Then & now: unnatural selection
Gender inequality is a highly effective brake on a society’s progress, and China is no exception
Probably the single greatest indicator of social progress worldwide is gender equality. Achieving this helps enhance opportunities for all citizens, without which economic prosperity and social stability are not sustainable.
Equal pay for equal work, nevertheless, remains a relatively recent phenomenon in Hong Kong, as in much of the developed world.
Historical evidence of this is uncompromising; societies that (for mostly religious reasons) discriminated against half their population remained – and often still remain – demonstrably backward in comparison with those that did not. It may seem obvious but this blunt fact requires continuous repetition.
Dowry cultures diminished the opportunities available to women. For women whose families could not afford to offer a financial settlement, often the only options were to be a spinster, a stay-at-home aunt who looked after her ageing parents or join a Catholic convent as an unendowed (and, therefore, significantly less privileged) nun.
Many local Portuguese women experienced this sad circumstance, and their stories were whispered about around the town. But unlike some of their Chinese counterparts, at least Portuguese girls weren’t killed at birth, or sold as infants.
Female infanticide, while not unusual in Chinese society, was not as commonplace as is generally believed today.