UNNATURAL SELECTION

In recent years, the local media has once again addressed the issue of abortions which are due mainly to the reluctance to have a child of the 'wrong' sex. Most often, the unwanted 'guest' is a baby girl. The number of abortions in the country is increasing by more than 1,000 per year. The ratio of newborn girls to boys in the last 12 years has been 1 to 3, while the norm is 100 to 105 in absolute terms.

In general, an analogy could be drawn with China, where the situation is much worse. But the point here is that the loss of daughters in China has been due to a tough government policy to limit the number of children per family. In Azerbaijan, the reason for the distortion of the numerical sex ratio is the family itself. And in school grades 1-6 now there are 16 boys for only 6 girls. The State Statistics Committee confirms the increasing number of abortions in the country: in 2006 - 20,867, in 2007 - 22,325 and in 2008 - 25,256.

In psychological studies there is such a thing as infanticide, meaning the killing of a child. The term implies the propensity of some conspecific species to exterminate their offspring. Such cases have been recorded in a number of animal families, including lions, rodents and primates. For example, male Indian Langur monkeys who become leaders of their groups try to kill all the breastfed babies, so that females bear only their offspring (until another male ousts them from the group). This could be described as a form of natural selection. In our case, we may see a kind of unnatural selection (in the literal sense of the word).

Gender? Discrimination? Anthony Giddens on prejudice

After reading the information on the number of abortions, gender, a popular term nowadays, will surely spring to mind, although many have yet to understand this concept and what it involves. In reality, the concept of gender includes the identification of women and men based on their social role, i.e. not on gender.

Gender is determined by the tasks, functions and roles that society allocates to women and men in their social and personal lives. Therefore, gender equality implies identical possession by both sexes of socially valuable benefits, opportunities, resources and rewards. This interpretation does not imply the sameness of men and women, but only emphasizes equality of opportunities and life chances. The main focus of gender studies is the problem of social inequality between the sexes, often called discrimination. This, according to the well-known British sociologist Anthony Giddens, involves "actions aimed at depriving members of one group of opportunities open to others". This, of course, concerns adults. But how should we view the fact that parents deprive a new human of the chance to be born? Is this discrimination in the long-term? What is the reason behind it?

Giddens says one source of adult inequality is prejudice, which often serves as the basis of discrimination. However, "these two phenomena can exist independently of each other", because people's prejudices are not necessarily put into practice. In general, prejudice is usually regarded as something tangible and sensual, but not always rational; it may be, say, an indicator of compliance with certain traditions.

Giddens believes that prejudice is, as a rule, "due to stereotypical thinking", the experience of which, even though it is long-standing (passed down from generation to generation), can often be misleading and bigoted. It is harmless only if it is emotionally neutral and does not affect the interests of a person himself.

Let us move from the sociologist's last remarks to determine whether the abortion of a foetus of known sex is useful or not to a particular person (couple) and to society in general.

Is it a gender perspective?

It is still not possible to present the above-described trend as exclusively a gender issue (in today's sense of the word). It is, above all, about a demographic problem in the future, and in the near future at that. Demographic forecasting is an organic component of both social and economic fields, because a population's demographic potential is a strategic issue, relevant not only because of global migration, but also for analysis and forecasting developments in society.

Azerbaijan has been paying much attention to gender equality in recent years, holding various campaigns 'in favour' of women. For example, last year Baku hosted a conference of the Council of Europe on the theme "Gender equality: the elimination of differences between gender equality de jure and de facto"; the State Committee for Family, Women and Children conducted a study of the "Institute of Family and Marriage in Modern-Day Azerbaijan: A Sociological Analysis" in 2010; in order to increase awareness of violence against women and children, the project "Measures to Combat Violence within the Family" has been implemented in the regions; meetings have also been held with the agenda "Strengthening internal culture as the main factor against violence in the 21st century".

Based on the above, we can clearly recognize important steps in gender-related directions. Another point is that these steps are directed more towards the already developed age group, although the younger group is seen as more problematic today. By the way, in 2010, Lydie Err, a representative of the PACE subcommittee on anti-trafficking, predicted the negative consequences of selective abortions among pregnant women for Azerbaijan, as they result in the number of newborn boys exceeding the number of girls, which is fraught with the possibility of irreparable loss to our society in the future.

