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“But it’s not that they don’t love their girls”: gender equality, reproductive rights and sex-selective abortion in Britain
Version 2 2023-06-12, 08:10
Version 1 2023-06-10, 01:39
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-12, 08:10 authored by Maya UnnithanMaya Unnithan, Ben KasstanRecent demographic analysis of sex ratios at birth in the UK has signaled the issue of “missing girls” in British Asian minority populations. This paper juxtaposes the processes of reproductive regulation set in motion by this new demographic knowledge of son preference, with lived experiences of gender equality and family-making practices. Ethnographic research conducted with British Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi families reveal diverse mechanisms of family decision-making that add to and nuance the prevailing statistics. We use the lens of “gender equality” and vernacular framings of sex-selective abortion to advance conceptual understandings of son preference as increasingly disconnected from selective reproduction, at the same time as selective reproduction is connected with the governance of ethnic minority identity and reproduction.
Funding
Son preference and sex selection against females in the UK: Evidence, causes, trends & implications; G2257; ESRC-ECONOMIC & SOCIAL RESEARCH COUNCIL; ES/N01877X/1
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
Medical AnthropologyISSN
0145-9740Publisher
Taylor & FrancisExternal DOI
Issue
6-7Volume
41Page range
645-658Department affiliated with
- Anthropology Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2021-11-05First Open Access (FOA) Date
2022-01-07First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2021-11-04Usage metrics
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