Chapter 9

One of the most intriguing points about China’s population problem is the pressure that families place on young adults to get married. I had no idea there was such a high pressure for individuals to find their mate at a young age simply for the purpose of the young adults to take care of their aging parents and grandparents. It made lots of sense that many young people are now choosing to not get married or get away from the family for that reason. Something that I felt was unusual was the ability parents have to sue their children if they do not support them in their old age. Another thing that caught my eye was the decision young men are making in simply, to find a wife from a neighboring country, not have a girlfriend because they are too expensive or to have a “naked marriages”.

I found the idea of “naked marriages” to be a little amusing because that can also lead to “half-naked marriages”. The term tends to be random, but it pretty much sums up what it means: no apartment, no expensive ring, and no wedding banquet. Dodson mentioned the idea of not having a wedding banquet to be “downright un-Chinese” which is exactly what crossed my mind. With Chinese literature and folktales usually emphasizing the idea of love as part of their culture, it is a little ironic that this is completely the opposite in reality. Arranged marriages aren’t always a bad idea, yet the way in which individuals are set up in China clearly show the lack of commonality couples have when others decide to bring them together. The various stories Dodson mentions at the beginning of Chapter 8 show this. I was ridiculous for me to read that some couples were merely getting divorced because they could not agree on who was going to do the chores. Unfortunately, all the trouble with the pressure of getting married and having to go through other means in order to find a mate all have to do with the population problem and its one-child policy.

I don’t feel like I can quite relate the population policy of China with the U.S. because we don’t really have the same problem. I’m not sure if the United States will ever need a policy like this, let alone, I don’t believe Americans would even be able to approve such a policy if the government attempted to enforce it.