Turning It Upside Down

I have been reading and listening about sex-selection among the Asian immigrant populations in the United States: More boys are being born to that group than statistics would predict. It looks like the desire for sons isn't eradicated by just the simple act of moving away from a society where sons are necessary for old-age security. Something similar is happening in Britain among the immigrant population.

The reactions to these news among the anti-abortion groups are of the expected kind: Ban abortions! They hurt girls!

Of course what really hurts girls is that women are regarded as icky, full of cooties, too emotional, too weak, burdens on their families, something that will be traded to some other family for breeding purposes, something that will cost dowries, something with a trade value based on virginity which must be guarded. Or in other societies, what really hurts girls is that women are regarded as icky, full of cooties, too emotional, too weak, too stupid to do mathematics, too talkative, not pretty enough, not masculine enough.

What really hurts girls is that much of this world doesn't like girls very much because they will one day grow to be women. We spend a lot of time and effort trying to figure out why women stink so badly (is it god who made them that way or evolutionary psychology?) and how we could make them do what we want them to do, and then we wonder why people think that women stink so badly and why girls are not welcomed by open arms. And the solution is to control women even more! Don't let them abort a fetus for any reason whatsoever. Control them!

Ok, that was a rant. But some topics deserve rants, and this is one of those. Because ultimately what all the anti-feminism on this earth is about is this: The desperate desire to control women's behavior. Here is an extreme example of such control, at least partly approved by the society in which it is practiced.