Son Preference in India

Abstract

Through a focus on Rajasthan, this chapter analyses how government awareness campaigns for gender equality, as well as a sharp rise in institutional deliveries throughout the country in the 2000s, have affected how son preference is discussed and treated in hospitals. Drawing on 3 months of ethnographic fieldwork in a government hospital in Jaipur, this chapter shows that the condemnation of son preference has enhanced regimes of medical and moral surveillance within obstetric wards. Not only does it contribute to further castigation and self-disciplining mechanisms, but it also constitutes a new opportunity for social distinction. While condemning son preference practices, women, nurses, and doctors are constantly finding scapegoats in social classes, state, and generational differences. Thus, this chapter considers whether the public condemnation of son preference, currently jeopardizing the relationship of trust between caregivers and patients, could undermine government policies on safe motherhood.