A case of a happy woman

Using the above ideas, let us take up the case of a woman in an Indian village who is happy to get a son. Figure 3.1 shows a few reasons for her to be happy. It clearly shows that to be happy to have a son is not merely a feeling caused by a purely reproductive process. It is mixed with certain ideas, norms and culture. She is happy because son is a source of an economic value as well as status. As a mother of a son she has contributed to her conjugal family, or the family of procreation. Note that she is happy and she is not looking for happiness in the future. In a matriarchal setting this woman would not feel happy . In the matriarchal, matrilineal setting (for example, in the Khasi tribal community of the North-East) she will also not receive appreciation from others for producing a son. Obviously, there is no guarantee that son will be of value. He may even cause a great agony in mother’s life. The parents may have to spend more on son than on daughter and may not get anything out of that. The returns in the form of old age security are uncertain. Who knows that this son will not make her life hell but she is happy at the moment.