“Where We’re From” ART show at SOHO NYC

Born This Way

My name is Linjie. I’m from Beijing, China. In my family, I have two older sisters. That is very rare.

In my country of over 1.35 billion people, there is a population imbalance. It’s a gender imbalance between men and women. There are 20% more men than women.

Why?

Because since 1980, the government of China has enforced a one-child policy. China, for cultural and for practical reasons, has always favored sons. So now with the possibility that a baby’s sex can be determined in the womb, sex-selective abortions are very common.

This policy has had many intended and unintended consequences. One is the horror of having to choose which child lives, and which child dies. And there is another consequence:

Adult men cannot find wives. In fact, by twenty twenty, China will have an estimated thirty million bachelors. which is a number that exceeds the entire population of Canada.

For the rich men, this is less of a problem. Because in China, having a home, car and good job can attract a mate. But poor men are priced out. Which leads to them being unable to find a wife and have children, who would ultimately take care of them in old age.

So what is the possible social impact? It’s more than just a bunch of lonely men who will have no one to care for them when they are old. Human trafficking, forced prostitution, and an increase in the crime rate can all be traced to an excess of unmarried men across the country.

This problem is getting bigger every second. Because in China, there is a baby born every two seconds. And the majority are boys.

But men shouldn’t have to live like this. And women shouldn’t be subjected to this. So I’d like to ask people.

Will 30 million men in China always be single?

Can China, culturally and practically, embrace the idea that “Having boys or girls is equally good.”?

Can, three thousands years of tradition, embedded cultural preferences, and the behavior of one point three five billion people change?

It would take another great cultural revolution. But this time, a more humane one.