# Single Chinese male/female ratios now @ 120/100. How will this effect their society? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 20, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767 "2009-04-20T19:55:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/1 "2009-04-20T19:55:09Z")
[Per this article](http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/04/20/1900320.aspx)does this this imbalance have an implications for the future of Chinese society? > [@](#): > > Disproportionate numbers > As a result of the one-child policy introduced in China in 1979 and a cultural predisposition for males that has lead to forced abortions and female infanticide, there is a disproportionate number of eligible young men in the country. > > In the year 2000 there were 117 boys for every 100 girls – and that ratio is believed to have grown. Worrying about your child’s marriage prospects has long been a major part of Chinese culture, but the striking statistics have compounded the issue. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/2 "2009-04-20T20:00:25Z")
Well traditionally having a high ratio of boys with no prospects leads to civil unrest. It might result in something of a matriarchal shift where women will have more power in society than men. It will also result in a greater population reduction than it would if it were more equal because a generation of men with no prospects will die without a child. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/3 "2009-04-20T20:05:24Z")
Possibly, it will help open up Chinese society to outside cultures, as more and more Chinese men take foreign wives. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/4 "2009-04-20T20:09:39Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Possibly, it will help open up Chinese society to outside cultures, as more and more Chinese men take foreign wives. Those wealthy enough to attract foreign wives are not likely to be the ones having trouble finding a bride domestically. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/5 "2009-04-20T20:20:10Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Those wealthy enough to attract foreign wives are not likely to be the ones having trouble finding a bride domestically. Chinese girls might be considerably picker than females of other Asian countries even further down the economic scale. Do Chinese men regularly marry non-Chinese Asian wives? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/6 "2009-04-20T20:22:19Z")
I don’t know. But the point is that importing a bride is rather expensive. So it really has little to do with whether or not the woman is picky. Women might not be picky at all in Zaire, but it is still beyond the economic capability for the vast majority of men in China to go to Zaire to find a bride. The import costs off-set the benefit and thus make the lower cost Chinese brides still cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![kenner116](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@kenner116](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenner116)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/7 "2009-04-20T20:38:40Z")
Working abroad would probably be a good option for some of these men. For example, they could set up a general goods store in Tanzania or work for a Chinese construction company in Malawi. The Chinese government would benefit by facilitating this as they would be simultaneously increasing economic ties abroad and getting some of the excess of young men out of the country. [Entrepreneurs From China Flourish in Africa](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/18/world/africa/18malawi.html) [NY Times Aug 18, 2007] > [@](#): > > The Xinhua News Agency recently estimated that at least 750,000 Chinese were working or living for extended periods on the continent, a reflection of deepening economic ties between China and Africa that reached $55 billion in trade in 2006, compared with less than $10 million a generation earlier. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/8 "2009-04-20T20:39:57Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Possibly, it will help open up Chinese society to outside cultures, as more and more Chinese men take foreign wives. They’re going to have an uphill battle if that’s the case. At the risk of sounding cruel, Chinese men aren’t exactly in great demand when it comes to the dating scene. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/9 "2009-04-20T20:40:34Z")
How does 750,000 compare to the number of men without prospects? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/10 "2009-04-20T20:50:04Z")
Polyandry? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/11 "2009-04-20T20:50:27Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Those wealthy enough to attract foreign wives are not likely to be the ones having trouble finding a bride domestically. Well, I suppose it depends. Does this gender imalance cut across all classe equally? And to what extent does class consciousness play a role in Chinese culture? Would a well-off Chinese man prefer to marry a Chinese woman from a lower class, or a foreign woman of a roughly equal economic background? If class consciousness trumps cultural insularity, and there’s a dearth of middle- and upper-class Chinese women, then even the wealthier Chinese might marry foreigners. Additionally, there are other factors forcing the intergration of China into the global culture, providing more opportunities for Chinese men to meet women from other countries. If China’s middle class continues to expand, these opportunities are also going to continue to increase, as more and more Chinese leave the country to study, vacation, etc. As more of China goes online, it’s also going to make fraternization with foreigners easier. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/12 "2009-04-20T21:05:04Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Well, I suppose it depends. Does this gender imalance cut across all classe equally? Apparently the imbalance is similar in both urban and rural areas (well, according to [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-child_Policy#cite_note-Hasketh-33)). Ideally, the women would have their pick of the litter and the entire gender would benefit from a dramatic shift in cultural norms, from second-class citizens to in-demand decision makers. But it would be naive to think that the very prejudices that led (and are still leading to) the imbalance could be overturned so quickly. My wild guess – a generation of ‘Little Emperors’ satisfying themselves with occasional trysts and dying alone, and pariah status for Chinese women who don’t wish to get married. