Chasing The Gender Dream

Chasing the gender dream : the completed guide to conceiving pink or blue with the latest sex selection technology and tips from someone who has been there /

In Deora, a remote village near Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Shiva Balak walked 24 kilometres to and back from his school each day, only to be left wondering why there were no schools in his own village. A brilliant student, he struggled through extreme hardships, and achieved laurels by winning a scholarship to fund his post-graduate degree in geology in Canada. 'This book chronicles the journey of an extraordinary Indian who has the courage to be ordinary. I went to his village and came away humbled. Dr Misra turned his back on what the affluent West had to offer him, and returned to his country to serve the people of rural India. His is an underdog story of a young scientist from an Indian village whose credit as a discoverer was snatched by his Western colleagues . who had to honour him decades later. This book is a must read for every Indian.' - Mahesh Bhatt, Filmmaker S.B. Misra became a star in the scientific community when he discovered 565-million-year-old fossils that were the oldest records of multicellular life on earth. However, he pondered over the long walk to school each day, which thousands of children were still making in his rural backyard. Abandoning a promising world of fame and recognition, he returned to India to realize his dream - a dream of education for young children in his village. This is an inspiring story of an ordinary Indian in rural India, where class barriers and gender discrimination still exist. This is a story of courage, determination, faith and the will to dream big and fulfill those dreams in the face of adversity.

In the mid-1990s, the international community pronounced prenatal sex selection via abortion an “act of violence against women” and “unethical.” At the same time, new developments in reproductive technology in the United States led to a method of sex selection before conception; its US inventor marketed the practice as “family balancing” and defended it with the rhetoric of freedom of choice. In Gender before Birth, Rajani Bhatia takes on the double standard of how similar practices in the West and non-West are divergently named and framed. Bhatia’s extensive fieldwork includes interviews with clinicians, scientists, biomedical service providers, and feminist activists, and her resulting analysis extends both feminist theory on reproduction and feminist science and technology studies. She argues that we are at the beginning of a changing transnational terrain that presents new challenges to theorized inequality in reproduction, demonstrating how the technosciences often get embroiled in colonial gender and racial politics.

The practice of sex-selective abortion is on the rise globally, stirring debates about gender inequality, medical ethics and reproductive autonomy. This book is the first ethnography to document practices of sex selection in Viet Nam. It shows how and why abortions are used to select the sex of children and how Vietnamese individuals and health professionals are implicated in this illicit and controversial practice. Telling the stories of women who have undergone sex-selective abortions, it traces their passage through sex determination and abortion decision-making phases, and investigates their experiences during and after their sex-selective abortions. It describes the turmoil experienced by individuals who undergo such abortions and explores their interactions with the spectrum of social actors and health institutions that facilitate practices of sex selection. As the first ethnographic study on sex-selective abortions in Viet Nam, this book delves into socially sensitive terrain and sheds light on personally fraught individual experiences of reproductive agency. It documents societal responses to sex-selective abortions in Viet Nam and identifies gaps in the state’s capacity to regulate reproductive desire in a marketised economy. A resource for researchers, it contributes to ongoing debates on sex selection and provides a framework for developing relevant social policies, interventions and support services. ‘This pioneering study offers a nuanced and sensitive account of sex-selective abortion as human experience. Through thought provoking case studies, the book provides rare ethnographic documentation of the complex quandaries that arise as selective reproductive technologies are routinised across the globe.’ — Tine M. Gammeltoft, Department of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen

This book focuses on the role of the indigenous system of medicine or traditional medicines in gender selection in India. Issues such as the harmful effects of traditional practices on the health of the woman and the foetus during early pregnancy are explored in this book. It analyses the social and cultural practices and establishes linkages with modern methods of scientific investigations. It discusses how systematic exploration lends evidence of harmful traditional practices. The book is an important read for researchers, healthcare professionals and students in the field of medicine, public health and social sciences. It is an extremely valuable resource for all those engaged in research of traditional and modern systems of medicine.

This book documents hundreds of customs and traditions practiced in countries outside of the United States, showcasing the diversity of birth, coming-of-age, and death celebrations worldwide. From the beginning of our lives to the end, all of humanity celebrates life's milestones through traditions and unique customs. In the United States, we have specific events like baby showers, rites of passage such as Bat and Bar Mitzvahs and "sweet 16" birthday parties, and sober end-of-life traditions like obituaries and funeral services that honor those who have died. But what kinds of customs and traditions are practiced in other countries? How do people in other cultures welcome babies, prepare to enter into adulthood, and commemorate the end of the lives of loved ones? This three-volume encyclopedia covers more than 300 birth, life, and death customs, with the books' content organized chronologically by life stage. Volume 1 focuses on birth and childhood customs, Volume 2 documents adolescent and early-adulthood customs, and Volume 3 looks at aging and death customs. The entries in the first volume examine pre-birth traditions, such as baby showers and other gift-giving events, and post-birth customs, such as naming ceremonies, child-rearing practices, and traditions performed to ward off evil or promote good health. The second volume contains information about rites of passage as children become adults, including indigenous initiations, marriage customs, and religious ceremonies. The final volume concludes with coverage on customs associated with aging and death, such as retirement celebrations, elaborate funeral processions, and the creation of fantasy coffins. The set features beautiful color inserts that illustrate examples of celebrations and ceremonies and includes an appendix of excerpts from primary documents that include legislation on government-accepted names, wedding vows, and maternity/paternity leave regulations.

Women, Science, and Technology is an ideal reader for courses in feminist science studies. This third edition fully updates its predecessor with a new introduction and twenty-eight new readings that explore social constructions mediated by technologies, expand the scope of feminist technoscience studies, and move beyond the nature/culture paradigm.

Discover the struggles and triumphs of fourth-grader Zayd Saleem as he pursues his dream of being a basketball star in this bind-up of the complete middle grade series from the acclaimed author of Amina’s Voice and More to the Story. Zayd Saleem has serious hoop dreams. He’s going to be a basketball star. A legend. There are only a few small things in his way. For starters, Zayd’s on the scrawny side and gets stomach aches when he’s nervous. He has to convince his coach that he has what it takes to join his best friend Adam on the elite Gold Team. His mom and dad want him to practice his violin way more than his jump shot. Plus, it doesn’t help that his older sister Zara is amazing at every sport she tries. But Zayd has a lot going for him, too. His grandmother is willing to supply him with all the mango milkshakes he wants. His grandfather has a few tricks up the sleeve of his velour track suit. And his favorite uncle keeps Zayd laughing, even if it’s sometimes so hard he needs to pee. Zayd’s family, combined with his friends, teammates, and his own determination, means he’s got everything he needs to chase his dream. Will he reach it?