I read in the paper a few days ago that Vietnam, i believe, is stopping fetus-testing so there won’t be so many sex selective abortions.
Meaning, most folks, given the option of having only one or a given baby, prefer a boy.
I do not understand why this is.
Yes, i know they say a boy can help out more often. this would be families that live off the land, I am guessing.
But couldn’t girls also do this?
I think having a girl child would greatly add to the population; that is, the more females in a society, the more chance of more babies.
Assuming a disaster and not many people remaining on earth, you have 10 guys and 1 female; not much chance of populating the earth.
However, 10 girls and one (happy) guy is just the opposite.
If I were in one of those societies that would only let me have 1 child, I would prefer it to be a girl.
Of course, I have a boy and am totally happy with him.
Tell me why boys are so prized more so than girls in this situation.
Could be any number of reasons. Aren’t fathers of females required, in some traditions, to offer a dowry upon marriage? Also, some people feel that males, biologically more likely to be physically stronger, would be a great asset to a struggling family in certain societal standings.
I, however, would much rather have a daughter. Some day. First I gotta find a female to mate with, though. 
In China, at least, boy babies are preferred for a few reasons:
Dowery, as erislover has pointed out. Girl babies are more expensive to their families when they grow up.
Similarly, when a woman marries, she becomes a part of her husband’s family. As such, she will help take care of her husband’s parents when they are old, rather than her own. So, a boy baby assures that someone will be around to take care of his parents in old age.
There’s at least one other reason, but I don’t have my sources to hand, and don’t remember it off the top of my head. And it has nothing to do with Opal.
I don’t know how this relates to the Vietnamese situation.
I’m assuming that we’re talking a rural society much like China. It’s real simple, the boys inherent the land and provide security in old age (there are no pensions). Boys provide more labor in a poor rural society. You also get boys carrying on the family name. Girls are not traditionally even listed in the family geneology. Girls get married off and become part of the husband’s family.
Now, the interesting thing in China is that because there is now a pretty huge imbalance of boys over girls, that is probably changing rural society. It’s either too early to tell or no one has really studied this well so far, but I would expect that at a certain point, girls will be more prized than boys. Simple economics, if you’re a male and there aren’t enough females what are you going to do? Add on to that a developmental behavior whereby women tend to leave the impoverished countryside and move to find jobs in the big city (Japan has a huge problem with this. Solution there is to “import” women from China, the Philippines or elsewhere as brides for the farmers.). At some point, I would expect that girls will be in much greater demand because there are too many boys.
Certainly, I’m expecting to profit hugely when my daughter get’s married 25-30 years from now 
Just a guess at what you are thinking about but might it have anything to do with the Chinese government’s population control schemes? The schemes that allow only one (or two?) children per couple? Given those restrictions families can’t afford to keep females (for reasons already noted). If you’re allowed only one child then it has to be a boy. Scarily most women in China don’t have access to advanced prenatal care. They find out what they are getting only when the baby arrives. I’ve heard stories of female infants being left in the wilderness to die (of exposure or from animals) so the couple can try again for a male baby.
I thought I read somewhere that China may be relaxing some of its more draconian population controls as they have noticed an alarming blip of LOTS of men and very few women in some age segments of the population. A) This doesn’t make the men very content when there are 10 (or whatever) competing for each female and B) Their population could swing harshly in the other direction when there are so very few women left to repopulate the country.
Dowry: Are there not some places where The parents of a girl have to be paid a large dowry to marry their daughter?
I can’t think of any offhand as a major piece of the culture. Still, it wouldn’t surprise me if there were.
It does seem kinda backward from an economic point of view to have the woman’s family pay the man’s family. Given that the woman’s family had to bear the expense of raising the child and that the woman’s family will not get any support back from their daughter later in life (as a cultural matter) one would think they should be compensated to have bothered at all. It’s no wonder that when forced to have only a few children that poor simply families can’t afford to raise a daughter.
NOTE: I am merely talking about this topic from a cultural standpoint and realize that the tone is one of treating women as chattel which I do NOT personally condone.
Well, in a lot of places, a dowry isn’t given from the daughter’s parents to the husband. It’s given to the wife. As long as they’re married, in most cultures where dowries exist, the husband can use the dowry and enjoy the benefits of it, but if the couple divorces, or the husband dies, the dowry returns to the wife. This is to protect her…if there were no dowries, then, in a society where inheritance passes to children, and the wife doesn’t have any rights to her husband’s property if they divorce, she finds herself in a very difficult situation.
IIRC, in many parts of Africa, the prospective groom pays her parents a bride-price, often in cattle. I also seem to recall similar practices among many Native American tribes, although I don’t know whether that’s still practiced today.
I seem to recall something like this recently regarding some Muslim cultures. The women, upon marriage (or as soon as they receive the dowry) spend every last penny on jewelry. I thought this was an odd thing for relatively poor people to do but if the woman is ever dumped the jewelry is hers. She can take it and use it to support herself in such an event. If she left the money as cash there’d be an excellent chance it would get used and she’d be screwed if her husband left her.
