Writing Feedback / Chinas one child policy and the group that is most affected [3]

prompt: in your opinion which groups are most affected by China's one child policy, and specifically how are they affected?

response/ my essay:

"If we accept that a mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill each other?"(Mother Teresa). Around the 1970's China's late ruler, Mao Zedong had a belief that a country with the largest population would be the superior power. As this ideology developed throughout China its population drastically increased into the billions. After the passing of Mao Zedong, the belief of having a large population, diminished since China's population had grown to unimaginable numbers. China adopted a policy in response to the crisis they faced, over population. This policy limits the number of children families can have to only one whether it is a boy or a girl. The One Child Policy has brought about unforeseen consequences for different groups. I believe that females are the victims of the greatest population control movement, been affected physically and mentally. This policy has also influenced society and has shaped people's beliefs. For instance, in "The Little Emperors" by Daniela Dean, wrote about the horrors that came about from this policy and the devastating effects it has had on females.

Since the policy has come in to action, people have decided to have a boy because it would be more beneficial for the family. The reason being for this is that boys can help around the plantations as well as taking care of their parents when they grow old. On the other hand women are seen less of because they can't help at the family's farms and plantations. Women often marry out, losing her parents last name, and legacy.

Families have gone to drastic measure to have a boy even if it means that they have to neglect, or mistreat their little baby girls. This policy has had undesired effects on young girls physical health. For example, these unwanted females are often neglected in ways that are unimaginable. Doctors, for instance, will only give half a dosage of a vaccine, or treatment to a female child leaving them vulnerable to contract diseases. These young girls would often die allowing for couples to attempt to have another child in hopes of having a boy.

When girls are not being neglected they are being mistreated and abused. This is enough reason for couples not to have a baby girl and if they do they take extreme measures in ridding themselves of their burden. During a trip to the Shaanxi province, William Hinton, an author of seven books about china, stopped for lunch. He witnessed an awful scene: "we saw her lying there, at the bottom of the creek bed. She was all bundled up, with one arm sticking out. She had been there a while, you could tell, because she had a little line of mold growing across her mouth and nostrils" (Deane pg 69).

Young girls are not the only victims, but mothers suffer a great ordeal as well. The pressures of society and their husbands have shown to be overwhelming for mothers. In the documentary "China's Lost Girls", they interview a mother that spoke of the terrible affects the policy has had on women (mothers) mentally. She said the pressures of social norms have led people to a feudalistic way of thinking. In the documentary one of the women they interview spoke of the horrors of not having a boy and of the threats by her husband. She had a response to her husband's threats, she threaten her husband saying that if he did not allow her to keep their daughter she would leave him taking her daughter with her and never to return to him.

Aside from their husband's mental abuse on them, people from their surrounding community have shown their position upon having a boy over a girl. For instance, societies around these women belittle them for not being able to have a boy. The "one child policy" and the surrounding pressures have sociologically abused women and have made them feel that they must go into hiding to protect themselves and their child. These women are known as guerilla moms, women who exile themselves to escape the pressure brought about the policy. They often hide in different cities and provinces to escape their husbands.

This policy has brought about an imbalance in gender causing a rise in crimes against women. The crimes have consisted of kidnappings, forced marriages, and prostitution. New social norms have brought about the mistreatment of women. They are being forced and used for sexual purposes. For example one of the main causes for prostitution is the ramifications the policy has had on gender ratios: 110 boys to 100 girls. Furthermore the imbalance has fueled an increase in kidnappings since males are now having trouble finding a spouse.

In order to control the population of China, this policy exists which favors men and permits the abuse of women, if it means they can try to conceive a male child. After experiencing neglect and other such traumas due to birthing females, men mistreat females without considering the sociological implications such abuse has taken on them. In the book, many women expressed their concerns about having a daughter. If this does not change, the imbalance of men and women in China will continue to increase.