Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men
Lianyungang, a booming port city, has China’s most extreme gender ratio for children under four: 163 boys for every 100 girls. These numbers don’t seem terribly grim, but in ten years, the skewed sex ratio will pose a colossal challenge. By the time those children reach adulthood, their generation will have twenty-four million more men than women. The prognosis for China’s neighbors is no less bleak: Asia now has 163 million females “missing” from its population. Gender imbalance reaches far b
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Tags: Boys, Choosing, Consequences, Full, GIRLS, over, Selection, Unnatural, World
3 responses to Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men
compelling, vivid story and analysis of important world issue,
Mara Hvistendahl’s story of the worldwide horror of gender selection favoring baby boys is riveting. She has clearly traveled the globe to reach tiny rural pockets where this abuse thrives as well as its corollary issues of sex trafficking and bride buying for the generation of men coming of age with far fewer women to pair off with. The stories of the people affected are moving in a very human way, but her scope extends far beyond that to the complicated political history that engendered this problem, which involves the US in ways that are quite shocking. And she delves into the complex issues arising from a young, single male-dominated society, such as the one that flourished in the American frontier. This is a very thoughtful, multifaceted, and compelling book.
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|Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men
Natural Albeit Unusual,
What is the result when combining the genes of journalism and literature? Answer: Mara Hvistendahl. Her first book, Unnatural Selection, is investigative journalism at its best introducing the reader to a world-wide problem with dire yet unimaginable consequences. The mined data than soars to the heights of literature as the reader accompanies the author on the back of a motor scooter into the Mekong Delta to visit with parents who have sold a daughter to be the wife of a stranger and maybe his brothers as well. The book is creating more than a stir as people come to grips with well intentioned but unforeseen consequences of the past. It is a book that won’t be forgotten. Mara has emerged on the literary stage as an author whose further offerings are already eagerly awaited.
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|Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men
Thought-provoking, Visceral Non-Fiction,
The breadth and depth of research, the complex nuance of the argument and the stunning writing make this book one of the best non-fiction works I’ve read in years. It also demonstrates what long-form narrative journalism may achieve when given the space and resources to do so.
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|Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men