India: Extreme social instability ahead due to gender imbalance

[mota bhai 2,675]

As India grapples with what seems like a constant barrage of shocking acts of violence against women, one question is asked again and again: Why is this happening?

One answer, some experts say, is India’s gender ratio, distorted by the practice of sex selection in favor of baby boys.

A much-cited 2002 study,“A Surplus of Men, a Deficit of Peace,” by Valerie M. Hudson and Andrea den Boer, contends that a gender imbalance in Asian countries, caused by a shortage of marriageable women, results in higher rates of crime, including rape, committed by young unmarried men.

“Internal instability is heightened in nations displaying exaggerated gender inequality, leading to an altered security calculus for the state,” the authors wrote in 2002, and reiterated in a book on the subject.

...

Right now, the statistics are worrying. India has 37 million more men than women, as of 2011 census data, and about 17 million excess men in the age group that commits most crimes, up from 7 million in 1991.

Violent crime in India rose nearly 19 percent from 2007 to 2011, while the kidnapping of women (much of which is related to forced marriage) increased 74 percent in that time.

...

If the study’s conclusions are correct, India’s problems with rape and other forms of violence against women ... may only get worse, given the trend in India’s demographics.

The authors adopted a Chinese term, guang gun-er (“bare branches”), for unmarried men from age 15 to their mid-30s who have limited prospects for employment. This group, which is larger in countries where sex selection is prevalent, usually “commits the preponderance of violence within a society,” according to the report.

In a marriage market where women are scarce and thus able to “marry up,” certain characteristics of young surplus males are easily and accurately predicted. They are liable to come from the lowest socioeconomic class, be un- or underemployed, live a fairly nomadic or transient lifestyle with few ties to the communities in which they are working, and generally live and socialize with other bachelors. In sum, these young surplus males may be considered, relatively speaking, losers in societal competition.

Marital status affects more than just social standing for these men, the authors argued. Citing research indicating that levels of testosterone (referred to as “T” in the following quote) decline for married men, they said that marriage can thwart potentially antisocial male behavior.

When T falls, so does the propensity to engage in these behaviors. The more men in the society who are unable to marry, even though they would be willing to marry, the higher their circulating T and the greater amount of antisocial, violent and criminal behavior they will exhibit, generally speaking, than if they were able to marry.

...

Intermingling and aggregation are key to understanding “bare branches,” according to Ms. Hudson and Ms. den Boer’s study. These men hang out together, befriend each other, compete with each other and legitimize each others’ “risky choices.” When clumped together and left to their own devices, they become a tool of social disorder.

...

Overall, the Indian average gender ratio is far behind the global average of 984 for every 1,000 men, and is the second lowest in the world, before China. Urban India is on par with China though, with 926 women per 1,000 men.

India’s Planning Commission, in a report on women’s rights and child rights released last year, called the gender imbalance in the sex ratio “a silent demographic disaster in the making.”

...

The Indian government has tried to mend this deteriorating ratio through cash incentive programs that began in 2007. The idea, officials said, was to “force the families to look upon the girl as an asset rather than a liability since her very existence has led to cash inflow to the family.”

http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/indias-man-problem/?_r=0

Edited August 27, 2013 by amriki bhai

[Jacque67 7,328]

China has a similar imbalance .

[mota bhai 2,675]

The authors adopted a Chinese term, guang gun-er (“bare branches”), for unmarried men from age 15 to their mid-30s who have limited prospects for employment. This group, which is larger in countries where sex selection is prevalent, usually “commits the preponderance of violence within a society,” according to the report.

...

Overall, the Indian average gender ratio is far behind the global average of 984 for every 1,000 men, and is the second lowest in the world, before China.

Jacque - yes. That is mentioned in the article as well.

[Jacque67 7,328]

I guess CABA chicks will have to go East in order to solve the problem.

[decocker 7,198]

not a solution.

[Jacque67 7,328]

not a solution.

Speak for yourself! Having the time of my life.

[Asia 2,499]

Yeah, a couple of weeks ago I watched a documentary movie "It's a girl!" about a gendercide in India and China.

I was shocked...

http://www.itsagirlmovie.com/

[mota bhai 2,675]

Yeah, a couple of weeks ago I watched a documentary movie "It's a girl!" about a gendercide in India and China.

I was shocked...

http://www.itsagirlmovie.com/

A friend of mine (ethnically Indian, born here, but with tons of extended fam in India) has two daughters. After his first daughter was born, all his family and friends in the US were like yay w00t but his extended family in india were more guarded - things along the lines of "congrats, but don't worry the next one will be a boy".

Then he had his second daughter and again, lots of yay and w00t stateside and this time his extended family in India didn't call him at all. They let his parents know they're too sad for him and didn't want to embarrass him with a phone call after a second girl.

[Jacque67 7,328]

A friend of mine (ethnically Indian, born here, but with tons of extended fam in India) has two daughters. After his first daughter was born, all his family and friends in the US were like yay w00t but his extended family in india were more guarded - things along the lines of "congrats, but don't worry the next one will be a boy".

Then he had his second daughter and again, lots of yay and w00t stateside and this time his extended family in India didn't call him at all. They let his parents know they're too sad for him and didn't want to embarrass him with a phone call after a second girl.

Terrible. Is this true for the wealthy living in major cities in India or only true for the rural poor?

[mota bhai 2,675]

Terrible. Is this true for the wealthy living in major cities in India or only true for the rural poor?

Depends on how many generations a family has been wealthy and urban. It takes about two generations before Westernification sets in.

[decocker 7,198]

Speak for yourself! Having the time of my life.

what?

[Jacque67 7,328]

Westernization is not a panacea, but I don't understand why Indian people who have moved to the West worry so much about the old country. In the UK, many Indian young people have integrated well, but there are horror stories of young females being forced to marry males from their parents' home villages.

Hopefully as India continues to progress economically women will gain more rights there.

what?

I am living in Japan

[mota bhai 2,675]

I don't understand why Indian people who have moved to the West worry so much about the old country.

Indian culture hasn't truly embraced the nuclear family concept. "Family" is still the whole thing and when you move to the West, most of your "family" is still there.

[decocker 7,198]

I am living in Japan

as a male or female?

[mota bhai 2,675]

as a male or female?

i imagine it depends on his mood at any given moment.