Subject To Debate

FEMALE: An Endangered Gender?

Does the simple fact of being female expose a person to demographic peril? In most societies, women are viewed as valuable, even powerful, particularly as mothers, nurturers, teachers, and spiritual leaders. Yet in other important ways, to be female is to be endangered. We will consider this controversial idea with an eye to how demographics and culture closely shape each other.

Many cultures demonstrate a marked preference for males. The academic term describing this is androcentrism; you may know it as patriarchy, male bias, or simply sexism. Whether a preference for males is a feature of all societies has been disputed. Some societies pass along forms of their wealth, property, and prestige from mother to daughter, rather than from father to son. This is rare, however, and it is clear that the roots of the cultural preference for males are historically far-reaching and widespread. In most societies, positions of economic, political, social, and cultural prestige and power are held largely by men. Men typically are considered to be the heads of households. Family names tend to pass from father to son, and with them, family honor and wealth. In traditional societies, when sons marry, they usually bring their wives to live in their parents’ house and are expected to assume economic responsibility for aging parents.

For all of these reasons, in many places a cultural premium is placed on producing male children. Because couples often can choose to have more children, having a girl first is usually not a problem. However, in countries that have enacted strict population control programs, couples may not be given the chance to try again for a male child. This has resulted in severe pressures on couples to have boys in some countries, particularly in China and India. In both these nations, female-specific infanticide or abortion has resulted in a growing gender imbalance. Ultrasound devices that allow gender identification of fetuses are now available even to rural peasants in China. About 100,000 such devices were in use as early as 1990 in China, and by the middle of that decade there were 121 males for every 100 females among children two years of age or younger. The sex ratio in China is radically changing, and a profound gender imbalance exists there: in 2011 there were 833 girls for every 1000 boys. The naturally occurring sex ratio is 952 girls for every 1000 boys. In India, too, there were only 914 girls per 1000 boys in 2011. In some states the imbalance is even worse: in Punjab, for instance, it is 830 to 1000.

The cultural ramifications of such male-heavy populations are potentially profound. Men of marriageable age are increasingly unable to find female partners. Social analysts speculate that this will lead to human trafficking and violence against women, and this is already the case in India where girls are kidnapped or trafficked in from neighboring Nepal and Myanmar. In China, the policy of one child per couple has resulted in the so-called four-two-one problem. This refers to the fact that the generational structure of many families now reflects four grandparents, two parents, and a single male child. This places enormous pressures on the shoulders of the male child to care for aging parents and grandparents. It also encourages parents and grandparents to lavish all their attention, wealth, and hopes on the only child. For some families, this has led to the “little emperor syndrome,” whereby the male heir becomes spoiled, unable to cope independently, and even obese.

Continuing the Debate

As noted, most societies value females and males equally. For a number of reasons, however, some societies show a clear preference for males. Keeping all this in mind, consider the following questions:

Are Chinese families somewhat justified in emphasizing the birth of a son at all costs?

According to a recent report, Americans using technology to select their baby’s gender, unlike the Chinese, more often choose to have a girl. Why do you think there is a difference between male and female preference in these two societies?

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A very useful graphic device for comparing age characteristics is the population pyramid (Figure 3.12). Careful study of such pyramids not only reveals the past progress of birth control but also allows geographers to predict future population trends. Youth-weighted pyramids, those that are broad at the base, suggest the rapid growth typical of the population explosion. What’s more, broad-based population pyramids not only reflect past births but also show that future growth will rely on the momentum of all those young people growing into their reproductive years and having their own families, regardless of how small those families may be in contrast to earlier generations. Those population pyramids with more of a cylindrical shape represent countries approaching population stability or those in demographic decline. A quick look at a country’s population pyramid can tell volumes about its past as well as its future. How many dependent people—the very old and the very young—live there? Has the country suffered the demographic effects of genocide or a massive disease epidemic (Figure 3.13)? Are significantly more boys than girls being born? These questions and more can be explored at a glance using a population pyramid.