You Want To Have A Son Or A Daughter?
You want to have a son or a daughter?
Many families, particularly in rural areas in China, place greater value on sons, who are considered best suited to continue the family line, generate income and ensure that parents are cared for during their old age. As a result, in many traditional societies, parents prefer to have a son rather than a daughter. In my opinion, daughters are as important as sons in our society. Too many boys only means troubles.
Statistics from China's last census in 2000 put the national figure at 119.8. In some parts of the mainland the number is much higher, as on southern Hainan Island, where there are 135 males for every 100 females. Some experts claim that the predominance of men will lead to increased violence and social instability. China and India, among the worst-affected countries in the world, are the most vulnerable, they argue. Another consequence of such a preference is that many men cannot find wives. It is plainly visible in Hainan , which two years ago began experiencing a shortage of women. Boys at schools often outnumber girls by three to one, while men are unable to find eligible women for marriage. Gender researcher Sanjay Kumar Mohanty, of the International Institute for Population Sciences at Deemed University in Mumbai, believed that the shortage of women of marriageable age was only the tip of the social imbalance that had emerged. "Over time, it will also probably lead to polygamy and homosexuality and increased incidence of rape and prostitution," he said.ยน
Old attitudes could change with the knowledge that sons do not have to provide for families. We should make the sorts of policy changes that we are hoping to see in China, such as introducing old-age assurance for parents so they are not so dependent on sons to take care of them. Beijing-based researcher Leyongping was not so sure that Chinese attitudes would be so easily changed. He suggested that growing economic...
View Full Essay