ISSN: 2456-8090 (online)                                                                                                    

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26440/IHRJ/0305.08270

 

A Study on Gender Preferences and Its Sociocultural Aspects Among Married Women (18-45 Years) In Rural Gurugram

 

V K SINGHAL1, SHALINI RAY2, PRIYANKA SACHDEVA*2, VISHESH YADAV3

 

Cite this article as: Singhal VK, Ray S, Sachdeva P, Yadav V. A Study on Gender Preferences and Its Sociocultural Aspects Among Married Women (18-45 Years) In Rural Gurugram. Int Healthc Res J. 2019;3(5):185-188. https://doi.org/10.26440/IHRJ/0305.08270

 

 

Author Affiliations:

  1. Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, SGT University, Gurugram
  2. Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, SGT University, Gurugram
  3. Senior Lecturer, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Faculty of Dental Sciences, SGT University, Gurugram

Corresponding Author's Address

Dr. Priyanka Sachdeva

Assistant Professor

Dept of Community Medicine

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

SGT University, Gurugram

priyankassachdeva2014[at]gmail[dot]com

 

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Declining sex ratio is a major concern worldwide, especially in a developing country like India. The role of sociocultural factors in gender preference is known since ages. The skewed sex ratio in India is attributed to selective female feticides and misuse of technological advancements. This also has a strong influence on contraceptive acceptance among couples.

OBJECTIVES: The present study was conducted to explore the contraceptive use, gender preferences and its determinants among married women in rural Gurgaon.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among married women (18-45years) residing in the rural field practice area of SGT medical college and hospital, Gurugram. The sample size was found to be 400. Systematic random sampling technique was used to recruit the study participants.  Pre- tested, pre-designed questionnaire was used for data collection.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Among 400 married women, current contraceptive usage among study population was found to be 58.25%. The most common method of contraception used by the study subjects was intrauterine contraceptive device. The preference for male child was found among 49.5% women. The reasons cited for such preference were propagation of family name (48.2%), financial dependability in the old age (34%), social responsibilities are carried out by males (25.3%) and males are lesser economic liability (31%). Lower age group of mother, nulliparity, Hindu religion, lower educational status and lower socioeconomic status were found to be the determinants of male child preference in the present study.

CONCLUSION: There is need of awareness and education amongst women and both the genders deserve equal respect without any preferences.

KEYWORDS: Gender Preference, Contraception, Sex Ratio

 

INTRODUCTION

Gender composition is an important aspect of the family, and the society at large. A balanced sex ratio plays a vital part in maintaining a stable society. Unfavourable sex-ratio is not unique to India. There is a strong gender preference for male child in India.1,2 The preference for sons has even led to female feticide. However, the alarming fact is that India has one of the lowest child sex ratios in the world with 914 girls /1000 boys, which has fallen from 927 girls/1000 boys in 2001.3 Various factors that can be attributed to the decline in sex-ratio include increased sex selective female abortions, and female feticide. This is now being actualized by using the technology of sonographic scans, amniotic fluid examination etc. to detect the sex of a foetus and abort female foetuses. Preference for a son has also been cited as one of the reasons for high fertility and skewed sex ratio in India and it has a powerful influence on acceptance of any contraceptive method. Changes in sex ratio reflect underlying socioeconomic and cultural   patterns of a society.  Not many studies have assessed the perception of women regarding their gender preferences.

 

Objectives

  1. To  explore    the    contraceptive   use   and  gender preferences  among   married   women  in  rural  areas of Gurugram.
  1. To find the associated factors for gender preference  among married women in rural areas of Gurugram.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The present cross-sectional study was conducted among married women (18-45years) residing in the rural field practice area of SGT medical college and hospital, Gurugram. Assuming that 50% of the rural women had a gender preference, taking 10% relative precision and 95% confidence level, the sample size was found to be 400. Systematic random sampling method was used to recruit study subjects who gave their consent for participation. Women who had attained surgical or natural menopause were excluded. All eligible women from each selected household were taken till optimum sample size was achieved. Face to face interview was done using a pretested predesigned questionnaire. Data analysis was done using Epi info 7 software. The Chi-square test for proportion was used as test of significance. Univariate analysis was done and p value of < 0.05 was considered to be significant.

