China's Gender Bias

The one child-only policy in China has had some detrimental conseuquences to the population of China in terms of gender.

By 2020, it’s estimated that 20 million single Chinese men will be left without Chinese brides due to many abortions caused by the one-child policy and a long-held preference for boy babies over girl babies.

This problem has serious ramifications for rural Chinese, where the discrepancy between the sexes is much higher. The country-wide rate birth rate is 113 boys for every 100 girls as of 2005. The sad thing to me is that the differences were actually less when the policy was first implemented, meaning that the situation is getting worse due to the increase in ultra-sound technology.

Sex-selection abortion, which is abortion based on gender, is illegal in China, but this doesn’t seem to have stopped people from performing back-door abortions, creating yet another problem due to the lack of safety for the women involved.

South Korea, Tawain, and India all have similar problems with their birth rates, even without the same sex policy, suggesting that this problem has encompassed greater parts of Asia.

According to this MSNBC article, the consequences are far-reaching for China. With such a large number of unmarried men, some experts believe that there will be huge consequences for China regarding prostitution, human trafficking, and AIDS. The human trafficking results not only from human prostitution, but from men trying to buy their wives, possibly in the same sort of style as a mail-order bride.

In Northeast Asia, the Confucian ethic may actually be part of the problem. In the West, we tend to have a type of kind-hearted viewpoint towards Confucius, but in Confucianism, it is very clear that the male reigns supreme.

Even in South Korea, which is definitely becoming more of an economic powerhouse, men are always treated more favorably than women and parents are often genuinely upset when the first child is a girl. The reasons for this involve the traditions involving property and land. Usually, the eldest male child will move in with his parents to support them in their old age. If a couple has only daughters, it is likely that they will live with their husband’s parents instead.

Printer-friendly version

Add new comment

Filed Under

Other

boy-girl gender bias

one-child policy

one-child policy gender bias

China gender bias

Replies

re Gender Bias

In response to gender bias in China... Here are a few very understated facts that Western papers don't say (or may not know) enough: - Women with hepatitis naturally give birth to more males than females. Much of Asia is infected with hepatitis, it is a major public health issue, and this needs to be acknowledged concerning gender ratio. - It's true some males are valued in extremely poor, rural areas, because in traditional Confucian cultures, the male is expected to essentially be a living social security check for his parents. Husbands are also expected to hand over all their income over to their wives to control, this is considered very normal, and explains why most Asian commercials and entertainment are pink, cutesy, and effeminate. - In terms of how gender ratio translates into Asian gender dynamics/roles in relationships though, is that the supply/demand dynamic is in favor for women. It is common to see males in major Chinese cities doing the bulk of the cooking, cleaning, child rearing, pretty much everything. The dating power is inverted from how it is in America, where males can pick and choose from willing partners for casual relationships. - One other lesser-publicized fact is that China currently has 7 female billionaires, which make up half the world’s female billionaires, yet China’s economy is only 1/5 that of America’s.

It's interesting to note the

It's interesting to note the differences between Asian cultures. I spent alot of time in S. Korea, where they don't have a one-child policy, but also have a significant gender difference. In S. Korea, the males were treated far better in the education system and in the workforce, inlcuding the parliamentary system.

I am curious about how the Chinese women who are billionaires gained their wealth- whether it was from business or through their husband's or father's estates. -Becksta

360 Blog

Activist central for all ways to take action, make a difference, and be heard

Account