Grade :
9 th Grade
Subjects : World Studies
Author : Susan Loewenstein, Alexander
Hamilton High, Milwaukee , WI
Estimated time for the activity : 80
minutes
Essential Understanding
Gender inequality affects all citizens of the world.
This specific example in India demonstrates the true disparities between
males and females and highlights the fatal outcomes that result.
Overview :
Students will study current news articles for the continuing
practice of female infanticide in India . The devaluation of females
has many reasons that students will explore through reading and discussion.
After awareness of the problem, students will brainstorm solutions
to this complicated problem and evaluate and reflect upon each solution
to its effectiveness.
Background information for Teachers:
Female infanticide is the intentional killing of baby
girls due to the preference for male babies and from the low value
associated with the birth of females.
Several websites are helpful for gathering more
information and current statistics.
www.southasia.oneworld.net
www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html -
The bias against females in India is related to the fact that "Sons
are called upon to provide the income; they are the ones who do most
of the work in the fields. In this way sons are looked to as a type
of insurance. With this perspective, it becomes clearer that the high
value given to males decreases the value given to females." (Marina
Porras, "Female
Infanticide and Foeticide".) The problem is also intimately
tied to the institution of dowry, in which the family of a prospective
bride must pay enormous sums of money to the family in which the woman
will live after marriage. Though formally outlawed, the institution
is still pervasive. "The combination of dowry and wedding expenses
usually add up to more than a million rupees ([US] $35,000). In India
the average civil servant earns about 100,000 rupees ($3,500) a year.
Given these figures combined with the low status of women, it seems
not so illogical that the poorer Indian families would want only male
children."
http://www.indianchild.com/abortion_infanticide_foeticide_india.htm -
According to a recent report by the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF) www.unicef.org up
to 50 million girls and women are missing from India ' s population
as a result of systematic gender discrimination in India . In most
countries in the world, there are approximately 105 female births for
every 100 males. In India , there are less than 93 women for every
100 men in the population. The accepted reason for such a disparity
is the practice of female infanticide in India , prompted by the existence
of a dowry system which requires the family to pay out a great deal
of money when a female child is married. For a poor family, the birth
of a girl child can signal the beginning of financial ruin and extreme
hardship.
Diagnostic teams with ultrasound scanners which detect
the sex of a child advertise with catchlines such as spend 600 rupees
now and save 50,000 rupees later. These methods are becoming increasing
available in rural areas of India , fuelling fears that the trend towards
the abortion of female fetuses is on the increase
Objectives
- The students will be able to explain the social,
economic and cultural reasons for female infanticide in India .
- The students will design a short presentation on
one reason for infanticide and present it to a small group.
- The students will be able to evaluate what
methods would be successful for the halt of female infanticide.
Resources/Materials :
-classroom board/overhead
-pens/pencils
-paper
-article: “Tomorrow, spare a thought for
the girl child,” Times of India. Handout or on-line at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1293355,curpg-3.cms
-article: “Voices of Concern: Geeta Rao
Gupta,” NOVA. Handout or on-line at http://pbs.org/wgbh/nova/worldbalance/voic-raog.html
-article: “Social dynamics of missing girl child,” OneWorld
South Asia. Handout or on-line at http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/100022/1/1?PrintableVersion=enabled
-article: “For India ’s daughters,
a dark birth day,” Christian Science Monitor. Handout or on-line
at http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0209/p11s01-wosc.htm
-article: “ India rapped over birth bias,” BBC
News. Handout or on-line at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/828180.stm
-article: “ India ’s Unwanted Girls,” BBC
News. Handout or on-line at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/828856.stm
-article: “Fight for the Girl,” The Hindu.
Handout or on-line at http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2004/08/15/stories/2004081500090400.htm
-article: “Case Study: Female Infanticide , India
,” Gendercide Watch. Handout or on-line at http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html
Activities/Procedures
- Warm-up/Do-Now: Students respond to the following
prompt, written on the overhead or board prior to class: “How
are boys and girls treated differently in the United States from
the moment they are born? How are boys and girls treated differently
when they are teenagers?
Make a prediction: How are men and women treated differently in the work
place?”
Have the students record their responses in their notebook. Students should
share their answers for class discussion and further questioning.
Extension questions could be: “Why do you think difference exist? Are
these differences born or nurtured in the family? Do these gender roles change
with time?” Discuss how women are viewed differently in other cultures
throughout the world. Can they suggest the differences that they see in the
media or experience personally in their own unique culture?
