Bare Branches: The Security Implications of Asia's Surplus Male Population (review)

The story of Asia's surplus-male/missing-female population told by Valerie Hudson and Andrea den Boer is both tragic and alarming. It is tragic because of the more than ninety million missing females in South-Central and East Asia, girls either aborted or victims of infanticide or neglect due only to their gender.¹ An equivalent number of males, the so-called "bare branches," will live in frustration because they cannot find spouses. The story is alarming due to the violence and social disruptions predicted to result from this army of surplus males. While governments can take some steps to alleviate the problem, there are no easy solutions.

Hudson and den Boer begin Bare Branches with an assertion that their research "is located at the nexus between environmental security and human security," with an emphasis on exaggerated gender inequality (p. 3). Exaggerated gender inequality is defined as occurring when, "because of gender, one infant is allowed to live while another is actively or passively killed" (p. 4). While the connection between environmental security and exaggerated gender inequality may not be immediately evident, Hudson and den Boer argue that the emergence of offspring sex selection (a manifestation of exaggerated gender inequality) is rooted in military invasion and fragile environmental systems, where food is often scarce and only males produce food through agriculture or hunting. Offspring sex selection continues, often after the initial conditions have faded away, due to its incorporation into belief systems such as Hinduism and Chinese Buddhism. It also continues because of the custom of hypergyny (females marrying higher-status males), which can greatly limit the available pool of eligible marriage partners for women and thus creates disincentives for having baby girls.

The authors then present a historical perspective on offspring sex selection. Infanticide has occurred in many times and places. Records indicate that specifically female infanticide has occurred in locations as varied as Aboriginal Australia, the Middle East, ancient Greece and Rome, Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Reasons have varied from the need for men for warfare, the role of men in providing for aging parents, religious rites that demand males, and the economic costs of daughters, particularly in societies that demand expensive dowries. Today, son preference is still particularly strong in Asia. This is reflected in higher infant and child mortality rates for females in some countries and significant numbers of sex-selective abortions in others. In particular, sex ratios (measured as males to females) are high in China, India, South Korea, and Taiwan.

India accounts for approximately 43 percent of missing females in Asia. The practice of female infanticide in India goes back to perhaps the Muslim invasions. The British attempted to end the practice, with mixed results. The current sex ratio in India, according to the 2001 census, stands at 107.2, having risen steadily over the past 100 years. This is likely due to a combination of female infanticide, female abortions, and relatively high death rates for females in India. Nevertheless, sex ratios vary widely across regions. In fact, four Indian states contribute to half of the country's missing female population. Hudson and den Boer calculate that by 2020 there will be twenty-eight to thirty-two million surplus males in India in the fifteen to thirty-five age group.

China accounts for approximately 45 percent of missing females in Asia. Chinese statistics based on the 2000 census show a sex ratio in China of 106.7. However, the sex ratio for children under the age of five is reported to be 118.4, indicating a skyrocketing sex ratio at birth (although the exact figures for sex ratios at birth are difficult to ascertain due to the fact that Chinese censuses are only samplings of the population). The increasing sex ratio in China is in large part a result of...