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Confucianism: Two Children In China

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The ambition to obtain a son has always been deeply entrenched in a Chinese family. The one child policy has led to millions of female infants being aborted, neglected, or exterminated due to the cultural disgrace of having female children. The Chinese government had revised in 2014 that if couples, one of whom is an only child, will be allowed to have two children. Even though I do agree that this is a better change, an article in The New York Times recently reported that as many as half of the families affected by the new rules are balking at the idea of a second child saying that children just simply cost too much (Miks). I argue that females in China today should be able to have an equal status as males under their limited child policy …show more content…

Rather than a religion, Confucianism deals primarily with moral conduct and ethical living and is often categorized as an ethical system. Confucianism has deprived women from thriving because of the elemental belief that women are lower than men. They believed that education was not necessary for women because their primary duty was only to produce a son to their husband so that they can carry on their name. These not only convince women into thinking that they are lower than men, but also make them believe that they don’t have a right to an education. According to the Confucian structure of the social order, women at every level were to be vested in a position secondary to men.
Since history, females were seen as lower than males in China and this belief grew stronger after the one child policy was exaggerated. The one-child policy has obviated over 400 million lives in China. This policy had caused more cruelty towards females than any other official policy in the history of the world …show more content…

Knowing that gender inequality is still around, many women are doubtful about becoming leaders. “Women’s organization is central to legal aid for women in China” (Lay). Chai Ling, a female leader – one whom I admire, reaches out to all the girls in China. Her organization, All Girls Allowed, is aimed to end China’s one child policy. Ling was the only female leader during the 1989 Tiananmen Square Movement that went against the communist government of China. During that time, she organized several rounds of hunger strikes. Unfortunately, “the military brutally ended the protests on June 4, 1989 with bloodshed, and the Chinese government listed Chai as one of the 21 most wanted students” (Chai). I believe that if gender equality was present at this time, there would have been more men who would support Chai Ling throughout this

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