John Oliver discusses China’s one-child policy, and all its consequences, intended and not.
Just a couple of things that I am thinking.....
To keep from terminating females stop letting the parents know what the fetus's gender is.
Anyone else intrigued about Donald's dick?
Unfortunately, if female fetuses weren't aborted, they became female babies who were abandoned or killed.
I'm glad the one-child policy has come to an end, but there will still be a gender imbalance, even when this generation comes of age. They are operating under the assumption that each couple who has two children will have one boy and one girl. Across the population, this might be so, but for individual couples, it won't. So female fetuses will still be aborted in cases where an already-existing sibling is a girl. And some couples will likely want to have two sons. And the gender imbalance will be perpetuated.
I figured out years ago that gender issues will always exist simply because some women continue to buy into men are always right. That has a lot to do with religion. I also continue to work towards educating women around me.
I am happy that China has attempted to get their population under control, however they need to be sat down & bitchslapped with the fact that WOMEN ARE NOT INFERIOR.
Agreed, but such deep cultural inclinations are hard to change.
Some women do believe their fathers and/or husbands are infallible and for many of them it is because of the religion they follow.
So true, but we have to continue to try. I hate inequity.
I don't know that many women believe the men in their lives are infallible, so much as they believe that it's their duty to accept those men's flaws, subject themselves to them, and even on occasion take responsibility for them. "He wouldn't hit me if I didn't make him angry" sort of stuff.
I am glad to hear that. I have stories going the other way. Such as my father-in-law saying at my brother-in-laws funeral (his son) that my husband should have turned off the lights so he couldn't follow the pattern & produced a son instead of a daughter. Such as a man in my office asking if I need to have mental therapy because I had a nasty reaction to finding a cockroach in my shoe, but he doesn't need therapy even though when someone criticizes him he cries & calls the person mean.
As a whole we all have personal stories, but it is fact that in this world women are definitely considered less than men and I will continue to fight against it.
And why do these women believe this?
They're taught to believe it. By religion, by culture, by their families. By those fallible men, sometimes.
Indoctrination. Consider the oppressed plight of Muslim women. The women are principles in indoctrinating their sons and daughters to their respective roles. Genital mutilation, in sub-cultures that hold to this, is typically performed by Muslim women.
In short, human beings have a remarkable ability to rationalize (and normalize) almost any scenario — especially if the scenario is all they have seen in their lives and they do not seem to be in unique circumstances.
That said, I agree with your dismay.
Correct, because many religions teach that the men's faults are not his fault but hers, therefore he is infallible. I'm just saying it will take dismantling the belief that women are less than men & to do that religions that teach that men are never wrong need to go.
Most of the teachers, bank staff including branch managers, are women. Teachers are highly respected in China. Before I married my Chinese wife, I dated an army major and a judge. Kavika also pointed out here that women serve in high government and official positions, and many are corporate CEO's. For example, my wife's brother's wife is the highly paid second in command of a huge corporation.
If you're like Mr Giggles you're allowed to be right once a year.
There's a T-shirt for that!
Sandy, I have seen lots of 2-daughter Chinese families. But then I'm the only person commenting here who has been living in China for 13 years.
Farmers were never limited in the number of children - they needed the family workforce.
I never said there wouldn't be any 2-daughter families, Buzz.
You said this:
You're going to tell me that sex-selective abortion will never happen? That no female fetus will ever be aborted in China to ensure that a family will have a son?
I find it difficult to believe that the social attitudes that led to there being adopted Chinese girls among my teenage son's schoolmates have so utterly changed in just the few short years since their births that preference for one sex over another is now nonexistent.
No more than in any other country, Sandy, so what makes China different?
Having a son is not so important today as it may have been years ago. In fact my good friend who was my Vice Principal in the school where I taught when I first arrived here has TWO daughters and no sons, and the 7 year old girl I am helping with her English pronunciation, the daughter of a doctor friend of mine here is an only child and it is a very happy family.
I'm glad the status of women is improving Buzz.
