Culture and Gender

               China, like all other countries, does have its fair share of problems when it comes to gender roles and gender biases. In the past my country has even had to pass law to try and stop the role that gender bias play(Chang, Mina, 2008). Today, being so young and an only child from a well off family, I feel personally have never been affected by the stigma that my country has against woman. Hopefully in the future when I am looking for work I won't have any problems either.

                Lots of people around the world have heard about my countries one child per family policy. This policy was implemented in 1979 to slow down our rapid population growth (Berna, Ioana-Bianca, 2013). Although the policy has its downfalls. It has some positive aspects when it comes to gender equality (Berna, Ioana-Bianca,2013).  For example the law helps eliminate gender favoritism with in the family unit because there is only one child in the household (Berna, Ioana-Bianca, 2013). In the past, and sometimes still today, families put more importance on the male child (Chang, Mina, 2008).  This is because in Chinese culture it is said to be the responsibility of the son to take care of the family when the parents are old (Chang, Mina, 2008).  The son also retains the family name which in China carries importance (Chang, Mina, 2008). With only one child allowed the home parents are not able to give more attention or resources to the male child (Berna, Ioana-Bianca, 2013). 

                The one child policy also has it downfall. I've heard of families on the news  abandoning baby girls or aborting girls just because they want a boy (Chang, Mina, 2008). Thank goodness my family is sane and realize that woman are just as capable as men.  All this gender bias caused by the law has created a rather severe gender gap here in China (Chang, Mina, 2008).  This means that there are more males than females, about 18:1 on average in fact (Chang, Mina, 2008).  This imbalance leads to social problems such as a greater incentive to traffic and sell woman(Chang, Mina, 2008). The risk of forced marriages and prostitution are also higher due to this gap (Chang, Mina, 2008). On the other side of the issue there is an underground industry here that kidnaps and sell baby boys because of their high demand (Chang, Mina, 2008). Later in life many men will be unable to find a spouse (Chang, Mina, 2008). Already I know boys who are worried about finding a lifelong partner. Even another reason why it becoming harder for men to find  a wife is because more and more woman are becoming educated and entering the work force. With woman busy with an education and career having children and settling down becomes lower on our priority list. In the future many believe that the problems caused the one child policy will be self corrected (Chang, Mina, 2008).  

                Here in my city of Beijing I don't feel there is a huge problem with gender inequality when it come to finding a job (Berna, Ioana-Bianca, 2013).  In fact in international terms China ranks relatively high in gender equality (Berna, Ioana-Bianca, 2013). Being a female my parents view education as even more important for me than if I were a male (Berna, Ioana-Bianca, 2013). The more education I receive the lower the chances I will be a victim of gender bias when it come to finding a job (Berna, Ioana-Bianca, 2013).  My parents tell me that some Chinese companies view men as slightly superior to woman. They say if I want to be successful, a strong diverse education is key (Berna, Ioana-Bianca, 2013).  That way I can beat the men with my smarts. I'm not too concerned with finding a job though, many foreign owned firms have a slight prejudice towards hiring woman (Berna, Ioana-Bianca,2013). In the grand scheme it all seems to even out.         

             Although China isn't perfect, when we come to gender biases and roles, I don't know of a country who is.  Many gender biases stem from evolutionary and basic needs of a civilization.  As a society changes and grows so will its attitudes and norms in reference to gender roles. In my opinion the key to equality is through education and tolerance. With more and more people going to school I feel the issues my country faces with gender inequality will only improve.  

  

Resources:

Berna, Ioana-Bianca. (2013) "Democracy and gender inequality in China." Journal of Research in        Gender Studies: 119+. Academic OneFile. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.

Chang, Mina. (2008) "Tipping the scale: gender imbalance in China." Harvard International                 Review: 10+. Academic OneFile. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.