What's So Wrong With A Female Born In Rural China?

So. Looking specifically at the negative consequence of bearing a female into rural China and why it is such a bad thing.

So. With just the one consequence of the want of a boy to pass on the family name; it leads to three (female infanticide/sex selection pregnancies, male/female population imbalance and not enough females for Chinese men to marry and maybe more but not mentioned) repercussions. And, it just does not seem to be humane or make sense.

Take for example, farmers in rural China are allowed to have more than one child to help with the farm etc. Understandable.

But. What is a little questioning is the fact that they see a girl as a bad thing and not able to help out in farms. I know, for one that my mum's family was living under this policy and well, my grandmother did like pretty much, I hear, got forced to have a procedure that prevented her from ever producing children, but that's not my main point.

My main point is that although my mum was girl, she was, in a word, pretty manly and helped around the household with 'farm-like' chores such as fetching chicken's eggs and looking after the many animals that the family used to have on their not-so-much-farm.. but depsite the fact that she was not a guy, she was able to in a sentence, 'become a man' and do 'male-related' activities.

So, to say that only a guy can do 'farm-work' and such is a.... generalization? A... stereotype? Yup. Exactly. Even though, for some people and stereotypes, maybe like myself I am told that I am such a 'girl' and then I reply, "coz I am?" is pretty obvious but for some like that 'males are favoured on a farm' coz maybe of their work ethic and ability.

It really, really actually depends. It showed for my mum that she was able to perform farm work. But I guess not her female siblings.... but still, I guess if they had to and if they were maybe told to and possibly even bought up to, they could most probably perform the farm work duties as well as a male-born child can?

So. In conclusion, I think it may be society dictating what males and females can and cannot do.. once again...

Consequences of the One-Child Policy in China

So. Everybody knows that China, at the moment, is one of the most populated countries in the world.

There may be way too much people one plot of land and the conditions for living aren't that great. China wouldn't exactly be third world but I think may have too many people and too little money to support the rapid growth in population.

And with populated countries would come a time when somebody would come along and solve the problem?

Obviously, there came positive and negative consequences as a result of this. The consequences are far-reaching, varied and all different in their own ways. But there are a few that are common that are mentioned not only in the linked article but other future linked articles.

* P O S I T I V E S *
-> Supposed but not proven positive contribution (or lack thereof) to the emission of Carbon Dioxide/the greenhouse gases.
-> Economy growth - the ability to maintain and control the country's population/slow the population growth.
-> The chance and ability for the one-child to have a more healthier, perfect(?), sustained and better life with the benefits of pledging to having only the one child.

* N E G A T I V E S *
-> Increased the want of male infants on the belief (and sort of fact) that males are able to pass on the family name while girls can't..
--> which this leads to the not-so-common now but was in the past, female infanticide and sex-specific selection and termination of pregnancies.
--> and also the problem of the male/female population imbalance.
--> which leads to the problem of Chinese men in China not able to marry.
-> Forced abortions/abuse. Although not that common now, still happening. Just maybe not widely public? (don't quote me on that!)

So those are just the common consequences and mentioned in the articles that I have gathered. There may be more different consequences but... from the above collation of consequences, I think the negatives far outweigh the positives and the negative consequences, (I don't know if it is just me but,) seem to trigger even more consequences..

Pretty much the coming blog entries will be structured somewhere along the below lines:

• Introduction/Links (this entry)
• Consequences
• Positive
• Negative
• Effectiveness - Has it worked? Has it achieved its goals?
• The future - What's going to happen now? What The Govt. Has In Store.

Again, I hope you enjoy reading this blog.

This has definitely taken a while to get started but.... I have done it! ^^

Links To Be Used.

Radio Free Asia. (2008). China's One Child Policy Stays, Abuses Resurface. Retrieved May 7 2008, from http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china_population-04022008121732.html?searchterm=None

BMJ. (1997). The One Child Policy: The Good, Bad & Ugly. Retrieved April 9, 2008, from http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/314/7095/1685

Terra Daily. (2008). One-child' policy aids climate change battle: China. Retrieved April 9, 2008, from http://www.terradaily.com/reports/One-child_policy_aids_climate_change_battle_China_999.html

BBC. (2000). China Steps Up One Child Policy. Retrieved April 9, 2008, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/941511.stm.

People and Planet.(2008). China's One Child Policy Enters New Phase. Retrieved April 9, 2008, from http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=771

China's One Child Policy Reveals Complexitiy, Effectiveness Retrieved April 9, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070418115227.htm

New York Times. (2008). China Sticking With One Child Policy Retrieved April 9, 2008, from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/world/asia/11china.html?ex=1362888000&en=1b58c8828bd897a6&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

The New England Journal of Medicine. (2008). The Effect of China's One Child Policy After 25 Years. Retrieved April 9, 2008, from http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/353/11/1171

About, Inc. (2008). The Population of China. Retrieved April 9, 2008, from http://geography.about.com/od/populationgeography/a/chinapopulation.htm

Overview of the One Child Policy in China. Retrieved April 9, 2008, from http://geography.about.com/od/populationgeography/a/onechild.htm

At The Beginning....

My take on China's one child policy through the use of links to external articles.


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What are your views on this topic? Do you support it? Do you think it is a good idea?
What do you know about it? Are you interested in this topic?

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There are so many questions. And possibly not enough answers (?)

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Before the research into this topic [China's One Child Policy], I admit that I did not really
know much about it other than that my [2] cousins on my mum's side are a living
and example of this policy.~~~~~~~So. I hope you enjoy my [filter] blog and will most probably learna thing or two~! =)