Gender and Population: Geography of South Asia

Gender and Population Name Institution Gender and Population The responsibility of childbearing in most cases falls directly on women. Yet, most women, as revealed in the case of South Asia, do not have control when it comes to deciding on the number of children a family should have. If they were empowered enough to make such decisions, the average number of children in a family would decline because in most cases, women have to face the consequences of childbirth such as maternal deaths and other childbirth-related complications. For instance, a woman such as Goody has no right to decide on family planning, as revealed in the documentary. Yet, she went through some complications while giving birth to her last child and wanted to become sterile. She is not empowered enough to make that decision and her husband and mother-in-law disapprove. Ultimately, she will continue giving birth until her husband decides it’s enough, which causes a subsequent increase in population growth. However, if women were given more rights, especially in terms of reproduction, the population growth rate would reduce. Further, enhancing gender equality can greatly reduce the population growth rate. One of the reasons why women in South Asia are forced to marry early is because they are viewed as a liability to their families. As revealed in the child marriage article, many women in South Asia are forced into early marriages as a means of reducing the costs, both in dowry payment and living expenses that a family incurs. In this case, women are viewed as lesser than men because they do not add any value to their families. The only role they are expected to play is childbearing. When women are married, they are expected to start bearing children immediately. As such, child marriages increases the number of years a woman will be married, hence the high number of children born by such a woman. This, coupled with their inability to make reproductive health decisions, increases their childbirth rates. However, if gender equality was promoted in South Asia, families would not view the girl child as a liability and women would be given the same treatment as men. There would be no need for child marriages and subsequently, women who would otherwise be giving birth would focus more on attaining education and developing their careers. For instance, in Japan, women have been empowered enough to pursue their careers in equal measures as their male counterparts. As such, they have delayed marriages and childbirth, as revealed in...