"If woman was good, God, too, would have awife"
or "God has no hand in the birth ofwoman", so go the Georgian sayings.
"Selection"is a Latin word that means assorting, for example, producing improved or newbreeds of animals and plants... This means artificial, controlled selection,mating, fertilization, etc. "Selection" is a practiced method to enroll sportsmen in a football club. In test fields they call it "tests" andin a bon tonic way – "casting"...Selection, choosing, election, choice, option...
"Abortion" is also a Latin wordthat means an early termination of pregnancy, whether artificial or inadvertent."Abortion" is to a certain extent related to "selection".This is a choice. In our country –a choice of woman only. The male partner, the boyfriend, is "distanced" and the weight of choice is just as farfrom him as the earth from the sun. According to the UN estimates, abortion in21 percent of the UN member states is dictated by the will of woman. However,there are no estimates as to what is the share of other persons in such adecision.
"Selectiveabortion" is a merger of the two terms mentioned above to mean an abortiondepending on the sex of the fetus – when a boy is wanted but the fetus is anunwanted "female" or, vice versa, when a girl is wanted but the fetusis an unwanted "male". The latter, though, is a rare case. Boys arealmost always welcome. This has only one universal, Unicode, uniform, unitary,unifying argument – patriarchate.
According to Amnesty International's estimates,the world population is in want of 60 million girls filtered away throughselective abortions and ill care as they are believed less important comparedto boys.
Since 2020, China will miss 40 million girls.The government of 1,3-billion-strong China is worried that in about 15 years 40million men will have no women to marry. As a result, they won't be able togive their homeland the one and only firstborn whose being in the singularnumber has been consistently pursued by the Communist Party through its"single child" policy. If, in general, 106 newborn boys come for 100newborn girls in the world, China gives 134 boys for 100 newborn girls. Thisgave the Communist Party of China a cause to worry about. Newborn girls are nolonger killed in the 21st century China but what can the Communistdo without women? So they determined to outlaw selective abortion and count itas criminal to both pregnant women (of course, males have nothing to do withit) and medics and abort-makers. Even the UN put its efforts, advising China togive social assistance to the families which abstain from aborticide of unborngirls for their belonging to a female sex. However, the UN is silent on thecompulsory sterilization and forced abortions commonly practiced in China.
China is an interesting country not only forthe Chinese character of her Great Wall, ancient civilization and largesttheater in the world but also for her weird laws. For instance, the Ministry ofIndustry and Commerce issued an order prohibiting catering facilities to usenude women in serving meals... More specifically, those who love Chinesecuisine could enjoy ordered meals with the design of rice and "thelike" spread about the hills and depressions on the body of a nude younglady lying on the table. Surely, a young body, not an old broth, would berecommended. These young ladies turn out to be the forgers of intellectualfuture – university students...
China is well-known for its ancient traditionof sadomasochist binding of a woman's feet the gist of which is that a smallfoot of a woman must act like a horse's dose of Viagra on the "basicinstinct" of a man... China is well-known for pompous beauty competitionsand a grand Peking-hosted 1995 international women's conference dedicated tothe supremacy of women's rights. To paraphrase an old saying, "China is aland of contrasts"...
* * *
Nana is Georgian. She had a selective abortionon the 19th week of pregnancy.
- Why? –I asked. What if something happened to you?
- Because I already have tow girls. My husbandthe father-in-law did not want any more girls...
-Aborting such a big fetus is criminal...
- I know. The abort-maker did it for 100 lari.They refused to do it in hospital.
- By ourlaws, abortion is permitted until 12th week of pregnancy and after12 weeks – only if substantiated with medical arguments. As far as I know, youhave neither tuberculosis nor schizophrenia, neither encephalitis nor heartdisease. Nor do you have any implants...
- My husband and father-in-law have a braindisease, -said Nana angrily. My husband insists on having a boy... I said, youcan't just order it. He said, go to the radiologist and know whether it is aboy or a girl. I'll kill the radiologist if she makes a mistake... I went tothe radiologist when I was 13 weeks pregnant and learned it was a girl. 4 weeksthereafter I again went to the radiologist for X-ray echoscope but the samespecialist told me it was not what I wanted. I almost went crazy? What could Ido? I did not want to get rid of it, so I lied to my husband, thinking when hefaces the fact after the delivery, he could not kill me or throw away the baby.Only my sister and my mother knew it... But... It's all my fault! I blurted itout on my birthday. The guests had left, we were sitting in the kitchen,watching Saturday Show. So I told him, Dato, darling, we are going to have agirl again, no one is sweeter than a girl for a father... He got mad. He kickedthe chair I was sitting on and I hurled down. He rushed out and did not comeback for two days. Then he called and requested that I abort it urgently. Hesaid that if I refused, I could go back to my mother. The very next day I wentand aborted it. Two months have passed since then but I'm still out of my mind.I'm not doing well...
- Inreturn, he got back to you, did not he? - I hinted. Does not he love children,girls...
- Tamtais 6 years old, Lizi – 2 years old. He caresses them, brings in enough food...
- Youdid not get me. I did not ask whether he brings in food or caresses or not.Does he love them? Does he love you?
- Who cares about me? I don't know anything. Ihate myself. We had sex after that. He wants a boy. We even tried a Japanesemethod, by observing a horoscope. But have not stayed pregnant. When I waslying on that abort-maker's table, I wished my mother had aborted me and mymother-in-law had aborted him. For what good did they give us birth?
* * *
Both Nana and Dato come from normal,"good" families, as they call it. Dato is a cool officer and a coolfriend. He is a cool guy and married a cool girl. The "level" needsto be maintained, the Rose Revolution – new personnel. Dato is a prospectiveofficer. He talks NGO, has Internet at home and an account with TBC-Bank.
