Imagine a society where men far outnumbered women … where women snapped up the cream of the crop, the ones with prospects, leaving millions of males roaming the countryside and cities without a mate. Well, we’re about to find out what that society would look like. In China, where a cultural preference for sons, combined with high and low technology sex-selection techniques is creating a unique population time bomb. In some of the poorest provinces there are already two boys born for every female child.
The question is, what will all these men without mates do with all that energy. In the past skewed sex ratios have led to violence, crime and social instability.
Guests:
Valerie Hudson, Professor of Political Science at Brigham Young University and co-author of ‘Bare Branches: The Security Implications of Asia’s Surplus Male Population”
Susan Greenhalgh, Professor of Anthropology at the University of California Irvine
Rob Gifford, National Public Radio’s China Correspondent.