Research Son Preference And Gender Inequality In China

Son-Preference and Gender Inequality In China
Scarlett Zhao
Clit 162
Prof. Amar
Date of submission
Son-Preference and Gender Inequality In China
1.0 Introduction
Strong son preference and prevalent discrimination against girls have been linked to birth control practices such as sex ratios that have given rise to gender imbalance. The unwritten rule emanating from such deeply entrenched cultural norms propagate gender inequality that still exists in certain parts of china thus negatively affecting the country’s one child policy. This research paper sets out to investigate the fundamental effects and factors that create, condition or promote son preference and gender inequality in China. The paper will investigate the perceptions of rural Chinese with regard to son preference and gender inequality, and how these perceptions impact on their fertility and sex preferences. Finally, the paper will evaluate how different agents and institutions have and continue to shape the status of women in a quest to achieve gender balance and the progress made by the Chinese government toward achieving gender equality, and how China compares to other nations on the subject of gender equality.
2.0 Thesis Statement
Although China has made substantive structural and policy progress towards eradication of son preference and addressing gender inequality, factors such as son inheritance tradition, social welfare security, death rituals performance and economic support roles have continued to propagate son preference and gender inequality particularly in rural rather than urban China. This paper discusses some implications of son specific fertility behaviors that have and continues to promote son preference and gender inequality in China.
3.0 Gender Inequality & Son Preference: Overview
The Chinese government has made significant progress in addressing issues of gender inequality since the Beijing conference. However, it has emerged that institutional reforms alone cannot address son preference issues. This tradition is deeply entrenched in China’s patriarchal culture as it’s linked to the communist and Confucius ideologies that created the Chinese family, institutional and governance structures. Thus the gender power relations subject has remained elusive due to the fact that the Chinese society is largely patriarchal. The institutional reforms that china has made are steps in the right direction; however, son-preference that relates to the gender equality cannot be achieved through such efforts.[Wang, Wendy. "Son Preference and Educational Opportunities of Children in China--"I Wish You were a Boy!"." Gender Issues 22, no. 2 (Spring, 2005): 3-30.]
Some of the factors that have shaped the son-preference discourse in the post Maoist china encompass Confucianism that largely emerged from Confucian teachings on gender roles. Despite institutionalization of gender equality in the Mao era, son preference remains a prevalent phenomenon in most parts of China. This inherent gender imbalance was further exacerbated by China’s one-child policy and subsequently, the practice of sex-selective abortion. Due to the government’s implementation of one-child policy, various practices aimed at propagating ma...