Talk:Teenage Pregnancy in China

I really liked your focussed topic of how both women and men are disadvantaged as a result of the lack of sexual education in China. I was shocked to find out that women would have to travel to Hong Kong or Japan, not easy places to get to, especially if you’re not wealthy, just to get an HPV vaccination. Things like that are unbelievably accessible in Canada and I’m only just now realizing how much of a blessing it is to have that here. It was very notable reading that not only women are being marginalized that are over the age of 27 but men are seen as undesirable in China if they work in rural areas.

Hi, thank you for your page. I found what you shared very intriguing as I grew up just across the border from Mainland China in Hong Kong. A key point I think you pointed out is this paradox of secrecy and shame towards the topic of sex for young women in comparison to being engaged by 27. A western perspective might argue that political correctness in China is drastically different from the western world. However, I strongly believe sexual education should be more adopted in Chinese school systems but also stem from parents educating their children about safe sex. Being Chinese myself, I can say that my parents never spoke of sex and I can only imagine the greater need for sexual education from parents for young women in particular because they bare the consequence of pregnancy. Having said that, I think sexual education is equally important for males as well, because males bare an equal responsibility in avoiding un-wanted pregnancies. Overall, I found your page very informative. However, I think you could expand more on the consequences of un-wanted pregnancies and the social shame casted upon women in comparison to men.

Hello,

Your topic is really interesting and one that I knew very little about. I'm from a country where people have similar attitudes to sex and what constitutes normative, sexual behavior in young children. I think your headings are informative and the bits about how difficult it is to get STD tests are very relevant. I don't think you addressed contraceptives and their availability explicitly in your article though. That might be a reasonable addition as a separate heading or perhaps under the sexual education heading. You could write a bit more about if the values around sex are changing - are measures being taken to make unwanted pregnancies less frequent. You could also potentially write about how the outcomes for pregnant teenagers from wealthy families who live in large cities and the more urban parts of China differ from the outcomes of poorer, rural girls.

Hope this helps! I look forward to reading the final piece!

Hi there,

I enjoyed reading your wiki! it was very informative and carried important issues. One suggestion I have is to expand on the Abortion, Birth, and Marriage Laws by giving a brief background - as someone who is unaware what these laws consist of I found it hard to follow what the law requires/what are the consequences. I would also love to hear more about how the dating atmosphere in China affects women differently than men - i.e. are men judged for dating too old/too young? this would add the intersectionality of age and sex in the culture.

Thanks for sharing!

Hi there,

I'm glad your article sheds light on this matter as it is a prevalent issue, but has mostly been kept under the radar. Some suggestions I have would be to watch the flow of your writing as it seems quite essay-like at this point. Perhaps refrain from using "we" or any first person subjects, which are common in more research type papers. This has already been mentioned by others but do complete the rest of your article because I would like to see what the consequences are for the women that face teenage pregnancies in China!

Hi Tinble,

Very interesting topic! I really enjoyed reading your page. As someone who comes from a Chinese background, I could relate with some of the beliefs and practices that you mentioned. For example, you described how young girls in China would be lectured if teachers found out that they had a boyfriend - my mom experienced the same thing too back when she was in school (though it was a long time ago haha). I like how you mentioned that people in China associate a woman's virginity with her worth and innocence, a deep rooted belief that is dissimilar to Western values. It goes to show how different social locations (religion, geographical location and ethnic background etc.) interact to create oppression for certain groups of people, thereby reflecting intersectionality. One question that occurred to me while reading your page was I wonder if the rate of teen pregnancies differ between urban and rural areas in China. If so, what factors contribute to this difference (education, religion, parenting styles, socioeconomic status...). Also, a suggestion for you would be to expand on the “zero child policy”? This will make it easier for those who are not familiar with Chinese politics to understand your argument better. Specifically, what does it mean when the government does not consider the baby of an unmarried women a 'legal child'? Does this entail that he/she does not receive Chinese citizenship? Overall, awesome page :)

Hi Tinble,

You chose a topic that is not often discussed, yet one that I can relate to as a single Chinese woman. Some of what you wrote I already knew, such as Chinese society's and family's reactions to young girls wanting to date and lack of sex education and sex-related medical services without leaving the country to visit a doctor in HK or Japan. I did not know that "An un-wed birth can become legal if the parents get married within 60 days after the birth of their child." Interesting fact that is probably unique to Chinese law. One change I would recommend for your final version is to expand on your Consequences of teen pregnancy in China section. It needs to be more informative, rather than just a single short statement for each consequence.

Hi there,

This is a really interesting topic, I enjoyed reading! I have a couple of questions - what do you mean by the term " informal underage marriages". Are there some child marriages that are formal? What does being informal or formal mean in this context? I was also wondering if there are any activists or advocacy groups in China that help teen moms or that seek to educate teenagers on sex? How does intersectionality come to play in all this?