Gender inequality: sex selective abortions

EAP2
Hugh
Summary response2
14/7/08
Gender inequality: sex selective abortions

According to Sarah Ng in her article “Gender inequality: sex selective abortions”, when the People’s Republic of China was founded by leader Mao Zedong, one of his main policies was the desire to get rid of Chinese bad behaviors, such as gender inequality, foot-binding (Chinese women believe it will make them look pretty), bride-selling, and so on. In the metropolitan areas, his plan seemed to work, but in the countryside it still doesn’t work. The Chinese government wants to control people’s birth rate, so they have a one-child policy. If the people don’t follow the rules, they will be fined and the children will not have any social benefits. This policy has had a bad influence on female infants, because in rural areas, people want to have more sons than daughters, so they choose the sex before birth of their children.
Chinese has had gender inequality for ages. In the urban areas, the situation has had become better, but in the rural areas, they still have lots of room to improve the situations. Government should do something to stop this situation. After I thought carefully, I have found some methods such as following:
First of all, Chinese government should make a strict law about abortions, especially the sex-selective ones. People can’t change a child’s sex after doing ultrasound. The only legal time to have abortion is when the child has problems. If this policy works, there will be more chance to have girls.
In addition, the government should teach people the sex equality is very important. They should teach people this idea when they are young, such as teaching in class when people in elementary schools. Schools should teach people before they have any bias about sex, especially in the rural areas; government should spend more resources on there.
Finally but not least, government can try to allow people to have more children until they get boys. Sometimes it is hard to find a balance between culture and real life. In Chinese culture, most people want to have a boy. We need to try to find a balance.
In brief, sometimes a small change can make things better, as in this situation. We can try to use a restrictive law, teach people, and allow people to have more children. We should do something to prevent the situation from becoming worse.

Reference:
Ng S.(2000,Mar. 10) Gender inequality: sex selective abortions. Sarah’s document.
Retrieved on July 10, 2008, from: