Jimenez 1

Basille Jimenez
Professor Jackie
English 115 M/W 11-12:15
8 December 2014
The War Against Girls
Every society has some sort of tradition, keeping the past generation from fading in the
modern world. However, some traditions, such as the ludicrous notion that boys are better than
girls because they apparently can better support the family, males continue the family name, and
in some cases they are the rightful heirs to their familys fortunes, must be challenged. This type
of thinking revolves around the past, when women were only thought of as property and were
easily controlled. In todays modern world, women are allowed to speak out loud, to challenge
the norm when it does not cooperate and so much more. For instance, just recently Chanel, the
immensely popular fashion company, staged a womens right demo in their 2015 Summer/
Spring collection fashion show in Paris and Emma Watson, a celebrity, has given a speech in the
UN fighting for gender equality, which has gained vast support. Todays society embraces the
creativity and freedom of women. It can be seen that there are plenty of women who are just as
successful as men. It is understandable that some societies, like those in more conservative
countries, believe that an outspoken woman who argues that it is acceptable to prefer a girl over
a boy is a deviant. These countries accept sex selective abortions because of they want to prevent
the births of women who will rebel against the norm of society. The conservative countries want
to maintain the traditional values of their ancestors through the process of sex selective abortion.

Jimenez 2

Sex selective abortion is a practice where an unborn baby is terminated because it fails to
be the correct gender the parents want. The continuation of this practice then leads to gendercide,
the mass killing of a certain gender, and in many cases worldwide, female fetuses being aborted,
also called infanticide. Sex selective abortion constitutes the idea that women are inferior to men.
However, the right to choose this type of abortion is solely in the hands of the either the parents
or the mother. As a part of the gender equality movement, women have been given the right to
make a choice and whether it be a deliberate abortion due to gender or for some other reason to
have an abortion, it is womens choosing. Their reasoning is all up to them and no one should be
able to deny them of their right to make this life changing decision. Furthermore, women have
fought long and hard in order to achieve the amount of freedom and independence they now
claim; thus, restricting the womens right to having an abortion clearly backtracks the astounding
accomplishments women have achieved. Nevertheless, this type of on-going practice, primarily
in China and India, has left many mothers to make drastic decisions in the thought that her
choice will benefit her family. The process of choosing a boy over a girl has been put in the
thoughts of society since the early days. Therefore, this type of norm must be addressed because
not only is killing a precious life for the gender morally wrong; it also causes dysfunction within
the countrys gender ratio.
The primary reason for countries like China and India to support the process of abortion
was because of the ongoing growth of their countries population. It is a well-known fact that
those countries in particular have seen an exponential growth among their citizens in the last
couple of years and with this news, many scientists and government officials have concerns
about the status of those countries; thus the creation of family planning laws. These family
planning laws are created to control the overpopulated countries and abortion is one factor that is

Jimenez 3

used to keep the population stable. For example, under Chinese laws certain parents are only
allowed to have one child, hence the one child policy, and for those parents who do not want to
welcome a child at this moment of their lives, abortion is used as an alternative. Those types of
parents who do not want a child at the moment might want one later on in the future, making
abortion the only choice. Furthermore, family planning laws highly advice mothers who
conceived a second child, who are not allowed, to have an abortion for the sake of the country.
The government does not care about the gender of the babies, only the strict upholding of the
laws. However, this type of thinking then leads to an imbalance to the gender ratio and the
abortion of female babies.
Gendercide impacts more than a persons morals and ethics, but also a countrys lifestatus. Each country keeps track of their population as well as the ratio of how many women are
there to each male. For example, The Economist states that there are only 914 girls to every
1,000 boys in India aged six and under (Add Sugar and Spice). This shocking ratio between
the genders causes many problems, especially for those girls. Since there are not enough females
for every boy, many girls have been taken. This then leads to human trafficking and missing
women, which are especially common in rural areas. Ironically, the trafficking of girls is quite
common due to the lack of girls being born and also to the fact that China has a defective legal
system (Liisanantti and Beese). Gendercide causes many young girls to be kidnapped just outside
their home so that they can be sold and become brides. In America or other developed countries,
human trafficking might seem like a bad dream, but in countries like China, trafficking is real
and evident. For example, in Its a Girl, a documentary directed by Evan Grae Davis that shows
how gendercide affects the people of China and India, a Chinese woman faced this issue when
her only daughter was taken away from her just outside her home. Thankfully, she was able to

Jimenez 4

retrieve her daughter after weeks of looking. The daughter was found in another town living with
a family who bought the child to ensure that the familys son will have a wife in the future. This
skewed sex ratio and the traditional expectations of having males, promotes the kidnapping of
girls in order to keep the family line alive. Not only are girls kidnapped, but an estimated 40
million girls are missing in China (Liisanantti and Beese). The continuation of this type of
behavior encourages human trafficking and the acceptance of the 40 million missing girls.
These 40 million missing girls are said to be due to the traditional preference of having
a son. The continuation of this certain traditional value leads to prenatal discrimination because
with modern technology, parents are able to use ultrasounds to figure out their unborn childs
gender then decide if they want to keep the child. Those missing girls are the ones who were
supposed to be born, but in the end werent. Furthermore, prenatal discrimination and
ultrasounds are not the only causes of gendercide, but the family planning law in China. This law
is responsible for regulating the one child policy and the rules that go along with it. In certain
cases, some families are allowed two children and it has been proven that first pregnancies show
no evident signs of sex selective abortion; however, second or even more pregnancies do show
signs of sex preference (Liisanantti and Beese). When these preferences collide with the family
planning law in China, many families, who are only allowed one child, are faced with either
abandoning their first child if it is a girl or willingly paying the fine of having a second child, if
only that child is a boy. Many families are more willing to pay if that child is a boy than if their
second child is a girl. The ongoing traditional sex preference and the family planning lawrestricting births is evidence that gender inequality is alive.
When talking about gender inequality, women are usually targeted by this topic. Women
have seen more restrictions on their rights than men and this is because of ideas based on the

Jimenez 5

past. However, even now, many countries still cling onto those ways and devalue women. In
countries like China and India a womans status is much lower than a mans and with this low
status; women are faced to deal with domestic abuse and more. Gendercide does not discriminate
in the age of those women, even though infants are primarily subjected. For example, in China
many women attempt suicide in rural villages because they want an escape from their lowly
status. Due to the Chinas inefficient health care and the easy access these women have to
acquiring pesticides and other toxins, committing suicide is readily available and achievable.
Furthermore, many women also commit suicide because of the family planning law. Those who
are not rich enough to pay fines are forced to get an abortion, causing depression to some
women. Their depression takes over which leads to them committing suicide. The great amount
of suicidal women causes an imbalance in the sex ratio.
Infanticide, sex selective abortion, and suicide all contribute to gendercide. Each of those
topics leads to the death of women in India and China, especially. Gendercide simply defined is
the mass-killing of a certain sex, in most cases the killing of women. It is awful and immoral
because many precious lives have been cut short. There are plenty of reasons as to why some
parents will willingly abort their female infant for a chance to conceive a boy in the next
pregnancy, such as traditional preference values and or policies restricting births. Nevertheless,
this choice impacts more than the lives of the families, but also the lives of the entire country.
The missing women, the kidnapped girls, and the skewed sex ratio are some of the effects that
gendercide brings. Yes, a womans right to have an abortion is justified especially if she cannot
financially support the baby or if she has been raped, but to simply abort the child because of
preference should not be allowed. Gendercide is a big topic that will take a while to be fully
resolved; nevertheless, educating those in countries where some traditions should be modified

Jimenez 6

and changing policies so that they will actually benefit the people are the first steps to finding a
permanent solution to this global problem.

Jimenez 7

Works Cited
"Add Sugar and Spice." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 09 Apr. 2011. Web. 16
Nov.

2014.

"Gendercide." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2014. Opposing

Viewpoints in Context. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.
"Gendercide." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 06 Mar. 2010. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.
It's a Girl. Dir. Evan Grae Davis. Prod. Andrew Brown. Shadowline Films, 2012. Netflix.
Liisanantti, Anu, and Karin Beese. "China's One-Child Policy Has Contributed to the
Abortion of Girls." Gendercide. Ed. Noah Berlatsky. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven
Press, 2014. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Gendercide: The Missing Women."
2012. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.