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/13 "2009-04-20T21:08:03Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Polyandry? Doesn’t work that way. There is a reason why polygamy is more common than polyandry. Two men can’t get the same woman pregnant at the same time, and how would they square this with the 1 child policy? Which husband gets to knock her up? In a polygamous relationship 1 husband can have a dozen wives pregnant simultaneously that doesn’t translate into a polyandrous one. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/14 "2009-04-20T21:11:00Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Well, I suppose it depends. Does this gender imalance cut across all classe equally? And to what extent does class consciousness play a role in Chinese culture? Would a well-off Chinese man prefer to marry a Chinese woman from a lower class, or a foreign woman of a roughly equal economic background? If class consciousness trumps cultural insularity, and there’s a dearth of middle- and upper-class Chinese women, then even the wealthier Chinese might marry foreigners. Additionally, there are other factors forcing the intergration of China into the global culture, providing more opportunities for Chinese men to meet women from other countries. If China’s middle class continues to expand, these opportunities are also going to continue to increase, as more and more Chinese leave the country to study, vacation, etc. As more of China goes online, it’s also going to make fraternization with foreigners easier. Oh certainly this will likely be a factor, in fact I have read that Russian women are fond of Chinese men, and Russia has more women than men in general. However there are a couple of issues with this. 1. Will it match the 25% imbalance of China’s massive population? 2. What will the countries that rich Chinese men deplete of their woman do with their men with no prospects? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/15 "2009-04-20T21:11:27Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > They’re going to have an uphill battle if that’s the case. At the risk of sounding cruel, Chinese men aren’t exactly in great demand when it comes to the dating scene. Maybe not in the US, but they do all right in China. (You do realize that there are countries other than the US, right?) ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/16 "2009-04-20T21:25:03Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Doesn’t work that way. There is a reason why polygamy is more common than polyandry. Two men can’t get the same woman pregnant at the same time, and how would they square this with the 1 child policy? Which husband gets to knock her up? In a polygamous relationship 1 husband can have a dozen wives pregnant simultaneously that doesn’t translate into a polyandrous one. You have it backwards. With two or more men and one women, you take multiple adults into one family and they get one child. With one man and many wives you can have dozens of pregnant wives, as you said. Dozens of pregnant wives is a problem with the 1 child policy, not dozens of frustrated husbands. Polyandy sounds like the way to go. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/17 "2009-04-20T21:29:54Z")
What makes it worse is that the government is so down on homosexuality. A possible outlet for male frustration closed off. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/18 "2009-04-20T21:39:40Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Oh certainly this will likely be a factor, in fact I have read that Russian women are fond of Chinese men, and Russia has more women than men in general. However there are a couple of issues with this. > > 1. Will it match the 25% imbalance of China’s massive population? > 2. What will the countries that rich Chinese men deplete of their woman do with their men with no prospects? I certainly didn’t mean to imply that it would completely _solve_ he problem! Clearly, whatever happens, there are going to be a lot of Chinese men that never marry, and that’s going to cause all sorts of problems. I was just throwing out one possible good that might also result. As for your 2, if I’ve figured the numbers right (never a safe bet, when it comes to me) there’s about 175 million Chinese men who won’t have a mate. In one country, even one the size of China, that’s a lot of people. But spread out across a global population of five billion (leaving out the Chinese, there) the demographic bump is smoothed out considerably. I don’t think you’re going to see Chinese bachelors descend on one country like a swarm of locusts, denuding it entirely of it’s female population. Rather, you’ll see more Chinese men (but, again, not all of them) marrying women from a variety of different cultures, with no great effect on any one culture, other than China’s. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/19 "2009-04-20T21:42:58Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Doesn’t work that way. There is a reason why polygamy is more common than polyandry. Two men can’t get the same woman pregnant at the same time, and how would they square this with the 1 child policy? Which husband gets to knock her up? In a polygamous relationship 1 husband can have a dozen wives pregnant simultaneously that doesn’t translate into a polyandrous one. Plus, people just don’t seem to be interested. Even where it’s practiced ( in some places in Tibet is one ), as I understand it, it’s out of economic necessity. They don’t actually like it very much. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767/20 "2009-04-20T21:48:52Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > You have it backwards. With two or more men and one women, you take multiple adults into one family and they get one child. With one man and many wives you can have dozens of pregnant wives, as you said. Dozens of pregnant wives is a problem with the 1 child policy, not dozens of frustrated husbands. > > Polyandy sounds like the way to go. Doesn’t even begin to address the problem. The husband who doesn’t get to breed is still a man with no prospects even if he has a superficial document. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-chinese-male-female-ratios-now-120-100-how-will-this-effect-their-society/493767.md?page=2)