Read the passage given below and then answer the questions given below the passage. Some words may be highlighted for your attention. Most societies agree that the drive to protect and nurture one's infant is a basic human trait. Yet infanticide—the killing of an infant at the hands of a
Read the passage given below and then answer the questions given below the passage. Some words may be highlighted for your attention.
Most societies agree that the drive to protect and nurture one's infant is a basic human trait. Yet infanticide—the killing of an infant at the hands of a parent—has been an accepted practice for disposing of unwanted or deformed children since prehistoric times. Despite human repugnance for the act, most societies, both ancient and contemporary, have practised infanticide. Based on both historical and contemporary data, as many as 10 to 15 percents of all babies were killed by their parents. Some anthropologists have noted that infanticide has been practised by nearly all civilisations. It is quite evident that infanticide must represent a common human trait, perhaps genetically encoded to promote self-survival.
The helpless newborn has not always evoked a protective and loving response, in part because the newborn was not always believed to be human. This belief legitimized an action that under other circumstances would be referred to as murder. For example, the ancient Romans believed that the child was more like a plant than an animal until the seventh day after birth. During the Middle Ages, children born with physical defects or behavioural abnormalities were often viewed as evil or the product of supernatural forces. Changelings were infants believed to be exchanged in the still of the night by devils or goblins who removed the real child and left the changeling in its place. To view the child as potentially evil, dangerous, or worthless: it rationalizes the desire to eliminate the burden or threat without guilt or remorse. Even when population growth was not a factor, poverty was the most common reason why parents killed their offspring. In ancient Greece and Rome, parents who could not afford to raise their children disposed of them, particularly during times of war, famine, and drought. At times children were killed and even consumed by the starving parents. Eskimo children were eaten by the parents and older siblings during times of famine. Cannibalism was common during times of drought among the Australian aboriginals, people normally fond of their children. During extreme droughts, every second child was killed and fed to a preceding child to ensure its survival.
One of the most common factors leading to infanticide is population control. Poverty, famine, and population control are inter-related factors. Where safe and effective birth control was unavailable, infanticide was used to selectively limit the growth of a community. Infanticide allowed for selection of the fittest or most desirable offspring, with sick, deformed, female, or multiple births targeted for disposal. Female infanticide is a problem rooted in a culture of sexism throughout antiquity. In many cultures, girls have little value. Even when female children were not killed at birth, their needs were neglected, particularly if limited resources were needed to ensure the survival of male offspring. In tribal societies, male babies were preferred because males grew up to be hunters and warriors. Young females were seen as a threat because they might attract males from neighbouring tribes.
As in China, the birth of a daughter is seen as a liability. Only sons are allowed to perform the funeral rites at the pyre of their father. The murder of female newborns is so common that it has a special name, kuzhippa, or "baby intended for the burial pit". In India, the practice of female infanticide is even more pervasive. Selective abortion is also a common practice. In 1998 it was reported that in one Bombay clinic, of 8,000 abortions, 7,999 were performed on female fetuses. In 1991, it was estimated that nearly 30 million females were missing in India.
Why were male babies preferred in tribal societies instead of female babies?
1). Because females could never be worthy warriors and hunters
2). Limited resources were needed to ensure the survival of male babies
3). Young females were seen as a threat to the existent tribal societies
4). To selectively limit the growth of a community
1 answers
In the third paragraph of the passage, it is clearly given that 'In tribal societies, male babies were preferred because males grew up to be hunters and warriors and young females were seen as a threat because they might attract males from neighbouring tribes'. $
Hence, the fifth option will be the correct answer since it matches with the context of these lines.$