70 million men in China are currently unable to find wives due to a staggeringly high imbalance of males vs. females.
Men outnumber women as a result of the country’s one-child policy which leads to many female foetuses being aborted as girls are traditionally discriminated against….
The traditional Chinese thinking that men are more valuable than women has dominated the country for many centuries. Some rural people just dump their baby girls outside orphanages, Ms Pan said.
The minister said 99 per cent of Chinese children adopted by foreigners were girls. There were millions more boys under the age of 10 than girls of the same age group.
‘Although the Chinese government has banned gender selection of newborn babies by ultrasound and selective induced abortion, many doctors secretly provide such services for extra fees, sometimes as high as 1,000 yuan,’ Xinhua said. One thousand yuan works out to S$213.
In a country where getting married and raising a family is all-important, this situation is a catastrophe for the millions of men who will not find wives. It reflects an attitude that goes way back in China’s history, and reading Wild Swans last month drove home to me just how horrific it can be for women. (I still cringe whenever I think of the author’s detailed descriptions of what foot binding actually encompasses.)
1
By Internet Ronin
Nature vs. Nurture
Although less is said about it in “polite society” these days, we still don’t have an answer to the question,
August 25, 2003 @ 3:27 pm | Comment
2
By Winds of Change.NET
Gweilo’s China/HK Briefing: 2003-08-26
AUG. 26/03 – Topics: The Chinese Communist Party’s purported policy to embrace capitalists; China’s treatment of AIDS sufferers; its dearth of marriagable women and one doctor’s novel and enterprising solution; The grim job market facing recent Chinese…
August 26, 2003 @ 4:16 am | Comment
3
By water
Where are the women?
Another side of North Korea and China that is not as well known as it should be: North Korean female refugees bought and sold as wives in the Chinese countryside. Each year, thousands of North Korean women swim or sneak
August 26, 2003 @ 4:32 am | Comment
4
By M. Simon
Killing women is a way to maintain traditional morality.
When women outnumber men by 5% or more you get the girls gone wild phenomenon.
On American college campuses these days women outnumber men 60 to 40.
College for men is the happy hunting ground.
August 27, 2003 @ 9:41 am | Comment
5
By colin
With all due respect, M. Simon, that is one of the most derogatory comments I’ve ever come across. Maybe college for people like you is “happy hunting ground” if you consider women to be some sort of game-bird. And the girls gone wild phenomenon wouldn’t exist if only horny men could control their urges. Shame on you. And killing women to mantain traditional morality is a pitiful excuse.
October 16, 2004 @ 11:39 am | Comment
6
By FDS
Beer
Which country drinks the most beer? No, not the Germans, nor is it us. Turns out that the Commies in Red China drink the most beer. Makes sense. There’s a bunch of them, and the what with the shortage of…
November 10, 2004 @ 9:06 pm | Comment
7
By Ray
shame on you, M. Simon. Women have the same rights as men and are not some object. You should be ashamed of this murder of women just for your sake because you are a man.
p.s. I am a man too
May 11, 2006 @ 3:17 pm | Comment
8
By M. Simon
I was not commenting on what ought to be. Just about what is.
An article on M/F demographics might wise you up:
Demographics
September 25, 2006 @ 12:56 pm | Comment