I wasn’t aware of those problems with the next generation of Chinese, and I wonder if that attitude is as widespread as you perceive it to be.
On the one hand, makes perfect sense. Mom and Dad can only have one child. They shower that one with all the love and affection and protection and money they can muster. They do what they can to make sure he doesn’t have to go through the pain that they went through.
On the other hand, they can only have one child…
For centuries, Chinese families without sons have feared poverty and neglect. They want a male child, because in Chinese culture (especially in China), it is up to the first born male to carry on the family name and to take care of the parents when they get old. So now that they can only have one child, if the first is a girl, they frequently abort it, give it away, or worse. And it would seem to me that if their culture values the idea of a male child taking care of the parents in old age so much that it is willing to discard or abort millions of baby girls, then it would value preparing those boys to take care of them in their old age.
This post was more conjecture than knowledge, Cycle, and I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on it.