What makes China different is the government's unwise involvement in family planning and population control. We've already seen the disastrous results, and China (not to mention Myanmar, North and South Korea, and Vietnam, all countries from which women are trafficked to China for forced marriages) will suffer those results for some time to come.
Laws of unintended consequences.
The last article I had read was about how now they have more of an aging population and not enough of a workforce to care for everything.
Kind of like the US with the baby boomer generation retiring. More elderly than young.
Yep.
Which is the very reason why China changed to a two-child policy and are seriously considering opening it up for more. It was a matter of the economy.
In China, women handle all the money. Their role in China has changed dramatically in the last few generations. Many are senior government officials and or CEO's of major companies in China.
It is just sad that even though that is occuring, females are still considered less important.
Currently, there are 40 million more women than men in China.
That change should (hopefully) gain more respect for women.
Oh? Who said so?
I do. My opinion and knowledge on how women are treated here and abroad is just as significant as yours.
Ah, but women CELEBRATE that treatment, by holding a "Hijab Day" to glorify the submission and acceptance of wife-beating that it represents.
No, they support the right to wear hijab by those who choose to do so, in areas where it is not accepted. Islam is hardly the only religion in which women cover. Catholic women may be required to cover their hair before entering a church, and I believe some Jewish sects require modest dress (with some women and girls who don't comply subjected to verbal and physical abuse).
Some women choose to cover. And some are persecuted for it. Oddly, nuns are rarely criticized for doing the same thing as Muslim women.
Maybe there should be a march requiring everyone to wear a nun's habit, or modest dress and wigs - to promote the right of such subjugated women. Do you see no difference?
Nobody is for requiring anybody to wear anything. They are for allowing women to wear what they choose to wear without persecution, even if it's hijab. Do you see no difference between allowing and requiring?
I'd like to see women in China parlay the gender imbalance into empowerment for women. Want a wife? Be worthy of one, and treat her like the valuable human being that she is.
Or cozy up to a sex doll.
What is your purpose in ignoring the difference between China of the past, and China of the present?
Would you criticize present America for its treatment of the Indians in the past?
Your comments reek of ignoring the present knowledge and experience of those who are or have been in China - have you been there recently?
Straw man. I do not ignore it.
I do criticize present America for its treatment of Native Americans in the past, because to some extent, they're still treated that way, and that past and present treatment has present-day and future consequences, rather like China's treatment of women in the past and present has long-lasting consequences.
Didn't you say something about needing a bullet-proof vest to visit the US, Buzz?
You mean my going from a country where gun crime almost NEVER happens to a country where it's an everyday occurance, where the people are so freaked out they panic and run for cover when a motorcycle backfires?
I mean you claiming that you'd need such a thing when the only people I know who wear bullet-proof vests are cops, and we're still alive.
Yes, things in China are improving for women, as I've already acknowledged (which you've ignored). But yes, they could be better. Yes, there is a gun violence problem in the US. But no, the chances of you being killed by a gun here are not very high at all.
Nuance, Buzz. You're polarizing the issue. Recognizing a problem with the treatment of women in China does not prevent recognizing progress in the treatment of women in China.
I am well into my seventh decade and have been about everywhere in the US and yet I have never ever once in my long life had a gun drawn on me or been in a situation where it would have been appropriate to draw down on another American. Maybe I was lucky but actually I am pretty typical. Most American police officers never ever have to fire upon a citizen in their whole careers. Some people watch too many movies and cop shows.
In America our biggest problem is with easy access to firearms resulting in tons of suicides and crimes of passion that probably would have been avoided if people could not so easily lay hands on guns. Mass murders are awful but they only account for a small portion of firearm deaths. In both cases easy access to guns is the root problem though...
I'm not a gambler. My father told me when I was a kid: "If you go to the races, don't ever put your first bet on a horse to win, because if you win, you will never stop betting."
I proved him right. The first time I went to Las Vegas, I bought ten dollars worth of $1 tokens, immediately put the first one in a slot machine and won 100 tokens with it. That did it - I ended up losing $1000 while I was there - pumping tokens into two slot machines at a time like a maniac.