There is a general understanding of the process. Two years ago, a bill "On reproductive health and family planning" was prepared. Under this bill, physicians would not be allowed to disclose the sex of the child in the early stages of pregnancy. Let us assume that this is forbidden. However, one of the characters in the story of the "Golden Calf" says: "Since eggs exist, someone has to eat them." Paraphrasing this statement, we can say: "Since ultrasound scanning sees the sex of a child, someone has to report it."

But this is rather a technical question. Unfortunately, the development of the situation in this perspective may lead to other irreparable losses.

Thus, a number of sociologists say that it is a general tendency in human communities for a substantial preponderance of young, unmarried men to contribute to increased tensions in the social sense: there is an increased risk of young men uniting in youth gangs. It is highly symptomatic that violent crimes are recorded in areas with minimal representations of women. Perhaps, instead of interest in women, young men develop an urge to use their inner motivations in different directions (we are not talking of homosexual love, but about other interests of the age group). In other words, not finding a woman mate, young men are deprived of a natural life progression. Indeed, in the end, meeting and talking with girls might promote more liberal views.

In the context of the above, Francis Fukuyama, who needs no special introduction, said that the central problem of any society is control over "aggression, ambition and potential violence from its young members and putting them on a safe and productive track". According to this analyst, this task is almost always performed by older men who try to "ritualize aggression". However, in this case the female factor is hardly less important. One aspect is indirectly reflected above - the presence of a sister and her friends also has a softening influence on boys. We cannot ignore, for example, a woman teacher who educates the younger generation in a somewhat different tone to that of a man.

Indirectly, the declining number of women in society leads to problems of another kind. For example, boys will face a shortage of girls at school and later in adulthood. Where will this lead? Will they compete for girls (and then brides and wives) with their friends and neighbours? Isn't this the start of internal conflict in society?

Conclusion

Thus, the seemingly innocuous 'unnatural sex selection' at birth may lead to serious complications. Consequently, the preservation of the natural sex structure of the population is one of the major pivots of a stable society. Of course, in discussing the political-economic or social outcomes of the process, we do not forget (if we do not prioritize) the spiritual aspect. Because the aspect "two of every kind" is a religious principle, since the God-given harmony of the universe also means the establishment of a family between two people - man and woman - who love each other, not merely with a view to reproduction, but as 'social cement'. Artificial decision-making by parents (for whatever reason) as to whether their child has the right to see the light of day upsets the balance of the Creator's universe.

Among Islamic scholars there is no unequivocal opinion on the permissibility of birth control (the use of simple contraceptives) if both parents are clearly aware of its expediency. Some allow it, while others, even if they do not condemn it, do not express their opinions aloud. It is generally accepted that a married woman is allowed to interrupt her pregnancy if the foetus is less than 40 days old and she has the consent of her husband and doctor (that there is no factor of harm to health). Artificial termination of pregnancy is also allowed if it poses a threat to the woman's life or may adversely affect her health and physical condition.

In general, the termination of pregnancy in Islam is seen and evaluated in terms of the sanctity and inviolability of life. On the one hand, the Koran says: "Do not kill your children for fear of poverty" (Sura Livestock: 151). On the other hand, there is a verse that makes one think differently: "O Prophet! When believing women come to you giving you a pledge that they will not associate aught with Allah, and will not steal, and will not commit fornication, and will not kill their children, and will not bring a calumny which they have forged of themselves, and will not disobey you in what is good, accept their pledge, and ask forgiveness for them from Allah (of their sins)" (Sura "She That Is To Be Examined": 12).

Of course, this problem can no longer be solved by legislative means. There are too many tricks that can be used to ignore a law on this issue. But it is necessary to educate the public, and without delay. Let us recognize that this negative situation is typical of many societies. Speaking about the demographic crisis in Russia some time ago, Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev, referring to experts' opinion, said that the most important ways to overcome it are "a radical increase in the number of families with three or more children". This problem is being very seriously discussed in several European countries. That is, people should not artificially create a demographic problem in their country - not so much for today as for tomorrow.