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Discriminatory Practices and Factors in Masculinization

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The Demographic Masculinization of China

Part of the book series: INED Population Studies ((INPS,volume 1))

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Abstract

Most research published in the 1990s concurred that under-reporting of births was the main reason for the shortage of girls (Coale and Banister 1994; Hull 1990; Johansson and Nygren 1991; Zeng et al. 1993). We were able to demonstrate that under-reporting was widespread in the statistics of the National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) and in vital statistics (32.1 and 26.6 %, respectively, in 1989), when compared with the total number of births recorded in 1990. But uncertainties remained as to the extent of under-reporting in the 1990 census itself (Attané and Sun 1999) (Inset 10.1).

If tomorrow men and women were able, by some simple means, to decide their children’s sex, some populations would only choose boys. They would therefore cease to reproduce and ultimately disappear. The cult of the male, a social defect today, would then become collective suicide. [We would then witness] the self-genocide of a misogynistic people.

Amin Maalouf, “The First Century After Beatrice”, Abacus Books, London, translated from the French edition 1992.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The 1990 census recorded births between 1 January 1989 and 30 June 1990.

  2. 2.

    The reference date for the 1990 census was 1 July 1990 while that for the 2000 census was 1 November 2000. We therefore had to reconstruct the cohorts under 10 years of age on 1 July 2000 by backward projections of the data on 1 November, based on data on mortality and the age-sex structure in the 2000 census.

  3. 3.

    The age-specific mortality rates for the period 1990–1999 used to reconstruct the cohorts aged 0–10 on 1 July 1990 from the cohorts aged 10–20 in the 2000 census, are interpolations of age-specific mortality rates in the 1990 and 2000 censuses. The data for 2000, adjusted for the under-reporting of deaths, were taken from Banister (2007), and those for 1990 were taken from CPIRC (1995).

  4. 4.

    a In the early 1980s, unscrupulous cadres in Shaanxi saw their salaries fall by 20 % (Greenhalgh 1990). In Yulin, Shaanxi, in 1993, more than 1,200 local cadres and family planning commission employees received heavy sanctions for having had unauthorized children themselves. (Shaanxi cadres punished for having too many babies. SWB-BBC, 24 Nov 1993).

  5. 5.

    b The birth statistics published by these two sources are not verified by sex.

  6. 6.

    c One-child policy reinforced. China Daily. 29 Jul 2004.

  7. 7.

    Or [2,532,303 male births actually recorded in1990 × 10/105.5 = 11,878,960 female births with a sex ratio at birth of 105.5] and [11,878,60 − 11,254,194 female births actually recorded in 1990 = 627,766].

  8. 8.

    Or [14,065,926 male births × 100/105.5 = 13,332,631 female births with a sex ratio at birth of 105.5] and [13,332,631−12,733,122 female births = 559,509].

  9. 9.

    Or [624,766−559,509 = 65,257] and [66,257/624,766 × 100 = 10.5].

  10. 10.

    Or [559,509−65,257 = 492,252].

  11. 11.

    By taking a sample of the placenta during pregnancy it is possible to obtain a karyotype that will detect any potential anomalies in the foetus, as well as its sex.

  12. 12.

    See for instance Pink or blue, the early gender test. Available at http://www.tellmepinkorblue.com/

  13. 13.

    Pregnant women opt to abort baby girls. China Daily, 7 Dec 1988.

  14. 14.

    Gender imbalance becomes serious problem in China. Renmin Ribao (People’s Daily), 25 Aug 2003.

  15. 15.

    Huret M., Le pays qui ne veut pas de filles. L’Express, France, 21 Aug 2003.

  16. 16.

    Yet such cases have been reported. In one village in Henan province for instance, couples placed their daughters with child-minders so that they could declare them as dead and undergo the compulsory sterilization as required by the family planning authorities. Once they had complied, they were able to get their daughter back (Xu and Guo 1991).

  17. 17.

    In nineteenth century France, many unwanted children were placed with wet nurses who were known to take poor care of them, and were thus the victims of “involuntary infanticide” (Rollet 1990).

  18. 18.

    Legalism was a philosophy that prevailed in China during the Warring States period (fourth to third century BCE), based on the application of laws.

  19. 19.

    First-hand reports from Chinese demographers Li Shuzhuo and Tan Lin.

  20. 20.

    However, during a trip to India in 2005, I observed that this was not the case in some southern villages, where infanticide was discussed openly, including by women who had eliminated their own daughters.

  21. 21.

    Zhejiang: infanticide of girl babies in coastal areas. SWB-BBC Daily Report. 28 May 1986; Guangxi: baby drowning and ‘pernicious feudal influences’. SWB-BBC Daily Report. 24 Nov 1993.

  22. 22.

    Sunday Morning Post, 25 Jun 1995.

  23. 23.

    It should be stressed that excess mortality detectable in census data cannot be a reflection of infanticide, which is a covert practice. Deaths from infanticide are unreported and the birth will not have been registered. In statistical terms they are therefore be expressed as a deficit of female births and therefore count as selective abortions.

  24. 24.

    By convention, neonatal mortality applies to deaths occurring between the time of birth and the end of the 27th day of life. Here the survey data applied to the deaths occurring between birth and the end of the 30th day of life, which may lead to some bias in comparisons.

  25. 25.

    Early neonatal mortality applies to death occurring between birth and the end of the sixth day of life. The survey data available to us applied to deaths occurring between birth and the end of the seventh day of life, but this does not affect our analysis.

  26. 26.

    The data in the 1997 survey concerned a sample of 23,330 live births, of which 12,264 boys and 11,066 girls.

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  1. Institut national d’études démographiques, 133 boulevard Davout, 75980, Paris Cedex 20, France

    Isabelle Attané

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Attané, I. (2013). Discriminatory Practices and Factors in Masculinization. In: The Demographic Masculinization of China. INED Population Studies, vol 1. Springer, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00236-1_10

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