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Why are female foetuses aborted in China? Does an increase in the number of abortions of female foetuses reflect an increase in son preference? Sociologist Lisa Eklund from Lund University in Sweden has studied why families in China have a preference for sons.
At the time of the census in 2005, almost 121 boys were born for every 100 girls. Last year's census showed that sex ratio at birth (SRB) had improved somewhat. But it is still too early to celebrate, in Eklund's view: the narrowing of the gap does not necessarily mean that girls are valued more highly.
Because of the high SRB, there has been a tendency to picture China as a country where son preference is strong and possibly increasing since the 1980s. However, Eklund argues in her PhD thesis that using SRB as a proxy indicator for son preference is problematic. She has therefore developed a model to estimate what she calls "son compulsion," where data on SRB and total fertility rate are used to estimate the proportion of couples who wants to give birth to at least one son and who take action to achieve that goal. When looking at variation in son compulsion over time and between regions, Eklund finds that new patterns emerge that do not surface when using SRB as a proxy indicator. Contrary to popular belief, son compulsion remained steady in rural China (at around 10 percent) while it increased in urban China in the 1990s (from 2.8 percent to 4.5 percent).
"This doubling concurred in time with cuts in the state welfare system in the cities, which meant that adult sons were given a more important role in providing for the social and financial security of the elderly," she says. Her findings call into question the assumption that son preference is essentially a rural issue. They also have implications for comparative perspectives and her findings suggest that son compulsion may be higher in other countries even though they expose lower SRB.
When it emerged that far more boys than girls were being born in China, the Chinese government launched the Care for Girls Campaign to improve the value of the girl child and to prevent sex-selective abortion. Nonetheless, the imbalance between the sexes continued to increase. Eklund's findings suggest that the campaign may actually have done more harm than good. Families receive extra support if they have girls and in rural areas exceptions are made from the one-child policy if the first child is a girl.
"By compensating parents of girls in various ways, the government reinforces the idea that girls are not as valuable as boys," says Eklund.
Eklund further challenges the notion that families in rural areas want sons because sons are expected to take over the farming.
"That is a weak argument," says Eklund. "Young people, both men and women, are moving away from rural areas. Of those who stay, women provide just as much help as men. In fact, it is the elderly who end up taking greater responsibility for the agriculture."
However, there are also other reasons why sons are seen as more important for families. Traditionally, a girl moves in with her husband's family when she gets married and she thus cannot look after her own parents when they grow old. Boys also play an important role in ancestor worship, and they ensure that the family name lives on.
Eklund further finds that there is a stubbornness in both popular and official discourses to view son preference as a matter of parents and grandparents without looking at structural factors that help underpin the institution of son preference.
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中國(guó)家庭為什么不想要女?huà)??越?lái)越高的女?huà)雺櫶ヂ适欠穹从吵鲋啬休p女的趨勢(shì)呢?為了弄清楚中國(guó)的家庭為什么重男輕女,來(lái)自瑞典隆德大學(xué)(Lund University )的社會(huì)學(xué)教授麗莎?埃克隆德(Lisa Eklund) 進(jìn)行了一項(xiàng)研究。
在2005年的人口普查中,男女出生性別比例大約是1.21比1。去年的人口普查顯示,不平衡的男女比例有所改善。但在??寺〉驴磥?lái),現(xiàn)在高興為時(shí)過(guò)早,男女出生率差距的減小并不意味著不再重男輕女。
男女出生比率懸殊,這一現(xiàn)象顯示出中國(guó)是個(gè)重男輕女的國(guó)家,而且這一趨勢(shì)大約從20世紀(jì)80年代開(kāi)始愈演愈烈。然而,??寺〉略谒牟┦空撐闹兄赋觯眯律鷥盒詣e比例來(lái)判斷是否重男輕女是不合理的。因此她開(kāi)發(fā)了一個(gè)模型分析中國(guó)人對(duì)兒子的執(zhí)念。有的夫妻希望起碼生一個(gè)兒子,并且愿意為此采取行動(dòng)。??寺〉峦ㄟ^(guò)初生嬰兒性別比例數(shù)據(jù)和整體出生率估計(jì)類似夫妻在中國(guó)所占的比例。在跨時(shí)段、跨地區(qū)的分析之后,??嗣傻掳l(fā)現(xiàn)了新的規(guī)律。而這一規(guī)律在新生兒性別比例的干擾下不會(huì)顯現(xiàn)出來(lái)。90年代,農(nóng)村地區(qū)一直穩(wěn)定地偏愛(ài)男孩(約為10%),而城市里比率卻在增加(從2.8%上升到4.5%),這一現(xiàn)象與普遍觀念是相悖的。
她說(shuō):“這一現(xiàn)象是伴隨著城市養(yǎng)老保障福利萎縮而產(chǎn)生的,因?yàn)檫@樣意味著長(zhǎng)大成人的兒子是老年人養(yǎng)老保障的重要來(lái)源。”她的這一發(fā)現(xiàn)動(dòng)搖了人們對(duì)重男輕女主要在農(nóng)村存在的觀念。他們也透漏出相對(duì)的觀點(diǎn),而且她的發(fā)現(xiàn)表明,一些國(guó)家即使新生兒性別比例較合理,但在這些國(guó)家“養(yǎng)兒防老”觀念可能更重。
覺(jué)察到男孩出生率高于女孩,中國(guó)政府發(fā)起“關(guān)愛(ài)女孩”的活動(dòng)以增加對(duì)女孩的重視,防止選擇性別的墮胎行為。然而,性別比例的不平衡現(xiàn)象仍在加劇。埃克隆德的研究表明這樣的活動(dòng)實(shí)際上可能起到的更多是負(fù)作用。
“生了女孩的家庭能得到額外補(bǔ)助,還有農(nóng)村的計(jì)劃生育政策有所放寬,如果頭胎是女孩的話,還可以再生一胎。通過(guò)這些形形色色補(bǔ)償女孩的父母的方式,政府實(shí)際上加強(qiáng)了女孩不如男孩重要的觀念,”??寺〉抡f(shuō)。
農(nóng)村家庭想要男孩,因?yàn)槟泻⒛芴羝疝r(nóng)活重?fù)?dān)。??寺〉逻M(jìn)一步挑戰(zhàn)了這一觀念。
“這是站不住腳的,”??寺〉抡f(shuō),不論男女,年輕人正逐漸從農(nóng)村遷出,那些留下來(lái)的,女人能干男人干的活兒。實(shí)際上,最終是年紀(jì)大的人承擔(dān)了更多農(nóng)活的重?fù)?dān)。
然而,男孩在家里更受重視還有其他原因。通常來(lái)說(shuō),女孩要嫁到丈夫家那邊去,就不能再照顧自己日漸年邁的父母了。男孩還在祭祖?zhèn)鹘y(tǒng)中占有重要地位,要由他們傳宗接代,確保本姓氏源遠(yuǎn)流長(zhǎng)。
??寺〉逻M(jìn)一步發(fā)現(xiàn),民間和官方都有一個(gè)固有觀念,認(rèn)為重男輕女是父輩和祖輩的問(wèn)題,而沒(méi)從結(jié)構(gòu)因素來(lái)看其深層原因。
(譯者 貓叔~ 編輯 丹妮)
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