Now, if there is one type of person I dislike more than any other in discussions like this, it is the type of person who is so arrogant that they think they can simply dismiss all other arguments, without offering any evidence whatsoever other than their own opinions. In several places in your responses, you simply said "Lies." You gave no evidence whatsoever for your claim that this was a lie; I went to great efforts to present arguments and verifiable facts to support my position, but then you come along and in your arrogance think that this represents some sort of 'intelligent' response.
I won't bother responding to the rest of what you said, because it is abundantly clear you have no interest in listening to or attempting to understand other perspectives; you've already made up your mind, and that's all that you require. Why waste my time with responses that I'll actually have to think about and research, when you'll just mindlessly reply "lies."
And now, on to answer the intelligent portion of the responses here:
1) serious topic of the gender imbalance in China. Do you see the difference? What do the Chinese have to say? Has their traditional attitude changed at all? It's my understanding that sons were SO important because when a son married, his wife joined the household, and you had someone to look after you in your old age. But when a daughter married, she left the house. Is it true that now there are an estimated "extra" 30 million men?
Has the status of women changed at all, because of their relative scarcity in relation to men?
That answer is actually rather complicated; it depends on which particular group you're talking about.
In urban centers, particularly in the rapidly growing middle and upper classes, gender preference is rapidly disappearing, with no particular bias for either male or female children. The main reason for the preference (as you stated above) for male children grew from a feudal society in which females, when married, were no longer responsible for their own parents, but rather were responsible for their husband's parents. Thus, if you were a peasant who had only female children, you would have no one to care for you in your old age; whereas if you had male children, both your sons and their wives would care for you.
For middle and upper class Chinese, this is no longer a significant issue, for two reasons. First, Chinese education these days generally emphasizes duty to your parents regardless of whether you're male or female; and second, many of the parents have enough financial stability that they do not worry about needing someone to care for them when they are old, they have the means to care for themselves.
In rural populations (which still make up around 60% of China's population), the situation is somewhat mixed. There is definitely still a preference for male children (for the reasons cited above), although this is not as strong as it was in the past. The Chinese gov't has made very stringent laws to try to prevent things such as aborting female fetuses, or abandoning female babies, but these things do still happen. In the long term, these practices will be more effectively changed through a combination of education and economic development, rather than through legislation.
Regarding the status of women, this is one of the things that tends to be ignored by anti-China reports. For all the undeniable abuses committed by the Communists, the status of women in China has improved phenomenally under their control. It was the Communists who outlawed footbinding. It was the Communists who outlawed polygamy (prior to that, Chinese men could have multiple wives and concubines). It was the Communists who gave women equal legal status with their husbands under the law.
I do not try to claim that China today is free of gender bias, far from it (but then what country
can honestly make such a claim). But the status and rights of women in China has improved phenomenally, and they are taking an ever-increasingly dominant role in modern China.
For example, in foreign companies in China, there is getting to be a disproportionately large number of Chinese women rising to middle and upper level management. Why? Because these companies have found that while Chinese men tend to rely on 'traditional' networks of connections and status, Chinese women tend to be much more open to accept new ways of working and managing. In my consulting company, based in Beijing, all of our staff are female...we've tried hiring males, but every time, the women outperformed the men.
2) Silly idea that I just thought of today, but it resulted from the first, more serious question. Here in the West, we can pick up almost anything and see "Made in China" stamped on the back, including, of course, clothes. I would imagine that most of those factories are staffed by female seamstresses. What would happen with fewer young women entering the workforce, because of their dropping numbers. Are men starting to take these jobs?
Thanks for the informative posts.
Well, more and more of these factories are becoming automated; but in those that use manual labor, there proportion of women is only slightly larger than of men working in that industry. In a country with this many people, unskilled laborers tend to take whatever job they can get, regardless of gender.
Wolfman, I figure you'd be in a position to answer this question. Apologies if you answered it in the text and I didn't catch it, but it's late and I'm tired.
Have you noticed a bit of a shift toward more individualistic Chinese young people, due to the one-child policy, at least in that they find the slavish obedience of the Mao era (human waves in Korea, the Great Leap Forward, etc) incomprehensible?
Oh, there's most
definitely a very significant shift towards more individualism in the younger generation. However, I wouldn't credit this so much to the one child policy (which encourages selfishness, but not necessarily individualism). It is more due to a combination of economic development and exposure to other cultures.
Consider, in a underdeveloped economy, where mere survival is a challenge, there's not much room for individualism. However, as a society develops, and it becomes more and more possible to survive by yourself, individualism will generally become more common (and this is a process we can see in pretty well every culture in history).
In fact, the 'culture gap' between young Chinese and their parents is more like a culture chasm. Their parents grew up at a time when everything -- what they studied, where they worked, where they lived, who they married, etc. -- was determined by the government, and where the focus was simply on day-to-day survival, not on long-term plans. Whereas today's young Chinese are growing up in a China where they have freedom to take their lives almost any direction they want, and where the future is seen as a gigantic blank canvas that they can paint according to their own dreams.
The exposure to western culture, and more individualistic thinking, also has a very definite effect (debate rages as to whether this is a net 'positive' or 'negative' effect, I'll leave that question for another time). One of the most popular TV shows in China is "Friends". With the combination of internet access, and cheap pirated DVDs (I don't think I've bought a 'legal' DVD in at least 5 years), they have almost unlimited access to other ways of thinking, other ideas, etc. And that inevitably has its impact.
The biggest thing that I see in today's younger generation of Chinese is that they are dreamers -- they dare to dream of brighter futures, they dare to believe that they actually have the power to take control of their own destinies. And, putting aside all the modern arguments about China's growth and development, and whether it can last, it is this factor which makes me believe most strongly in China's future. Not just in terms of becoming richer, or more powerful, but in terms of continuing to move towards greater freedom and equality for all Chinese.
There's no more potent force than letting people dream. Today's young Chinese have huge, magnificent dreams. China's government has, in the past, tried to prevent such things, to restrict people's vision to what the Party decides is best for everyone. But now Pandora's box has been opened, and I really doubt that the government will ever be able to close it now.
It'll take time. But in 30-40 years, it is THIS generation of young dreamers and idealists who will be the leaders in China. And it is that which gives me the greatest hope for China's future.
It seems like another effect will be the destruction of family ties. No siblings means no siblings-in-law, no uncles, no aunts, no cousins. I guess with the disintegration of the familial support network, the State will be taking even more of a role.
Yes, this is a very significant social concern, which is already affecting China. China is approaching a point where its senior citizens will have very little family to support them, putting much greater pressure on the government to take that role. Measures are already being put into place, but there isn't enough money to cover all the needs; care for the elderly is a serious social issue, that is debated quite fiercely today.
Actually, these days not only are Chinese allowed to leave China quite easily (just look at the huge numbers going overseas to work/study), but a significant number of them are returning to China voluntarily, because the opportunities here are much better than in those other countries. There are also ever-increasing hordes of foreigners coming over here for exactly the same reason. As a "hell hole" goes, it certainly seems to be quite a popular one!
) I get the feeling that most Taiwanese and most Chinese think that Taiwan is part of China. They just disagree on the business terms. Unless somebody goofs big time, Taiwan will be balancing just a few statements short of Chinese invasion till one day the surprised world hears their common declaration of unity.