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.