Oregon Daily Emerald
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
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■ In my opinion
Equaling the ranks
The Chinese government has decided
to pursue an unusual policy in order to
redress the imbalance between men and
women in Chinese society: pay families
for their decision to have daughters.
After decades of the one child per
family policy, China has been left with
a large gender imbalance. There are
12.7 million more boys than girls
younger than nine. This discrepancy
seems to be accelerating. For every 100
girls, there are roughly 117 boys born
annually, though in some regions, that
figure varies up to 160 boys for 100 fe
male counterparts. This disproportion
has demographers predicting that by
2020 China will be left with 40 million
eligible bachelors.
The problem has already manifest
ed — men unable to find brides
sometimes resort to black markets,
where the average price is $600 for a
woman's freedom. The Chinese gov
ernment, under the cover of pro
nouncing universal gender equality,
has largely ignored the problems of
inequity and sex trafficking until re
cently. Some promising steps have al
ready been taken, such as cracking
down on sex-selective abortions. Be
cause families can only have one
child, many parents abort female fe
tuses. Though this practice is banned,
it is also easily circumvented by doc
tors accepting bribes. At most, a doc
tor faced a fine of $30 for violating the
law, until a few years ago, when the
government increasingly cracked
down on the illegal procedure.
Another significant issue in Chinese
gender inequity is education. Women
are less likely to enroll in higher level
schools. The result is that many unedu
cated women are unemployed, and
while looking for work are kidnapped
and forced into prostitution. To help
these women obtain both education and
work, the government offers tuition-free
JENNIFER MCBRIDE
QUASHING DISSENT
education programs; however, these
plans are limited in scope, existing in
only 24 cities. The budget is unlikely to
be increased in the future.
Less promising steps include the bill
boards put up in a campaign suggesting
boys should respect girls. Exhibits in
tended to raise girls’ self-esteem adorn
schools, though such presentations are
probably calculated attempts to impress
visitors. To me, posters touting women's
usefulness seem to be ironic statements
of a government that hopes throwing
money at an issue will make it go away.
If the Chinese government wants to
change the discrepancy in birthrate, it
has to change the culture. Girls are val
ued less, especially in rural areas, be
cause they are considered physically in
ferior and unable to contribute as much
labor to family farms. Additionally, so
cial expectations are such that sons are
assumed to be responsible for the care of
their parents in their old age. In contrast,
daughters are expected to help support
their parents-in-law. In a country with al
most no social safety net, it is no won
der that some families see their children
as pension funds. In response to this
mindset, the government is testing pro
grams giving 300,000 elderly people
who have one child, or only daughters,
monthly allowances of $180.
However, financial incentives do
not reduce societal stigma. Instead,
they legitimize it — implying families
who have daughters need more assis
tance than their estrogen-challenged
counterparts. Furthermore, profit-mo
tives do nothing but encourage the il
legal sale of daughters by farmers
looking for a quick buck. Monetary in
ducements do not make parents take
their daughters to the hospital (boys
are more likely to be taken to the doc
tor when ill, but girls are expected to
recover on their own). The message is
clear: Women are dispensable, men are
not. As long as women are seen as in
ferior and less than human, there will
be black market brides and sex slaves.
Even educated women working in ur
ban areas are unprotected by the legal
system. In many cases, the government
has failed to act to preserve basic human
rights and human dignity when it comes
to gender. Over 80 percent of women
have been sexually harassed at their
jobs, but very few bring actual cases to
court and fewer still are able to obtain
convictions because laws are vague to
the point of unenforceability. It was only
recently that the issue was raised at all.
The first litigant brought suit against her
supervisor in 2001.
President Bush in his State of the
Union address will probably point to the
women of Afghanistan as an example of
how the United States has aided interna
tional women’s rights. However, it is un
likely that gender inequity plays even a
minimal role in U.S. discussions with
China. Minor pressure and attention
paid to this problem could influence the
Chinese government to take stronger
measures to enforce equality, rather than
continue the slap on the wrist approach
they have been practicing.
The bottom line is this: No billboards
declaring how important women are can
change a mindset ingrained for cen
turies. China should concentrate less on
propaganda and more on propagating
true reform.
jennifermcbride@dailyememld.com
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■ Editorial
Companies
fight back
in the carb
control war
No wonder America is getting fatter.
In a bid to take back the bread and
grains industry, the Grain Foods Founda
tion has kicked off an East Coast advertis
ing campaign designed to woo carbo
phobes back to the bread aisle. The New
York Times reported on Tuesday that the
foundation, which represents companies
such as General Mills and Sara Lee, has
“had enough.”
Bread is fighting to gain back its piece
of the American waistline, and it’s fighting
against companies that have grown adept
at pushing the agendas of their low-carb
diet products.
Americans have traditionally allowed
their diets to be held hostage by fads with
empty promises, so much that under
standing proper eating habits is in itself a
hefty endeavor — the federal government
can’t even make up its mind. On Jan. 12, a
new “food pyramid” was issued that re
flects, you guessed it, a need for more
whole grains.
Spokeswomen and spokesmen for the
Atkins and South Beach diets, which pro
mote the elimination of pasta and
bread, among other things, have issued
pro-carb statements in reaction to the new
federal guidelines.
Hasn’t America “had enough?”
The real problem with America’s overeat
ing is advertising. If the government is go
ing to create new rules to guide healthy eat
ing, it needs to start putting some serious
funding behind getting the word out. If it
doesn’t, its nutrition guidelines are nothing
but empty recommendations.
■ By the numbers
8 million: Number of Iraqis who are
thought to have voted in Sunday’s historic
elections.
Tens of thousands: Number of Iraqis of
ficials say might have been denied the
right to vote due to lack of ballots and
polling stations, mostly in Sunni areas.
70,000: Number of people killed in Dar
fur, which, according to a U.N. report,
does not constitute genocide by the Su
danese government and allied militias,
even though the crimes are “no less
heinous.” Parsing the legal definition of
genocide while people are being raped
and tortured will probably not help the
United Nations’ image as an ineffective
lumbering bureaucracy that cannot deal
with serious world issues. Two million
have also been displaced in the fighting.
13,000: Number of jobs SBC Communi
cations anticipates eliminating after its
$16 billion acquisition of AT&T.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Jennifer Sudick Steven R. Neuman
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David Jagernauth Shadra Beesley
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Adrienne Nelson
Online Editor