The last thing I will gamble with is my life.
Thank you, Kavika. It's good to see a comment from someone who knows something from actually being there rather than relying on discriminating and prejudicial biased hearsay.
As your aware Buzz, my daughter taught English in China for two years. She was treated with a great deal of respect. Being a teacher is one thing that is greatly respected in China. My daughter probably looks more Asian than European (She is Native America) she is also fluent in Mandarin. So her experience in the Chinese culture was first hand and being a speaker of the language brought her into contact with every level of Chinese culture.
Many Native American tribes are Matriarchal, including ours's the Ojibwe so she is not a person that would accept to be treated in a 2nd class way. And she never was so treated in China.
Yes, another person speaking from experience in China, rather than those who have not ever been here, or are speaking with the recent "hate China" attitude.
The Cherokee Tribe is a Matriarchy, meaning the women are the ones who are the primary gender.
All property is owned by the women; land, homes, furnishings, animals, everything. The only thing the men own are their immediate personal belongings.
When a woman wants a divorce from her husband she simply sets his personal belonging outside the door of their home and their marriage is ended. Period. All he walks away with are his own belongings.
Women are also allowed to sit in the Council the same as men. While most don't take on that position, some do, and there is no objections.
The women are highly respected, and some become Warriors and hunters the same as men. However, in most households, the women defer to their husbands about many daily activities.
It is likely that most men who are not members of the Cherokee Tribe would find it hard to accept being the secondary party in the decision making instead of the one to always call the shots as in most all other customs.
"Inferior Chinese women"
Ten Ancient Chinese Women Warriors
.
I do not know about that, but I am quite aware of a Chinese born woman who operates here in the USA. Dr. Fei Feil Li is one of the rock stars of the Artificial Intelligence community:
Seems like a person deserving to be a Nobel laureate.
Maybe pending her future accomplishments, but there are quite a bit of equally highly accomplished individuals in this field. Regardless, she is to be admired.
I posted the army photo and link to indicate that not all Chinese women can be put into the same category as barefoot pussies in the kitchen.
BTW, Veronica, it's good to have you back.
Thanks
I second that opinion
Thank you. I have missed many here, others not so much.
3rd it! This place could use more reasonable voices. I think Loretta must have given up, dammit!
Thank you, although from some posts still make me shake my head and wonder if it is worth being here.
It's much more worth being here with people like you around.
Why thank you.
It's only the truth. You've been missed.
Had a lot of personal shit happening. Some people here were just too toxic on top of all that. Feeling stronger now and resolved to stay away from getting dragged down to their level. I missed so many people here. You are one of those people.
And thank you.
I get needing to avoid toxic people. We all need a break, especially when we've got enough on our plates IRL.
Breaks are needed and I have learned it best not to ignore the signs.
I hear ya, it's tough some days to keep from turning green and purple. Speaking of misogyny apparent.
Well, I've missed you and Veronica very much. You both have level heads
I've missed you too TG! And you are one of the reasons I come back. Thank you for your online friendship. It's good to be with you and several others here I admire so much for the great sense of humor during this tough patch in America as well as the level headedness too. We see the trolling extremists for what they are. Let them run off like water but keep our eyes peeled to where their cruelty and selfishness follow.🤗🌹🥂
Good to have you back Veronica.
Just ignore the assholes.
I am planning on it.
Veronica,
A blog or your own group would stop those who you don't want to deal with. Just an idea.
Thanks, Perrie. That is a good idea.
Perrie, how about a personal blocker instead? We should all be able to participate in any open discussion without having to go to safe zones or only clubs to rid the negative trolls. I think it would certainly make moderation a lot easier too. (I wrote you a bit ago in another thread about this too.)
There is no fear of fiery debate, but the indecent insult trolling is getting real old.
does this mean i'm to be ignored yet again...?
Never oh wise one of many words!
of course ,
you realize,
i sometimes write and say things
jest in case...
Yes you do. It's so beautiful to see! Your jest cracks me up indeed.
Not by me, Iggy. You just being you helps make a bummer of a day into a beautiful one.