Western Governments Are Blamed for Asia's Shortage of Women

[Hot Mega]

In her new book "Unnatural Selection," Science writer Mara Hvistendahl examines how the trend toward choosing boys over girls through sex-selective abortions has spread through the developing world, particularly in Asia. Coining the term "Generation XY," Hvistendahl provides the grim results of sex selection: while the natural sex ratio at birth is 105 boys born for every 100 girls, in India the figure has risen to 112 boys and in China, 121. The Chinese city of Lianyungang actually recorded 163 boys per 100 girls in 2007.

The shortage of women is already giving rise to deep societal problems. New markets have been created for women in Asia, including wedding agencies that arrange marriages between South Korean men and women often from poorer nearby countries like Vietnam, that now account for 11% of all marriages in South Korea. There is also a growing practice of child marriage in China, where wealthier families buy young girls to secure wives for their sons early. And with so many surplus men (e.g., up to a fifth of men will be single in northwestern India by 2020), she suggests that the excess testosterone could lead to raised levels of crime and violence.

But what distinguishes Hvistendahl's book from other similar reports is that, as the Guardian notes in a profile today, she "lays the blame squarely on western governments and businesses that have exported technology and pro-abortion practices without considering the consequences," unlike other accounts, that solely basing sex selection on cultural practices.

Countinued at link....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/atlantic/arewesterngovernmentsblameasiasshortagewomen38978

 

[Rey C.]

Just speaking about China, but don't they still have laws which limit the number of children per family? And if you have more than what is allowed, you have to pay a large fine? So (just talking about China), given that boys are more desirable in cultures that still partially rely on agricultural work, and I've read that Chinese baby girls used to be left for dead, do you think that maybe this author is assigning too much blame on Western governments?

 

[Will E Worm]

One-child policy is to blame, not Western cultures.

 

[Ike Stain]

"lays the blame squarely on western governments and businesses that have exported technology and pro-abortion practices without considering the consequences"

Nothing at all to do with the values of those cultures. No, certainly not. Just blame the foxy West.

(And last time I checked, infanticide wasn't a technology so much as a practice...)

 

[boobmanz]

If I read this correctly developing countries used western technology for other purposes than intended. Isn't this the case with a lots of cultural and technical developments in the western world? What should we do instead? Just say, developing countries are too stupid and keep everything to ourselves?

 

[Ulysses31]

In places like India and Pakistan boys have always been more desirable than girls, whether it's because of inequality or needing boys to do labour work or the cost of a daughters wedding (traditional the girls family pays a dowry to the boys family as well as having to finance the whole wedding) which can be financial heartbreak for any family. Fortunately things are fast changing but with such a huge population there are still many backwards people living in the dark ages. The only real way you can blame the west is that that 'new technology combined with ancient prejudices are producing communities in Asia with thousands more men than women'. So basically people wanting boys and not girls can now get scans to see what sex their baby will be and also abortions to terminate the pregnancy if it's found to be a girl, it's these attitudes that need to be changed not the technology.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ia-Massive-rise-abortion-female-foetuses.html

 

[UrMaSucksDonkey]

She is only saying what many on these boards have been saying for a while.

 

[Trident1]

Blame the West, blame whitey yamma yamma yamma yamma........

 

[Ace Bandage]

I rearry rike Asian women.

:shy: