Marc Martinez, Kiara Jones, Sal Espinoza
Laura
Metzger
English-
1302
2 April
2015
Gender Preferences in China
In the article “A Study of
Son and Daughter Preference among Chinese Only-Children from Adolescence to
Adulthood” by Sung won Kim and Vanessa Fong, shares insight on gender
discrimination among the Chinese and their children preference.
During the one-child policy passed in 1979 thorough 1986, it is seen that there is a strong preference for a male child rather than a female child. This has had a large impact on those adolescences long after the policy was dropped. As the children became more aware that a male was more wanted than a female, they started to create a belief that males were the better sex. It was thought that by having a male, your legacy continues with him due to the fact his last name carried on when married, “. . . sons were expected to care for their parents, continue the family line and perform ancestor work ship along the male line, while a daughter was expected to leave her natal family after marriage to join and care for her husband’s family” (Kim 4). Males were also thought to do better in school and that they were smarter than females. However, at the time it was recorded that “girls did better on test scores in junior high schools than boys, and also eventually had a higher college attainment than males” (Kim 3). . Sadly this was not realized until the late 1990’s.
During the one-child policy passed in 1979 thorough 1986, it is seen that there is a strong preference for a male child rather than a female child. This has had a large impact on those adolescences long after the policy was dropped. As the children became more aware that a male was more wanted than a female, they started to create a belief that males were the better sex. It was thought that by having a male, your legacy continues with him due to the fact his last name carried on when married, “. . . sons were expected to care for their parents, continue the family line and perform ancestor work ship along the male line, while a daughter was expected to leave her natal family after marriage to join and care for her husband’s family” (Kim 4). Males were also thought to do better in school and that they were smarter than females. However, at the time it was recorded that “girls did better on test scores in junior high schools than boys, and also eventually had a higher college attainment than males” (Kim 3). . Sadly this was not realized until the late 1990’s.
We believe that the idea of gender preference
is absurd, because Chinese beliefs contribute to the ongoing gender discrimination
epidemic continuing on around the world. Studies show that even now, in present time, Chinese adults still prefer male children because of thoughts that their
parents led them to believe. As the rate of gender preference of children is
slowly decreasing in China, there is still gender discrimination against the
adults brought up to believe that males were the better sex. Women are seen as
fragile and weak in the Chinese communities, but in reality they just don’t
know what they are capable of because of the ideas that older Chinese
generations have implemented for so long in society.
Women
have always had the same ability to succeed as men, but it's the judgmental outlook of the community that deprive women from obtaining the recognition and credibility that they
deserve. Not only is it unfair to judge a person on how well they will succeed
on there gender, but when you start discriminating on a sex before it is even
born is foolish. The sooner people realize that men and women are equals the
sooner we will be able to have a stronger community and fair relationships with
one another.
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