Gonzalez 1

Zayra Gonzalez
English 113 B
Professor Bieber
10 February 2015
China and Birth
China has control their population for many years, by restriction the amount of children
couples can have. According to Penny Kane and Ching Y Choi in the article, Chinas One Child
Policy the policy was establish in 1979, because the Chinese Government was concern for the
over population. The massive population was affecting the economy as well as their natural
resources. Recently the policy was altered according to Chris Buckley in the New Yorks Times
article, China to Ease Longtime Policy of 1-Child Limit, President Xi Jinping is planning to
change the one child policy to allow parents to have two children if both the parents are an only
child. However, these policies are affecting women in different ways, for example,
discrimination, and unequal treatment. China should have more opportunities for women to have
the same value as men, they should have equal education and paying jobs, because women with a
higher position have better economic benefits, and with the equal treatment there will be less
abortions, better psychological health for women, and less crime.
In the article, Sex Ratios and Crime: Evidence from China, Lena Edlund, et.al
explained that between 1988 and 2004 crime increased in China and most of the criminals were
men that were not marry. They carries on by mentioning that the reason for this can be that men
are more crime prone, he also comments that marriage can be a way to discipline men. The fact
that China makes man more valuable and there are more man then women in China affects the
options men have to marry a women. This is why women should be consider equal as men, to
decrease the amount of baby girls that are bein aborted every year so that men have more options
for marriage witch can decrease crime. One of the reason why pregnant women abort baby girs is
because women dont have the same financial benefits as a boy, but by making both genders

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equally valuable, women wont have to abort there baby girls. Some people might argue that the
policy for the one child policy has change and know families will be able to have a boy and a
girl. However, males still bring more benefits to their families that girls, so families might prefer
to have two boys then a girl and a boy.
Women are also suffering from psychological and health problems after they had an
abortion. In the article, Forces Abortion SHRIC, an organization that support humans right in
China mentioned the abortions are causing women to commit suicide because of the trauma that
is caused by having an abortion. I understand why the one child policy was put in place, and I
dont think this is the reason why there is more men then women in China. If China has an equal
opportunity for women, mothers wouldnt have to abort their baby girls because they would be
able to help the family like the men can. In addition, the organization mentions that a study
published in the British Medical Journal in 2005 showed that men over the age of 20 surpass the
number of women in the same group by 32 million (Shric). The gender differences needs to be
balance to get rid of some gender inequality society has.
For these reasons, women should not be taken for granted, and should be seen as equal as
men. I understand that there cannot be absolute equality for all because there is still people that
have a different set of ideas. However, there are ways that we cant get to a better place where for
women, because they deserve it. Women have been fighting for equality for year, sometimes
religion doesnt accept them or sometime not even their families see them as something valuable.
By just informing our self with facts we will be able to know why women are so valuable, we
can also show how valuable by giving them an opportunity to show their potential at a work
place. People need to stop looking at women as if they are set back to society, and they should
start to look at them as contributors to society.

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Works Cited
Buckley, Chris. "China to Ease Longtime Policy of 1-Child Limit." The New York Times. The
New York Times, 15 Nov. 2013. Web. 03 Feb. 2015.
Edlund, Lena Hongbin Li, Junjian Yi, and Junsen Zhan. Sex Ratios and Crime: Evidence from
China. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 95.5 (2013): 1520-1534.
Forced Abortion. SHIRC. N.p., 9 Mar. 2011. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.
Kane, Penny, and Ching Y Choi. Chinas One Child Family Policy. BMJ: British Medical
Journal 319.7215 (1999): 99299