Anyone know any more details on that?
Yeah but couldn’t the husband just sell the jewelry and use the money?
One would suppose so but I got the sense that this was a fundamental aspect of their culture so it’s just not done. Being about the only thing these women might get in the eventuality of a divorce I think most of the rest of the society would know what a man seeling the jewelry was up to and wouldn’t look favorably upon such an act.
Still, just guesses on my part. I’ll talk to my wife who saw this with me and see if she can remember any details.
There is a piece missing from the answer to the OP at this point - the religious need for a boy.
Ancestor worship is still a huge deal in many Asian countries. Linage is traced through the male line. So you need to provide a boy child to continue honoring the ancestors. Of course, after you die, you become an ancestor yourself, and without a male child you will not be properly honored in the afterlife.
Dowrys in Asia are from the bride’s family to the groom’s family - not to the bride.
Just my opinion, but the situation in China where the girls are outnumbering the boys could end up being very unpleasant for the girls, as well. In a country where human rights are not always made a priority, and women’s rights are even less of a priority, I can see potential for girls to be treated with less than care for their own wishes. Rather than becoming valued because of scarcity, the girls could be restricted from doing anything other than birthin’ babies (including getting educated and working), if the Chinese government felt that their population was dropping too rapidly. I can also see a scenario where stealing women becomes a common activity; selling girls for marriage could also be very profitable for the parents. Hmm, maybe I just don’t have enough faith in human nature.
I’m sorry I can’t provide a cite, but several years ago I read an article about dowries, murder and the abortion of female babies in India. The article confirmed some of the statements made here.
After amiosinthesis was made available in India, there was a tremendous surge in the abortion of female babies. As has been stated, boys are preferred to girls because:
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If you raise a girl, you must be prepared to pay a dowry over to the husband’s family at marriage. Dowries have escalated from a couple of buffalos and a little money to cars, major appliances, and huge cash payments.
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If you raise a boy, not only do you save a dowry, but his bride’s dowry comes into the husband’s family coffers. More boys, more money for the boys’ family.
These cultural practices resulted in the practice of bride murder. A house burned down with the bride in it is, I believe, the commonest form. Most Indian judges readily rule these as “accidental deaths,” and the widower is now eligible to marry again, thus bringing another dowry to his family’s estate.
The female abortion practices resulted in the deficit of girls. At the time of the writing of the article, the practice was still relatively new, but the ratio of boys to girls in schools had skyrocketed.
Just an aside…over the past six weeks or so, I’ve been wondering if there isn’t a preference for boy babies even here in the good ole US of A. See, I’m pregnant and had the ultrasound six weeks ago. Whenever people ask “Do you know if it’s a girl or boy?” and I say “boy,” they say something along the lines of “Great!” or “That’s wonderful!” or “How exciting!” I know (hope!) they probably mean “How exciting that you have this little person growing inside you.” But the way it comes out is “How great that you’re having a boy!” It just makes me wonder IF the response would be the same if I was having a girl. Probably. But I’ve heard this same reaction a couple dozen times and it’s really starting to make me think…
mmm…
PS Mr. Doughnut and I absolutely don’t care that it’s a boy and not a girl. After a long hard fight with infertility, we’re jusy so dern excited!
It would be the same (usually), and it would sound just as stupid.
Try “well, we aren’t sure…we are just hoping its either a girl or a boy - its really tough to be a hermaphrodite.”
Congrats. I did the infertility thing too. Adopted a little boy and then conceived a little girl. We get “aren’t you happy you have one of each?” Well, actually, I’m just happy I have two healthy wonderful kids, gender isn’t even a factor.
I would guess that there is a slight preference for boys over girls in the US. No cites…just a quick gut check.
I would guess this stems from the tradition of the family name being carried on through the male side of the family. However, I don’t think it’s too big a deal in the US. If the first child is a boy then that ‘concern’ (family name) is out of the way. After that I think most people don’t care. In general I think most people in the US want a mix anyway and not to be saddled with all boys or all girls (I know a woman who has three boys and really wants a girl but won’t try again because she is afraid of getting a fourth boy…she loves them all dearly but there are limits apparently).
I know for my part that when I have kids I couldn’t care less if they are boys or girls (although I would like both I’ll be thrilled with whatever I end up with).
GAWD! Some people are such DOLTS! Congrats to you. That’s a wonderful story…regardless of the gender of your kids!
mmm…
Perhaps. There is a problem with stealing women in the countryside. How widespread no one knows. You see shows on TV here in China about it occaisionally.
There are enough people in China that I don’t think women are going to be relegated to birthin’ babies. even with a big imbalance, there is still a huge population.
I still think supply and demand is going to cause a structural change in society in China, and girls are becoming a more valued “commodity” than boys. I’ve got a daughter and we probably are not going to go for child number 2.