 

RESULTS

Majority of the study subjects i.e.50.5% were in the age group of 18-30years. More  than half  i.e. 53%  of the study population were Hindus and 21% were Muslims. Majority of the study subjects i.e. 60.5% were living in nuclear family. It was also found that 57% of the rural married women were having secondary level education and above. The modified BG Prasad socioeconomic scale was used to assess the socioeconomic status. About 45% belonged to lower class, 36% to middle class and 19% to upper class. [Table 1]

On questioning regarding current contraceptive usage, 233 (58.25%) subjects were currently using some or the other method of contraception. The most common method of contraception used by the study subjects was intrauterine contraceptive device, with 83 (35.6%) using this method. Oral contraceptive pills were used by 27 (11.6%); condom usage was found to be present among 68 (29.2%). About 47 (20.2%) of the study subjects had undergone tubectomy & only 8 (3.4%) of study subjects reported of their husbands undergone vasectomy. [Table 2]

Majority 197 (84.5%) of current contraceptive users reported of using family planning services for more than 12 months period. Out of 400 women studied, 49.5% gave preference to male child (Figure 1); the major reasons for this being propagation of family name (48.2%), financial dependability in the old age (34%) social responsibilities are carried out by males (25.3%) and males are lesser economic liability (31%). (Figure 2)

 

However, about 20.8% preferred female child and rest 29.7% had no gender preference for child. The reasons cited for female child preference were equality between males and females (51%), females are better caretakers (42%) and 36% said female child completes a family. (Figure 3)    

Lower age group of mother, nulliparity, Hindu religion, lower educational status and lower socioeconomic status were found to be associated with male child preference in the study population. [Table 3]

 

DISCUSSION

In the present study, more than half (50.5%) of females were in young age group 18 to 30 years. The current contraceptive usage among study population was found to be 58.25%. According to NFHS 4,4 the contraceptive prevalence rate in Haryana is 63.7%.

The most common method of contraception used by the study subjects was intrauterine contraceptive device, with 83 (35.6%) using this method. Oral contraceptive pills were used by 27 (11.6%); condom usage was found to be present among 68 (29.2%). About 47 (20.2%) of the study subjects had undergone tubectomy & few i.e. only 8 (3.4%) of study subjects reported of their husbands undergone vasectomy.

 

According to DLHS -3,5 the use of contraceptive method

was 47.1% using any modern method, out of which 34% used tubectomy which almost conforms to the current study while only 5.9% used condoms whereas condom usage was 29.2% in our study. However, intrauterine contraceptive devices were more preferred than condom as a spacing method in our study.

In the present study, about 49.5% gave preference to male child. Similar studies conducted by Puri et al.6 where 56% women and by Vadera et al.7 where 58.5% of the women expressed preference for a son. In the present study, the major reasons for this being propagation of family name (48.2%), financial dependability in the old age 34%, social responsibilities are carried out by males (25.3%) and males are lesser economic liability (31%).

Lower age group of mother, nulliparity, Hindu religion, lower educational status and lower socioeconomic status were found to be associated with male child preference in the study population. This finding corroborates with the study done by Srivastav et al. in a district of Uttar Pradesh8 implicating the role of sociocultural factors in gender preference in India.

CONCLUSION

In the present study, male child preference is significantly associated with education, age of women, socioeconomic status, parity and religion of woman. This reflects the need of awareness and education amongst women. Both the genders deserve equal respect without any preferences. In order to achieve this, it is the need of the hour to spread awareness regarding the consequences of gender imbalance and skewed sex ratio in the society.

 

REFERENCES

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  4. International Institute for Population Sciences, Macro International. National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) India: Key Findings; 2015–16.
  5. International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), 2010. District Level Household and Facility Survey (DLHS-3), 2007-08: India. Mumbai: IIPS.
  6. Puri S, Bhatia V, Swami HM. Gender Preference and Awareness Regarding Sex Determination among Married Women in Slums of Chandigarh. Indian J Community Med 2007; 32: 60-2.
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  8. Shrivastava S, Kariwal P, Kapilasrami MC. A community based study on awareness and perception on gender discrimination and sex preference among married women (in reproductive age group) in a rural population of district Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. Nat J Comm Med. 2011;2:273-6.

 

 

 

© VK Singhal et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY-NC 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the use is not commercial and the original author(s) and source are cited.