Subscribe to Human Interest Updates
China and India Face Vast Gender Imbalances
by
findingDulcinea Staff
The number of baby girls born in China and India is falling. China expects that by 2020 there will be 30 million more Chinese men than women in the country.
30 Second Summary
Both Indian and Chinese cultures have traditionally favored the birth of boys over girls.
Although the result of this cultural attitude is similar in both countries—a decrease in the birthrate of daughters—the social foundations of the “son preference” differs greatly for each nation.
In India, where the practice of dowry payments at marriage remains prevalent, daughters are often associated with economic debt. When combined with the country’s increasing economic growth and the resultant availability of ultrasound tests that allow parents to learn their child’s sex before birth, the result has been a proliferation of aborted female fetuses.
In China, the combination of strict population controls, and the traditional expectation that daughters will leave their families when married and care for their husband’s parents, has led many parents to either abort female fetuses or abandon their baby girls.
The problem looms darkly on China’s horizon, as experts brace for the social unrest that will accompany its growing gender disparity.
Some argue that the problem of gender imbalance isn’t restricted to China and India, but is a global issue. Similar debates have arisen in the United States, as gender selection procedures that allow parents to choose the sex of their child before birth grow more popular.
Although the result of this cultural attitude is similar in both countries—a decrease in the birthrate of daughters—the social foundations of the “son preference” differs greatly for each nation.
In India, where the practice of dowry payments at marriage remains prevalent, daughters are often associated with economic debt. When combined with the country’s increasing economic growth and the resultant availability of ultrasound tests that allow parents to learn their child’s sex before birth, the result has been a proliferation of aborted female fetuses.
In China, the combination of strict population controls, and the traditional expectation that daughters will leave their families when married and care for their husband’s parents, has led many parents to either abort female fetuses or abandon their baby girls.
The problem looms darkly on China’s horizon, as experts brace for the social unrest that will accompany its growing gender disparity.
Some argue that the problem of gender imbalance isn’t restricted to China and India, but is a global issue. Similar debates have arisen in the United States, as gender selection procedures that allow parents to choose the sex of their child before birth grow more popular.
Headline
The Indian newspaper The Hindu writes that, since the technology for sex determination in the womb was introduced to India, “sex selective abortion has unleashed a saga of horror” that may soon see 1 million fetuses aborted each year in the country.
Source: The Hindu
Within 15 years China will face a gender crisis that could leave tens of millions of Chinese men brideless. By the year 2020 the population of men is expected to exceed women by 30 million, creating a bleak marriage market for 1 in 10 Chinese men ages 20–45.
Source: MSNBC
Background
China is the only country in the world where more women commit suicide than men. The marriage market has created myriad psychological and emotional challenges for new wives expected to abandon home and family for their husbands.
Source: The BBC
China aborts around one million female fetuses every year, and abandons tens of thousands of its baby girls. Chen Rong, a woman who makes her living scavenging garbage from the dumps of Beijing, has found five of these little girls abandoned in the city’s refuse, and taken each home to share what meager resources she can offer.
Source: The BBC
It’s estimated that 10 million female fetuses have been aborted in India in the past 20 years. In an effort to combat these numbers, the Indian government banned gender selection and selective abortion in 1994, but the first medical professionals weren’t jailed under the laws until March of 2006.
Source: The BBC
At the end of 2001 a U.S.-based company named Gen-Select ran a series of advertisements in the Times of India for its gender selection process. The ads provoked immediate protests from women’s and children’s rights groups, initiating a national debate over the ethical responsibilities of the media in addressing social issues.
Source: Frontline
China’s population is expected to peak at around 1.5 billion people in 2033. By that time, experts expect that the country’s gender imbalance will have already started to threaten social stability, the economy, the environment, and employment.
Source: The London Times
Reactions
The decline of female children is not limited to China and India. According to the Indian magazine Frontline, the decline is a global phenomenon. Analyzing data taken from a number of reports, the article argues that there is a “culture of silence and denial” about the subject in developed countries.
Source: Frontline
In some of the rural areas of China where the gender imbalance is most pronounced, the first generation of men born under the government’s one-child policy are already having to come to terms with a frustrating lack of women.
Source: The BBC
According to one expert, Chinese gender discrimination, not its one-child policy, is to blame for the country’s shrinking number of baby girls. She points out that even the current discussion is framed by discrimination in its sympathy for bride-less men rather than aborted female fetuses.
Source: The China Daily
China plans to address its impending gender crisis by implementing more severe punishments for those who have gender-selective abortions.
Source: Fox News
Prosecutors in Hyderabad, India blame General Electric for the increase in female fetus abortion. GE has become India’s top seller of ultrasound machines, and prosecutors charge that it’s because GE is knowingly selling the machines to clinics that perform illegal sex determination procedures.
Source: Wall Street Journal Blog
Related Topics
More and more couples in the United States are choosing the gender of their children before they’re conceived. There are three different procedures that allow couples to choose the sex of their children, but critics are concerned that the technology lends itself to gender discrimination.
Source: CNN
Among China’s many population problems is its increasing number of elderly citizens. With few social welfare programs and an expected 290 million senior citizens by the year 2025, the country faces a great challenge in caring for its elderly in the coming years.
Source: The Boston Globe
Reference
Ultrasound, or ultrasonography, sends high-frequency sound waves into your body and then senses how these waves are reflected in order to create an image. The technology is actually very similar to both SONAR and echolocation used by dolphins, whales, and bats.
Source: HowStuffWorks.com
China and India are the world’s two most populous nations. Find out where the United States ranks with this list of the world’s 50 most populous countries.
Source: Infoplease.com
Most Recent Beyond The Headlines
© 2012 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
