On 04/10/11 07:48, ss wrote: [interesting and depressing things]
I suppose the overriding theme here is that unmarried daughters are seen as a strain on family resources. So one solution would be better career prospects for women, right, so they can come home with bundles of cash and thereby materially improve the lifestyle of the household, by being able to buy fun things and hire domestic staff, right? Would encouraging that help the situation, over the next generation or two? One of my staff at work (in London) is an Indian girl who studied computing in India, worked there for IBM, then came to the UK to do a masters degree and then came to work for us. I don't think she sends money home, but she's certainly not being any kind of burden on the home, although they may well perceive a nonexistant burden of having to "get her married off" (she does sometimes complain that her mother pressures her to marry people... but she'll marry who she wants when she's ready, IMHO). I severely doubt that *her* children will suffer much gender bias. Having said that, I'm not sure what demographic she comes from in India; she's almost certainly not representative. AIUI her parents are doctors in a small town, so relatively affluent. ABS -- Alaric Snell-Pym http://www.snell-pym.org.uk/alaric/
