ARTICLE: “South Korea, Where Boys Were Kings, Revalues Its Girls,” by Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times, 23 December 2007, p. A1.
As natural as can be. When your ag past still holds sway over your familial imagination, you value the boys. Then industrialization compels fewer kids, so the imbalance comes. But once deeper into the modern life, the realization sets in: girls take care of parents better and there’s no loss of income or opportunity due to sex.
So naturally, the revaluation of girls ensues.
This is why the overseas adoption of Chinese girls will dramatically drop off in coming years. It’s also a sign of how the village life model still holds such strong sway over India that we’re seeing that country just beginning to enter the talk-our-missing-daughters-please! phase.
In this light, then, South Korea shows the way, just like it does on so many social issues of rising Asia. Japan is too much of an outlier (island mentality) and Singapore/Hong Kong are just too small. Korea is the best society to watch, hence the current Chinese fascination with all matters Korean.
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Comments (3)
Also interesting is the extensive Chinese ethnic population in S. Korea. This is a group to watch closely for their involvement, adoption, and integration of S. KOREAN societal and economic norms.
Perhaps part of the congenialtiy is driven by religion and its common historical currents in both China and Korea. Also the "burgeosie (sic)" has a long history in both China and Korea. Hopefully, both China and S.Korea will see it in their interest to "adopt" N. Korean population into their societies when the current regime end.
Posted by William R. Cumming | February 11, 2008 10:42 AM
If they don't, it's up to the rest of us. Russia, as I recall, used to have a guest worker program specifically for North Koreans. The US and Japan could probably at least give preference to NKs over SKs in all immigration other than family reunification and skills-based.
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February 12, 2008 4:25 PM
Hammer on head, Tom. Living in Korea, the change is dramatic. Society still caught between worlds, so working mothers still expected to bare burden of domestic responsibilities. Also women with modern goals getting married under traditional pressures (and instincts) raising the divorce rate. 2006 was a 'lucky' year to get married, leading to a dramatic rise in marriages, which will result in inordinate numbers of divorce from that year. This is the age of the Superwoman, and increasingly pampered young girls.
Posted by Juma Wood | February 12, 2008 7:42 PM