Not Enough Women in China? Let Men Share a Wife, an Economist Suggests

[GennGreymane]

http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/...achelors/?_r=1

“No one is forcing anyone to accept ‘one wife, many husbands!’ ”

With that bracing statement, Xie Zuoshi, an economics professor at Zhejing University of Finance and Economics, defended his recent proposal that one solution to China’s huge surplus of single men could be to allow polyandry, or multiple husbands. The proposal has gone viral.

Legalizing marriage between two men would also be a good idea, Mr. Xie wrote in a post that has since been removed from his blogs. (He has at least three blogs, and his Sina blog alone has more than 2.6 million followers.)

By 2020, China will have an estimated 30 million bachelors — called guanggun, or “bare branches.” Birth control policies that have limited many families to one child since 1979, a cultural preference for boys and the widespread, if illegal, practice of sex-selective abortion have contributed to a gender imbalance that hovers around 117 boys born for every 100 girls.

Mr. Xie wrote that he was approaching the problem from a purely economic point of view.

Many men, especially poor ones, he noted, are unable to find a wife and have children, and are subsequently condemned to living and dying alone without offspring to support them in old age, as children are required to do by law in China. But he says he believes there is a solution.

“I don’t deny the fact of 30 million guanggun, but I deny that this must lead to severe social problems,” he wrote.

A shortage raises the price of goods, in this case, women, he explained. Rich men can afford them, but poor men are priced out. This can be solved by having two men share the same woman.

“With so many guanggun, women are in short supply and their value increases,” he wrote. “But that doesn’t mean the market can’t be adjusted. The guanggun problem is actually a problem of income. High-income men can find a woman because they can pay a higher price. What about low-income men? One solution is to have several take a wife together. That’s not just my weird idea. In some remote, poor places, brothers already marry the same woman, and they have a full and happy life.”

Polyandry has been practiced before in China, particularly in impoverished areas, as a way to pool resources and avoid the breakup of property.

And apparently, there are Chinese who think polyandry may already be legal: The Internet has sites posing the question, especially for people born after 1990, among whom the gender gap is especially large.

Much of the online response to Mr. Xie’s proposal has been outrage.

“Is this a human being speaking?” a user with the handle dihuihui wrote on Weibo.

“Trash-talking professor, many single guys want to ask, ‘Where’s your wife?’ ” a user who identified as Shanyu jinxiang1887003537 wrote.

Attempts to contact Mr. Xie on Monday were unsuccessful.

On Sunday, he published an indignant rebuttal on one of his blogs, accusing his critics of being driven by empty notions of traditional morality that are impractical and selfish, even hypocritical.

“Because I promoted the idea that we should allow poor men to marry the same woman to solve the problem of 30 million guanggun, I’ve been endlessly abused,” he wrote. “People have even telephoned my university to harass me. These people have groundlessly accused me of promoting immoral and unethical ideas.

“If you can’t find a solution that doesn’t violate traditional morality,” he continued, “then why do you criticize me for violating traditional morality? You are in favor of a couple made up of one man, one woman. But your morality will lead to 30 million guanggun with no hope of finding a wife. Is that your so-called morality? Think of it like this: If you were a guanggun, would you still be in favor of one man, one woman?”

In addition to provoking guardians of traditional morality, the proposal has been pilloried by feminists and gay rights advocates.

“Men are publicly debating how to allocate women, as though women were commodities like houses or cars, in order to realize some grand political ideal originating from either the patriarchal left or the patriarchal right,” Zheng Churan, one of five women’s rights activists detained in March while campaigning, wrote in an essay for a WeChat group called Groundbreaking. “Behind the imbalanced sex ratio of 30 million bachelors lie 30 million baby girls who died due to sex discrimination. But somehow everyone’s still crying that some men can’t find wives.”

An advocate using the name A Qiang rejected Mr. Xie’s argument that legalizing same-sex marriage would help solve China’s bachelor crisis, accusing him of prioritizing the needs of straight men over those of gay men — even though Mr. Xie’s proposal did include the suggestion that men be allowed to marry men.

“This professor’s logic is typical heterosexual-male-centrism,” A Qiang wrote. “If heterosexual men can’t find a wife they can share one, thereby solving heterosexual men’s marriage problems by turning women into material goods. The legalization of same-sex marriage therefore is not to secure marriage equality for L.G.B.T. people, but to save women for straight men. This is on the same level as comments that go: ‘Let these men be homosexual to save more women for me.’ ”

Many gay men in China marry women to conform socially and to have children.

Mr. Xie also seems to have supporters. On his Sina blog, he posted a comment from a student at Nanchang Hangkong University.

