So I see this news story on CNN: China has a shortage of females. BIG FUCKING SHOCK!!!
What the fuck did the Chinese powers-that-be think was going to happen? They mandated population restriction, yet knowing that boy babies are more favored, leading to girl babies being abandoned, killed or aborted. It doesn’t take a fucking genius to figure out that the country would soon have a shortage of females: ‘hmm…more boy babies, less girl babies. Oh my god…that would mean less females to have babies later!!’
Pisses me off. This isn’t a rant against population control, or abortion control. This is a rant about stupidity and not planning for a country’s future.
I don’t feel sorry at all for that situation in China. Chinese officials brought it on themselves, not trying to change social attitudes against female babies while having population restrictions.
They have that problem in India, also, and there the women pay dowries to get married.
Maybe CNN should get around to reporting some real news, like how i bought the wrong book for my class and had to go back to the bookstore today after work…
First, would you mind posting a link to the CNN story? I went there and couldn’t find it; evidently my search skills are deficient.
Second, as Tars alluded, China’s gender imbalance is hardly news; CNN must be slacking.
Anyway, I’m not sure that your ire is well-placed. Wouldn’t you think that heading off a potentially crippling population increase is a larger concern for China’s leaders than a male/female imbalance? I’m not saying that the one-child policy isn’t harsh, but we cannot be certain that it is the direct cause of the female shortage, as this phenomenon is also seen in Taiwan, South Korea, and India[sup]1[/sup], where no such restrictions exist.
Now, could the Chinese officials have tried to change social attitudes against girls when they instituted this policy? Perhaps. But in 1978, when the rule went into place, the sex ratio in China had actually been improving, so it’s plausible to argue that failing to predict the resurgence in female infanticide at the time isn’t as much of an asleep-at-the-switch condition as you’ve painted. And having witnessed this resurgence, the government did change policy to allow a second child if the first one is a girl, and started a propaganda campaign to improve the status of girls[sup]2[/sup]. Along the same lines, sex-selective abortions are illegal[sup]3[/sup] (but of course some people will try it anyway, which then turns into a law enforcement issue, not a population policy issue). In short, it’s not like they’ve done nothing to rectify the situation.
I probably sound like an apologist for the Chinese government, though that is most assuredly not the case. I’m just trying to show that the situation is a bit more complex than it may seem at first.
When I first heard about this, um, I guess during the 80’s, my immediate thought was: “Well that problem will be self correcting in a generation or so.” cynic that I am.