Girls – The Expendable Sex

I was heartbroken to see this story: Baby Girls Hanged, Burned, Stabbed To Death In Pakistan Those poor babies, lined up on a table, unloved, unwanted, and unknown. Did their killers have any remorse as they murdered these innocents? Did their cries ring in their ears as they left them to die?
And then there’s the story about A Shortage of Girls in China.

Deng Xiaohong, Deputy Director of Beijing’s Bureau of Health, revealed on May 12 that a normal ratio of baby boys to baby girls should be around 104:100-106:100. But last year’s ratio reached 108:100, and that of the floating population even went as high as 128:100, indicating that the practice of willful abortion is upsetting the standard ratio.

And what is the result? Already, young girls are being kidnapped and raised as future wives for the families that have money. Their sons will be guaranteed wives of some kind, and their family lines will not die out. Meanwhile, there will be cries and tears for the real parents of these missing daughters. Will the government of China all them to have another child? In addition, the article also states:

Experts predict that serious gender imbalance can cause complicated social problems. If this imbalance is allowed to proceed unchecked, the following damages may occur:
1) Pressure on marriage. Owing to their excessive number, males will find it difficult to find marriage partners.
2) Adverse impacts on families and society. The gender imbalance is likely to cause more sexual crimes and adversely affect the stability of monogamous families.
3) Difficulties in maintaining the population. With the decrease in the number of women, the country’s population reproduction capacity will decline.
4) The surplus of male employees will place more pressure on female employees. In the next 10-20 years, men will find it more difficult to find jobs. Some sectors that females used to have advantages in, such as textiles and service, will hire more males, upping the pressure on female workers.

It is rather ironic that infant girls are being killed on the one hand – and stolen for their value elsewhere.

And it is not just Pakistan and China, either:

China has 118 boys per 100 girls under age 5, Korea has 117 to 100, and Taiwan is 110 to 100.

And even the United States is leaning towards selective gender birthing:

It is currently legal to use sex selection techniques in the United States though the practice hasn’t yet become widespread. The MicroSort technique of pre-fertilization sex selection removes the need for abortion but costs a few thousand dollars and while it pushes the odds heavily toward one sex or the other its success rate is less than perfect.

Where does this lead us? What kind of political ramifications will this world face as societies become less stable? What kind of shifts will occur as the demographics change? And the question I have – why is it that in so many cultures, girls are considered less valuable than men? After all, it takes less men than women to propagate the species. If it was a matter of simple population and passing on of genetic material, then women would intrinsically be more valuable. In so many cultures, however, women are considered less valuable and often are relegated to second- or third-class status. Is it because women are physically weaker – and men can physically dominate, so they do?
Perhaps all of those lonely men out there can find wives….in Japan:

ISEHARA, Japan – In a surprising repudiation of the traditional Asian values that for centuries have put a premium on producing male heirs, surveys show that up to 75 percent of young Japanese parents now prefer baby girls. Daughters are seen as cuter, easier to handle, more emotionally accessible and, ever more important in this fast-aging society, more likely to look after their elderly parents.

Meanwhile, I’ll say a prayer for all those little babies, murdered at the hands of those carried them so intimately for so long.