India at 77: Does Gender Bias Still Persist?
77 years after independence and multiple dedicated efforts later does gender bias still exist in India?
The nurses were preparing for the delivery of Mrs. L, a 5th-time pregnant mother, something I hadn't heard in a long time and certainly not in Tamil Nadu. The first four were girls so for the want of a son, Mrs. L had to go through another pregnancy. She looked frail and drained. A lady knocked on the door, appearing hassled and visibly poor from the clothes, hair, and lack of ornaments. She asked in a whisper, “Is it a boy?”
The baby was delivered normally a few hours later and was healthy. However, it was another girl. Mrs. L, still in the lithotomy position, started weeping loudly upon knowing the sex. We tried to calm her in many ways but failed. Her mother, that lady who had peeped before, came in with milk to feed her. Upon knowing the sex, she too started crying. Mrs. L refused to drink the milk saying it may as well be fed to the Gods. The mother-in-law came in for a brief moment and offered her consolation and tears. Mrs. L was reluctant to breastfeed the newborn.
We tried to explain in various ways that neither the baby nor the mother is at fault, that women are equally capable humans, and that they should think of Mrs. L’s health and the family should consider tubal ligation, a surgical procedure of sterilization, than another pregnancy. Suggesting tubectomy over vasectomy made me realize how deeply ingrained the issue of gender bias is in us. Mrs. L told that her husband too was the only son so there was a lot of expectation for a boy child.
Mrs. L’s mother still in a state of shock and denial said that the people on the hills won't agree to stop trying for a boy child. “It is not in our hands,” she said and continued sobbing. She whispered again with folded hands, for the second time, “Please do something. We can pay. Can we not exchange and buy a baby boy here as it is possible in other places?” It was my turn to be shocked- not by her persistence but to learn that such a thing of exchange is possible elsewhere or even the idea of it. The wailings went on for long. We told the family not to ill-treat the child or the mother. I learned that Mrs. L’s husband and mother took off for home soon after the delivery and did not come back even till the day of discharge.
The nurses told me of an incident where a family had left a third girl child outside the neighboring shop. The police took it away and she is growing up in an orphanage. There were four other women in the labour room watching and listening but none talking. What must be going on in their heads?
Some hours later, another woman delivered her fourth girl child. There was a dejected sigh but there was no crying. One of the nurses told her to bear with this and asked her family to support her and go with what destiny had planned. I again jumped in to complete how women are equally or more capable. This mother had two upbeat sisters to support her. They told her to stay strong and gave their own example that in times of need, it is they, not the brothers who came forward to help. I saw some smiles at least. The apparent option given was tubal ligation, again.
I was reeling in fog experiencing all this. Shocked also, because I suddenly felt my gender. A friend clinician was also disturbed by this whole incident. How can one degrade a female to this extent? If this is in Tamil Nadu- supposedly or comparatively a liberal, literate, and progressive state then what ‘degree’ would be happening elsewhere? I remembered another feeble woman from Jharkhand who delivered just her fourth. She had a boy from a previous pregnancy. While she was still recovering, we asked her if she'd consider family planning. The father-in-law quickly affirmatively answered, No! We will try again for a boy”. The mother had no choice and no voice.
How essential and effective is it to do community meetings to understand perceptions, to give examples of women or any gender's contribution to society, to reduce this horrible deep-rooted stigma almost like the caste of being a girl child? Are the efforts to save the girl child that are going on enough? Are the campaigns, movies, advertisements, books, etc without actually going out into the community or practicing equality among ourselves enough?
Is the government doing enough? We also know that culprits of sexual assault on women are roaming scot-free or released on days that are meant to remind us of our free country. In such situations what ways can it be a partner in changing deep-rooted biases and promoting respect for the girl child? Have making education girl’s education free, bus rides free, reservations, doles on the birth of a girl child and other schemes worked? Or are these efforts distancing one from addressing the deeper reasons behind this issue? Is it a practice that has seeped into the tribal communities from outside as this community is known not to differentiate between sexes?
I'm shaken by this whole episode and by the larger picture and my part and pursuits. Should I read about the ways to manage complex labor or should I ponder on how to engage with the community more? I think I have to do both but certainly not forget the community and should rather bring up these discussions more often. For now, we thought we should talk to the chief clinical administrator and the founder, to give discounts, plan out field visits, connect the family with some schemes, and work on other ways of addressing gender discrimination in the community. We planned a discussion with some of our own staff on this issue of gender bias that has become a part of our DNA like that of caste and creed in some blood.
About the author:
Vasundhara Rangaswamy is a public health physician and a microbiologist who spends most of her time in rural India.