In the short story "A Pair of Tickets," Amy Tan underscores China's looming crisis: the role of women in a society that undervalues women. While China may be glad that its economy is booming, its population of roughly 1.3 billion people has become a pivotal concern. In order to mitigate the effects, the Chinese government has resorted to population control. Perhaps the most contentious manifestation is the one-child policy. Now that the government has control of fertility rates, parents' legacies are at the mercy of one child. Thus, the question concerning who society values remains: is once gender more auspicious for harboring success?
Unfortunately, China's patriarchal society has fostered an alarming disparity between the male and female population. Women are …show more content…
China’s dire situation makes observers wonder, “Is it because there are emotive associations with eugenics and the Holocaust?” (Feltham 1). My answer is of course, yes. Government encroachment on reproductive rights is daunting, but simultaneously protecting them proves to be a nearly impossible task. Yet, there is hope for some that time and education will fix the problem.
GENDER IMBALANCE— HISTORICAL FACTORS
China's population was steadily increasing from the year 1960 up until 1965. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) was beginning to exceed six. This means that a woman would be expected to have an average of six children in her lifetime. By the late 1970s there were increased strict measures to slow the population growth rate. Through the one-child policy, the TFR dropped down to approximately 2.75 by 1980. There was an insignificant increase in the TFR during 1988 when it reached about 2.9. By 1966, the TFR dropped to approximately 1.5 and it has remained steady up until present day (see figure