Daughters of China
A recent ChinaHush post got us thinking about the place of women in Chinese society. Plenty has been said, on this site and elsewhere, about the question, but it’s one we keep coming back to because no one has answered it yet.
The gender imbalance caused by the One Child Policy in combination with traditional sexism is well documented. Amongst young people, especially, the difference is pronounced. There are, for example, almost twenty million more boys than girls under the age of 15. Those boys are going to grow up, and many of them are going to want to marry someone. We’ve covered this before, of course, but the ChinaHush makes me want to emphasize another aspect of this demographic situation.
The gender imbalance could, in theory, serve as an equalizing force for women. With twenty million extra guys to choose from (not counting foreign men), the pressure on women to marry young is going to be alleviated somewhat, freeing women up to pursue careers or their education more seriously (as of 2000, women lagged almost 10% behind men in literacy). Traditionally, the scare story has been that one must find a good husband while still young and pretty or risk permanent spinsterhood. With twenty million guys to spare, though, women concerned about getting married should be able to relax their timelines a bit — all the good ones are not going to be taken by the time they’re 25, 30, or ever. That relaxed timeline is likely to mean more serious female graduate students and career women, and one wonders if it might lead to its own little sexual revolution of sorts, too — with time and men to spare, why not spend a bit more time “looking”, as it were?
This gender imbalance might, by extension, also cut down on the alleged sexual abuse that goes on at institutions of higher learning — something we rather doubt is as widespread as that rumor implies anyway. Advisors will still hold power over their PhD candidates, yes, but in time (assuming, as above, that the imbalance could lead to more women pursuing graduate study), more of those advisors will be women, too. That’s a demographic shift that’s likely to happen anyway, but the gender imbalance could have the effect of increasing it. On the other hand, it could mean that twenty million depressed, wifeless bachelors turn to academia and drown their sorrows in a pile of books.
It is, of course, but a thought, one possible projection — still, a rather interesting one, is it not? It would be rather delicious if the One Child Policy, which has led to some pretty horrific abuse of women and girls (because of backwards traditional mindsets, not the policy itself), ended up serving as a tool for their further emancipation precisely because of those backwards traditional ideas.
Thoughts?
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No one is willing to debate openly. Nothing I say is patently offensive- it’s just that they oppose Western sensibilities.
And yes, I am Chinese. Being combative and guarded does not harm “our people” at all.
Foreign doesn’t equal Western, Western doesn’t equal “white”
Clearly. But most foreigners, especially on the “blogosphere”, are indeed white Westerners taking a white Westerner’s perspective on China. If you want to talk about Islam, Judaism, Africa, Latin America etc there isn’t really a place for it on any of the recent topics.
Willing to debate what openly? Whether China or the West is better? Sure, there are plenty of people willing to “debate” that — go to ChinaSMACK. Here though, we prefer to discuss questions that aren’t pointless and divisive.
Is that why you lob pointed accusations of “sexism” from a Western perspective, especially?
By being “guarded” you mean you’re here to placate your own insecure ego under the guise of ‘patriotism’. Very typical of FQ kids these days, really. Who are you trying to fool/troll? At least mtm up there is rational in his posts. The only thing you’ve accomplished is attracting more hatred towards China, especially on a relatively understanding blog. Perhaps ChinaSMACK is really the best place for these kinds of “debates” - or are you already there, under a different name?
”Check the commentary on Chinasmack. Do Westerners ever wonder if they doing themselves any favours? ”
Yeah, I agree, the posters on ChinaSMACK are certainly embarrassing themselves. But then again, Chinasmack is just some trashy site digging up scandals for idiots to gawk over. Half the posts aren’t even coherent, the others are rife with racism. Doesn’t mean anyone has to do the same here.
@ s: If you’re referring to the recent posts about sexism on this site, I’d remind you that started with a translation of a Li Yinhe essay on the subject. Does she not count as Chinese?
The only thing you’ve accomplished is attracting more hatred towards China
You act like China actually has to do anything to be hated by whites. Japan was an ally of America, yet the Americans laugh at Japan’s misfortune, their workers murder “Asians” in cold blood, and their soldiers rape Japanese women.
The more Westerners express their feelings of contempt and hatred, the sooner Chinese people will wake up.
@rui
True, its not if it has to be done. My point though is, looking at the current Chinese male, I get the feeling its more wanted (pedos).
point though is, looking at the current Chinese male, I get the feeling its more wanted
I second Josh’s motion to have emoticons :roll eyes:
I do have a feeling that if people at chinasmack were given a button to push that could nuke China and the Chinese people, they would push it without even batting an eye.
And it’s funny watching westerners getting all redface arguing the West is better than China. How people who grow up in the dominant western civilization could be that insecure and eager to prove themselves is beyond me.
@mtm
I’ll third it.
awesomeface.jpg
agreed @ wooddoo, and I’d say the same thing is true for the Chinese people so eager to prove China/Chinese people are superior.
The truth is the question is absolutely pointless because it depends on personal and cultural standards, which obviously vary widely. That’s why we don’t discuss it here.
I want to know how come no one has commented on this. Chengguan were so 热门 a few months ago, I thought for sure people would be interested in a story about them attacking police officers!
/shrug
Police officers, if they even show in America, do stuff like shoot 90 year old women or people in wheelchairs.
My point though is, looking at the current Chinese male, I get the feeling its more wanted (pedos).
White men are probably 10-100 times more likely than Chinese men to molest children.
This discussion has gone as far as it can productively go (and quite a bit further). Comments are now closed.
[...] friends who think it will, and I was shocked to hear this argument, until I realized I had actually said the same thing myself in September of 2009: The gender imbalance could, in theory, serve as an equalizing force for [...]