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Intention versus behaviour in parental sex preferences among the Mukogodo of Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Lee Cronk
Lee Cronk
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas, USA
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Summary

The relationship between parents' stated sex preferences for children and actual parental behaviour towards sons and daughters is examined among the Mukogodo, a group of traditional pastoralists in rural Kenya. Although their cultural values are male-centred and they tend to express a preference for sons, Mukogodo parents actually appear to be more solicitous of daughters, and the Mukogodo have a strongly female-biased childhood sex ratio. Studies of stated sex preferences should therefore be coupled with attempts to assess actual parental investment in sons and daughters.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , April 1991 , pp. 229 - 240
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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