ODONNELL@arcb.afrc.ac.uk (12/10/90)
I haven't yet seen any comment on the likelihood, or otherwise, of the existence of infanticide to skew the ratios. The economic pressure seems quite strong to do this, so should be examined before invoking genetic explanations. Cary O'Donnell
bryans@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Bryan Siegfried) (12/11/90)
ODONNELL@arcb.afrc.ac.uk writes: >I haven't yet seen any comment on the likelihood, or otherwise, of the >existence of infanticide to skew the ratios. The economic pressure seems >quite strong to do this, so should be examined before invoking genetic >explanations. Although I have heard that infanticide does occur in China, I doubt that it has a significant effect on the sex ration in your basic village. Just think about infanticide for a moment. The mere act is just too much to comprehend. Although the extraordinary situation of the Chinese pushes them closer to infanticide, I can hardly imagine it is common practice. Of course, this is all conjecture. Have the Chinese released any believable studies on sex ratios and infanticide? __ Bryan Siegfried Biology and Economics at UIUC
JAHAYES@MIAMIU.BITNET (Josh Hayes) (12/12/90)
I understand (read: I heard somewhere) that infanticide is a serious problem in rural China, but it works against the observed skew. The story goes that families of low social class do away with daughters because they're useless. One would expect then to see a male/female ration somewhat greater than unity; the root article for this thread claimed the opposite (about 55% female?). But all this is so much whistling in the wind without real evidence on a) the observed sex ratios, and b) the social milieu in which the purported infanticide takes place. Numbers, Spock, I need numbers! Cheers, Josh Hayes, Zoology, Miami U, Oxford OH 45056 USA jahayes@miamiu.acs.muohio.edu, or @miamiu.bitnet