kuento@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu (12/12/90)
Oh preferential female infanticide and the concomitant devaluation and animosity towards women is very widespread, but since the discussion presently revolves only around China and bordering countries, I shall limit my discussion only to that region. In Time magazine (fall 1990) they state that in China, Korea, India and in the surrounding areas, amniocentesis is carried out and females are preferentially aborted. According to the Utne Reader (Nov/Dec 1989) Indian sex detection clinics boldly advertised that "it was better to spend $38 now on terminating a girl than $3800 later on her dowry. The same article also goes on to say that of 8.000 fetuses "examined at six abortion clinics in Bombay, 7,999 were found to be female. Also, "In rural China when food is scarce, anthropologists reprot, girls are more likely to suffer from chronic malnutrition than their brothers." This is obviously due to devaluing the female and only caring for her when all of the important members of the family (ie: the males) have been cared for. As a result of these practices, the demography is massively effected. As opposed to the normal birth ratio (105 females to 100 males) South Korea has a ratio where male births exceed female births by 14% because of the differentially meted out abortions. Ironically, in Guangdong province in China, where there are approximately 500,000 young men approaching middle age, men out number women 10 to 1. Consequently, many Asian nations (including China) are hoping to change this heinous practice by designating 1990 the "year of the girl child". A feeble attempt when you have the whole of the culture fighting against you. It seems the only way to truly change this and similar practices in most of the other nations of the world is to change the value systems (revolution?) and prize all people equally and (cliche of cliches) celebrate our diversity. -- Jim Danoff-Burg (Snow Museum, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045) Bitnet: KUENTO@UKANVAX