- Using a jigsaw format, each group of students will
have one topic and supporting articles on reasons for female infanticide.
Each group will read and discuss their topic to become familiar with
it. The students should also take notes on important points of discussion
and become “experts” on their topic. Each student should
also fill out the handout chart to organize ideas from their article.
Give students time to prepare a presentation that they will present
in small-groups to their classmates.
- These “expert” groups should be divided
so that each member is put into a new group. Ask each student to
present her or his segment to the group using the chart as a format
for discussion. Encourage others in the group to ask questions for
clarification and take notes to gather information to add to their
chart.
- After listening to the multiple reasons for female
infanticide, each student will individually write a one/two page
reflective essay on this practice. What solutions to female infanticide
do you think would work best in India ? What solutions do you think
will not work? Who should implement these strategies?
Assessment Activities
- Students will read and fill in the chart to record
their knowledge of female infanticide.
- Students will peer assess the group work and presentation
according to the rubric.
http://www.ece.utexas.edu/bell/newLegacy/files/peerassessment.rtf
- Students will create a well-written thoughtful one/two
page reflective essay on female infanticide in India . (See
rubric)
Assessment Activities
- Students will read and fill in the chart to record
their knowledge of female infanticide.
- Students will peer assess the group work and presentation
according to the rubric.
http://www.ece.utexas.edu/bell/newLegacy/files/peerassessment.rtf
- Students will create a well-written thoughtful one/two
page reflective essay on female infanticide in India . (See
rubric)
Content Standards
While studying world history, students in grades
5-12 will learn about:
- global encounters, industrialization, urbanization,
and imperialism, 1850-1914 AD
- post-industrialism, global interdependence, and fragmentation
in the contemporary world, 1945-present
Performance Standards
B.12.5 Gather various types of historical evidence,
including visual and quantitative data, to analyze issues of freedom
and equality, liberty and order, region and nation, individual and
community, law and conscience, diversity and civic duty; form a reasoned
conclusion in the light of other possible conclusions; and develop
a coherent argument in the light of other possible arguments
B.12.9 Select significant changes caused by technology,
industrialization, urbanization, and population growth, and analyze
the effects of these changes in the United States and the world
B.12.15 Identify a historical or contemporary event
in which a person was forced to take an ethical position, such as a
decision to go to war, the impeachment of a president, or a presidential
pardon, and explain the issues involved
B.12.17 Identify historical and current instances when
national interests and global interests have seemed to be opposed and
analyze the issues involved
B.12.18 Explain the history of slavery, racial and ethnic
discrimination, and efforts to eliminate discrimination in the United
States and elsewhere in the world
C.12.8 Locate, organize, analyze, and use information
from various sources to understand an issue of public concern, take
a position, and communicate the position
C.12.9 Identify and evaluate the means through which
advocates influence public policy
C.12.10 Identify ways people may participate effectively
in community affairs and the political process
C.12.11 Evaluate the ways in which public opinion can
be used to influence and shape public policy
C.12.14 Explain and analyze how different political
and social movements have sought to mobilize public opinion and obtain
governmental support in order to achieve their goals
C.12.16 Describe the evolution of movements to assert
rights by people with disabilities, ethnic and racial groups, minorities,
and women
Extension Activities/Discussions:
- Read and report on similar situations throughout
the world. Using this article in the New York Times, “Desire
for Sons Drives Use of Prenatal Scans in China ,” compare
and contrast the differences between India and China in terms of
why boys are more valued than girls, what roles the government
plays in this phenomenon, and what is being done to curb this practice.
- Visit “Voice of Youth” page of
the United Nations (UNICEF), read the comments on female infanticide. http://www.unicef.org/voy/discussions
What do many of the comments blame for female infanticide?
What are some of the solution listed? Sign up for a member ship and
join the discussion with some of the information you have recently
acquired.
Watch the movie, Matroobhoomi (A country without
women ). A recently released Indian movie, Mathroobhoomi paints
a futuristic scenario of a nation without women. It tells the story of
several brothers and their widowed father, whose desperate attempts to
find brides for his sons lead to tragedy and bloodshed. When they manage
to find one woman, all of them decide to get married to her, and their
violent relationships. This video is for mature audience and would be
best viewed with parental supervision. Evaluate the movie by profiling
each character in an essay format. Check your local library, video rental
store or the internet for availability.