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A friend's ( an educated woman's) words -
"Perhaps I was wrong not to try getting a son."
Hardly had the words got out of her than we pounced on her for such absurd ideas. My friend is the proud mother of two wonderful girls and the most fussed over lady of the family.Any suggestion of abortion till the foetus turned out to be a boy was unthinkable.
With her the matter ended lightly but unfortunately in some homes this preference for boys takes illogical proportions, specially in earlier days. The mother of the girl child was looked down by the father's family members ( not knowing that he was the one responsible for the gender of the child). The dowry factor was the main cause of such ideas. Parents who couldn't afford a second dowry usually went in for such measures after a first girl child.
Woes of the mother and the new born girl -
Or they forcibly made her go for the abortions. Apart from a weak body after such harsh treatment , the resulting boy baby was taken over by the family in the name of caring. And spoiled to their heart's content. Special food for boys and the leftovers for girls was the norm in most families until recently. ie in families where the girls were left to live. Killing girl children after they were born was common in many villages.
That's why we have many anaemic but mentally sharp and challenging girl children in contrast to physically strong but anti-social boys. Only when a girl attained puberty was she given nourishing food so that she was strong enough for child bearing.
The situation today
Luckily the situation has improved nowadays. Girls have proved their mettle and started shining in all fields.Nowadays a girl can tell her husband, "I have paid for the house. So if you can't behave yourself, you may get out."
I'm certainly not voting for broken families, but I like girls and women to be educated and self sufficient so that they are not helpless in a critical situation.
And mens' attitude towards women has changed also. With a reduction in the age gap between man and wife, men have learned to be more friendly and caring towards his wife.
In short, education can :
1) Change a girl's attitude towards herself and towards society.It makes her step out where she once hid herself.
2) Give her an idea about the world. So she can start a business on her own if she has the capacity
.
3) Make her qualified for jobs. Makes her independent and a support for the family too.
4) Make her aware of her rights and the rights of other women so she can fight for them.
5) Make her aware of sanitation and other health aspects which will be useful to her in daily life.
6) Give her the confidence and the logic to think on her own and contribute her ideas towards society.
7 )Expose her to different fields which may click with her areas of interest.
8 ) For working girls who don't have family or relatives to search for a suitable match, it provides them ample chances of exposure.
9)) For girls who come come from broken families, a girl's exposure to other girls and their families gives her an idea of what families are meant to be, so that she doesn't continue` her parents' way of life
10 ) Reduce the chances of domestic bullying or domestic violence.
11 )Help her guide her children in their studies.
12) Give her a sense of fulfilment and achievement and a reason to live
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