While doing some research on news coming out of Viet Nam this morning I stumbled across an article about the increasing preference of boys in Viet Nam. Margie Mason’s article “Vietnam’s Preference for Boys Tips Gender Scales in Asia” made me stop watching Jack’s Big Music Show with Ella and read the full article. The title drew me in and I thought my readers would like to hear about Mason’s article.

The article is a result of a report published by the United Nations stating that Viet Nam is becoming more like China and India; where boys are more favored than girls. The UN Population Report is reporting numbers (and reasons for those numbers) that make me nauseous. They have found that the ratio of boys being born to girls is higher than it should naturally be, and they’re directly attributing that to the technology that we have today. Parents can learn their baby’s sex early on in a pregnancy (through ultrasound and amniocentesis) and choose an abortion if said baby is female. Of course this is not legal, but it still happens anyway.

If this ‘trend’ continues, Viet Nam will face problems in the near future. The study warned that there would not be Vietnamese women available to marry Vietnamese men and

that tinkering with nature's probabilities could cause increased violence against women, trafficking and social tensions.(Mason)

It’s a cultural issue at the root of the problem; boys are viewed as the ones to care for the family (physically and financially,) while girls often leave to start families of their own. As a result of this, female infanticides are still being found; often in more rural, disadvantages areas of the country.

I read and hear so much of gender preference coming out of China, but this was the first time I’ve come across a report of this nature that includes Viet Nam. Isn’t it mind boggling that most Western families choose to adopt girls from Asia, but in Asia, it’s the boys that are most desired? The UN’s report urges change through educating the public and getting the government involved, but from what I understand there’s nothing concrete in place to enact those changes. How do you change deeply rooted cultural beliefs about gender (in)equality before it’s too late and the entire balance of a country is out of whack?

More Reading:
Adoption Choices, Pride and Guilt
Human Trafficking: China
where Do Babies Come From?