In many parts of India, sons are often preferred over daughters because they…

Concept

Son preference is often analysed through patriarchy and patrilineality. Patriarchy places family authority and control of resources mainly with men, while patrilineality traces descent and inheritance through the male line.

Together, these arrangements can make sons appear responsible for continuing the surname and lineage, performing lineage-based rituals, inheriting property, and supporting parents in old age.

Application

The stem groups family-name continuity, last rites, and parental financial support. These expectations arise from a family structure centred on male descent and male inheritance, so patriarchal inheritance and family lineage systems provide the common underlying factor.

Contrast

• Equal property rights for daughters and sons distribute inheritance claims across genders rather than centring continuity on sons.

• Complete economic independence of women concerns personal economic autonomy, not the rule by which family descent and ritual succession are traced.

• High representation of women in political leadership concerns public decision-making, not inheritance or lineage within a family.

Cross-check

If descent, property, ritual duties, and old-age obligations were not organised primarily through the male line, the three expectations named in the stem would not converge specifically on sons. Therefore, patriarchal inheritance and family lineage systems are the best-supported option.