“You are standing alongside the poorest working-class people. Hold on to your convictions at all costs and regardless of criticism,” the student wrote, adding: “When there’s no better way, why don’t we get rid of so-called ‘morality’ and solve society’s problems? If we simply leave 30 million bachelors in this country to die without children or spouses simply because of morality, wouldn’t that be dogmatic and unethical?”

[Banshee Prince]

What?! No way, give me two wives, I'm fertile. But I ain't sharing.

[cface]

This is quite tragic. For me, finding a partner is the best thing, luckily I can pick and chose frome all around the globe. Can't imagine how my life would have been as a poor guanggun.

In Russia, there is about 12% more females? We don't hear about them do we? Guess men have it that much harder when they can't find a wife.

[ezgeze]

When a culture favors boys, abort girls in order to have boys and introduce a one child policy does this really surprise anyone?

[greeeed]

Or just allowed two children instead of just one.

[Mosotti]

It makes sense. That happens in our part of the world since forever. A woman marries the guy with the money and then has affairs with those with big dicks. Sure there's the rare occurrence of having a full options package but that's like 1 in 10 million.

[Spectral]

This fits neatly into the category of, "ideas only an economist could love". I often find myself loving those ideas, but not this one - most men with normal minds and healthy levels of testosterone simply won't accept being cuckolded in their own home.

[stgeorge78]

This is quite tragic. For me, finding a partner is the best thing, luckily I can pick and chose frome all around the globe. Can't imagine how my life would have been as a poor guanggun.

In Russia, there is about 12% more females? We don't hear about them do we? Guess men have it that much harder when they can't find a wife.

Those females (especially the attractive ones) are being picked off by rich Americans (much like Filipina girls). I think the real losers are American girls who refuse to adapt. Females around the world are increasingly becoming more attractive to American males who are looking for more submissive women.

[Polar1]

Those females (especially the attractive ones) are being picked off by rich Americans (much like Filipina girls). I think the real losers are American girls who refuse to adapt. Females around the world are increasingly becoming more attractive to American males who are looking for more submissive women.

If you think Chinese women are submissive, you're in for a surprise. They may seem like it before the marriage, but every Chinese couple I knew agreed that the woman is boss once they marry.

[Deleted]

Chicksharing! Why didn't they think of it sooner? I mean, we have carsharing and foodsharing, chicksharing should have been the next idea.

[Deleted]

There are countries with more females. But people tend to forget, that this excess includes 50+ where the biggest gap is.

Thats one reason why you dont hear about 12% more females in Russia, while killing girl embryos in China affect especially younger generations.

[Ehrenpanzer]

or you know...maybe stop aborting female children..... that might work too

[Deleted]

It ain't no fun if the homies can't have none.

[Deleted]

thought the idea of the one man and one women idea was so you knew who the mommy and daddy was, But with 2 dads, 2 moms and now 3 in a relation ship who's the childs bio family? you might even without any thought insult them by saying? who's you mommy/daddy and they say "i'm lucky i got 2 but no X" , "no you need a mom and a dad to make a baby not two X" and bang you just ruin that familys value and they are going to SUE! and does the 1 child law stil work if 2 males marry the same women?

[Shuji V2]

or you know...maybe stop aborting female children..... that might work too

That wouldn't help the current situation at all, unless you want 40 year olds marrying 12 year olds.

[Deleted]

Those females (especially the attractive ones) are being picked off by rich Americans (much like Filipina girls). I think the real losers are American girls who refuse to adapt. Females around the world are increasingly becoming more attractive to American males who are looking for more submissive women.

I wouldn't pity american girls. Most go to Europe to try their luck at husband shopping.
I just wish Japan would hurry up and invent realistic sex bots.

[Independent voter]

There's an area in Tibet where they share a wife. They're farmers an so poor that one man doesn't have enough money. The two men are brothers usually.

[Exception]

Is there really any man who would be willing to do this??

[Forgettable]

"These people have groundlessly accused me of promoting immoral and unethical ideas."

Seriously? He comes out saying that two men (or maybe more) can share a woman, then says this? The guy is full of crock. The solution here is not to fight an immorality problem with more immorality - Rather they should fix the root of the problem, which immediately is the sex selective abortion issue, and deeper is the cultural preference for sons.

[Deleted]

I'd be fine with this if they also allowed the reverse, one man with multiple wives.

Let's face it, marriage doesn't really mean much these days, might as well just open it up a little.

Also:

"With so many guanggun, women are in short supply and their value increases,” he wrote.
“But that doesn’t mean the market can’t be adjusted.
The guanggun problem is actually a problem of income.
High-income men can find a woman because they can pay a higher price.
What about low-income men? One solution is to have several take a wife together.”

It takes an economist to basically say "women are gold-diggers" in such a boring, dry way.

I'm surprised more feminists don't have a problem with this idea, but my harem and I welcome polygamy with open arms.