Male infanticide

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Male infanticide, a form of sex-selective infanticide, is the systematic killing of boys at or soon after birth. Although it is much less common than female infanticide, due to the fact that many cultures who practiced infanticide placed a higher value on male infants than females. It is the male counterpart of female infanticide. It normally occurs when a society values female children to the point that producing a male is considered dishonorable or shameful.

Especially in ancient history, male infanticide was used after the conquest of a neighboring state or kingdom by a large empire, to reduce the number of potential soldiers that could be involved in a future revolution. The Egyptians and Romans used enforced male infanticide as a method of controlling their subject peoples.

It was also said to occur in some fictional cultures, most notably the Amazons.