackcover"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":576231,"authorDomain":"PamelaDrew"}
I have a cheaters way. I open another window and do it in the comment box then cut and paste and never post the comment...pretty tricky? I hardly do links but if you see one, it's cut and pasted! Technophobes answer. :~)
{"commentId":576231,"threadId":"82976","contentId":"604537","authorDomain":"PamelaDrew"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":574965,"authorDomain":"surya"}
India is a staggering, incredible enigma.
In some ways it represents the future hope of humanity ... a third world country emerging from colonial subjugation and within a few decades it has a successful space program -- launching communication satellites for other countries, it's a world leader in the IT industry and it has an emerging economic middle class growing like topsy -- greater in numbers than the combined populations of France, Germany and Britain.
And yet at the same time there is a staggering level of widespread ignorance, superstition and clinging to old beliefs and village mentalities. The caste system, the dowry system, the endemic corruption in the bureacracy and law enforcement -- all these are huge impediments to India realising its full potential.
And perhaps the most inhuman of all is this one -- the one that no one wants to mention or acknowledge -- the slaughter of innocent girls, female foetuses and even married women, for what is often simply financial considerations.
Despite the incredible beauty and mystery of India, there is something dark and worrying about a society in which this sort of thing happens. As distasteful as it is, it must be spoken about, as this is the only way change will take place. I believe this sort of issue must be addressed in schools so that attitudes can be changed through education. I also believe that it is the education of girls which is most important. By educating the girls, you empower the next generation of women, liberate attitudes in society, and slowly this genocide will stop.
The eyes of the world must come to see this mess, so I fully support the project you have mentioned here sirensongs. Congratulations for a fine article on an important issue. I wish I could help with the HTML question also, but it's a mystery to me.
{"commentId":574965,"threadId":"82976","contentId":"604537","authorDomain":"surya"}
- 11 votes
#2 - Thu Mar 8, 2007 2:19 PM EST{"commentId":576458,"authorDomain":"raatkiraani"}
Surya,
How true what you say about the enigma that is India. I have long believed that the country possess seeds that have remained largely dormant in a mature culture of 5,000+ years. Yet, as a nation it is barely 60 years old.
Evidence over the last 10+ years show sprouting green shoots which will help to unleash India's potential. I do feel passionately that what we have seen is only a beginning. Against this backdrop, there is a lot that India needs to show as a mature, responsible member of the free, democratic and civilized world.
I think that the convergence of communications, broadcasting and technology, and rapid emergence of social networking at a global scale through sites like this and plenty others, will actually help to elevate knowledge and awareness and act as a springboard to remove unacceptabel practices such as illustarted by this article.
Hats off to Sirensongs for an excellent seed!
{"commentId":576458,"threadId":"82976","contentId":"604537","authorDomain":"raatkiraani"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":575046,"authorDomain":"ZenAid"}
An enormous but worthwhile task. Let's see what we can all do to contribute.
{"commentId":575046,"threadId":"82976","contentId":"604537","authorDomain":"ZenAid"}
- 7 votes
#3 - Thu Mar 8, 2007 2:51 PM EST{"commentId":575358,"authorDomain":"djehuty"}
Very sad situation Sirensongs. The social cost of the imbalance should not be underestimated either - I think China will find out the same thing.
Other humanitarian disasters reach the headlines so much more easily because they're less diffuse - but that leads violence against women and girls, and this horror, to be ignored.
{"commentId":575358,"threadId":"82976","contentId":"604537","authorDomain":"djehuty"}
- 8 votes
#4 - Thu Mar 8, 2007 4:55 PM EST{"commentId":576678,"authorDomain":"upright-ape"}
An especially topical post as yesterday was International Women's Day. I frequently hear about this horrifying practice in regards to China, I'm sure many people would be surprised to hear it also occurs in India.
Are you familiar with the Indian economist Amartya Sen? Really smart guy with some very interesting views. He's frequetly commented on the important role women play in our societies and economic development.
It's easy to hear a number and shrug it off; shrugging off 50,000,000 images is a bit harder.
{"commentId":576678,"threadId":"82976","contentId":"604537","authorDomain":"upright-ape"}
- 6 votes
#5 - Fri Mar 9, 2007 10:49 AM EST{"commentId":576682,"authorDomain":"raatkiraani"}
hear hear. I have a lot of respect for Amartya Sen. Thanks for his link on wiki.
{"commentId":576682,"threadId":"82976","contentId":"604537","authorDomain":"raatkiraani"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":576775,"authorDomain":"spongeteri"}
Thank you upright ape for the link on Amartya Sen.
{"commentId":576775,"threadId":"82976","contentId":"604537","authorDomain":"spongeteri"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":577014,"authorDomain":"upright-ape"}
I've only read his work "Development as Freedom" but he's got a way of framing issues in a manner you don't usually see. He's quite an imaginative thinker.
{"commentId":577014,"threadId":"82976","contentId":"604537","authorDomain":"upright-ape"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":578021,"authorDomain":"surya"}
Jeffrey Sachs, in his wonderful book The End of Poverty also talks about the importance of women in the economic and social development of third world countries, and gives many real-life examples, including from India.
In one part he writes:
In many countries, women face extreme cultural discrimination, whether or not those biases are embedded in the legal and political systems. In South Asia for example, there are an overwhelming number of case studies and media reports of young women facing extreme undernutrition within the household even when there is enough to go around. The women, often illiterate, are poorly treated by in-laws and lack the social standing and perhaps legal protections to ensure their own basic health and well-being.
and in another part of the book:
Cultural or religious norms may block the role of women ... leaving half the population without economic or political rights and without education, thereby undermining half the population in its contribution to overall development. Denying women their rights and education results in cascading problems. ... Poor households continue to have 6 or 7 children because the woman's role is seen mainly as child rearing, and her lack of education means that she has few options in the labour force.
{"commentId":578021,"threadId":"82976","contentId":"604537","authorDomain":"surya"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":579551,"authorDomain":"raatkiraani"}
interesting comment to mark International Womens Day this week!
{"commentId":579551,"threadId":"82976","contentId":"604537","authorDomain":"raatkiraani"}
- 4 votes
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