Nana is also a person of an active civilposition. She talks fluent English, can't stand those who litter streets withgarbage, disapproves of provincialism and is happy about Bush's visit. She iscrazy about Tamta and Lizi and even worries about their future marriage thoughis far from the idea that "all men are rascals"... On Saturdays shesips VIKO's orange juice in the kitchen in the company of her husband andwatches Saturday Show.
* * *
This is just for a neo-realistic picture...
For a realistic picture, I can cite the list ofthe causes that is called the "List of the Causes of ArtificialTermination of Pregnancy for a Non-medical Cause" that is not related to amedical condition. These causes are: 1. Husband being Group I-II Invalid; 2.Husband's death while wife is pregnant; 3. Woman or her husband being inprison; 4. Woman or her husband being duly recognized unemployed; 5. Courtdecision on termination or limitation of the rights of parents; 6. Woman out ofmarriage; 7. Dissolution of marriage while being pregnant; 8. Pregnancy as aresult of rape; 9. Lack of abode, living in a hostel or rented apartment; 10.Woman with the status of a refugee or IDP; 11. Having multitude of children(three or more children); 12. Having in invalid child in the family; 13. Perfamily member income being less than the sustenance level in the region; 14.Woman being under 15 years old; 15. Woman being over 45 years old (OrderN245/N, 7.12.2000 of the Minister of Healthcare of Georgia), the document issigned by then Minister of Healthcare.
* * *
If Dato had been in the shoes of AvtandilJorbenadze (ex-Minister of Healthcare), he would have added a limited number ofgirls to the list. He could just as well have not done it as belonging toWestern standards is in now. You just can't let everything be out in the open,will you? You can do little things secretly, not for others to see, at theexpense of someone or something. "A man is still a man," tells meNana Dato's words. He wants a boy and what can I do. I can't really leave him.So what can I do?
* * *
Georgia has quite a few clinics where they identifysex for an extra 10-30 lari. It's a valuable information and a kind ofprevention against family breakups. The clinical list provides a separatecolumn for sex identification and not only for happy parents not to make a dumpmistake in choosing the color of clothes – navy blue or pink.
* * *
Wise men have said that nature maintainsbalance on her own. After that more boys are allegedly born. You can'tinterfere into the laws of nature...
Here comes story N2: the story of an Armenianliving in Tbilisi. The heroes of the story: a woman with secondary education,dentist by profession, and a man of a wealthy family as well as children – one– 10 years old and the other – 7 years old, both boys. The father still wants aboy as the third child, saying he wants a "football club". Of course,a girl can't be a member of the club despite the fact that women's football hasbeen played for a long time in the world. The wife absolutely depends on thehusband materially, even psychologically - she got rid of a 4-month-oldfeminine fetus because of unwanted sex. She almost died. She had not gotregnant for six years and all of a sudden she is pregnant again. She begs herdoctor: please, if it is a girl, talk to my husband to explain him that I can'tgo through abortion... and if it is a boy, tell him it is dangerous for me tocarry the fetus... I want no more boys!
Freud and Young would analyze this "hardcase" in greatest details, to say it in a medical language, would gatheranamnesis and find that: two brothers on the husband's side and their children– two girls each. The first wife kicked away by the husband and thousands ofother symptoms, circumstances, symbols, causes, reasons, and psychopathy, inNGO terms – stereotypes and uncivil mentality, gender discrimination and sexism– discrimination for sexual belonging. They would also have found that thewoman's brother has two boys and therefore are earnestly expecting the messageof echoscope – it must be a girl...
This is neo-realistic picture N2.
* * *
There are cases when in families where someonehas died, a wife, daughter-in-law or girl is "ordered" to give birththe baby of the sex of the deceased and the baby is named after the deceasedperson. Some great psychiatrist or psychotherapist would find a way out of suchpsychological or psychiatric labyrinth.
As far as I am concerned, I know one thing forsure: man in our culture is associated with money, business, "tying updeals", "patronage", domination, success, and responsibility. Asthey say, "man is still a man", even a dummy...
I have often heard that the Azerbaijanians donot resort to selective abortion. They even gave me the reason why. When theygive a daughter in marriage, they get a sizable compensation, the so-calledransom dowry, from the son-in-law. The more women, surely with a prioriprospect, the greater proportion there is to get such dowries. That's why inAzerbaijanian villages in Georgia few females ever reach the age of secondaryschool attestation. They get married, to be more correct, are given in marriageto work on potatoes, away from homes out in the farm fields. Dressed in old andshabby clothes, you seem them in the markets in Tbilisi, looking older fortheir age, having gold teeth or no teeth at all – Badjis (women) with formless,exhausted bodies and woolen plaids wrapped around their waist. Golden teeth arenot taken into the grave – they are transferred by succession...
* * *
Abortion as aphilosophical-bioethical-religious-legal-existential phenomenon is a subject ofanother discussion. One part of the feminists supports it, others – not. TheChurch opposes not only abortion but also contraception... The UN thinks oneand the US – another. So the argument goes on and on...
I knowfor sure that in the first month of its existence, the embryo is a 0,2-mm-diameterdisc. In the twelfth week (the limit when abortion is normally permitted) itssex can be detected but in the beginning it is the man's sperm that determinessex (this information is for the ignorant who blame women for "unwantedsex"). This is when voice system, too, is developing. I've also heard thata 26-week-old fetus can feel pain. I also know that in civilized world even thefetus neurosis can be diagnosed. In the kingdom of thousands of new or oldneuroses do we have to introduce new terms as female fetus phobia caused by therisk of selective abortion or male fetus phobia, etc. How does it sound?
"ახალი 7 დღე"
10–16 ივნისი, 2005
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