When we think of China, it is common to conjure up images of rice fields and the Great Wall, but also of crowded cities full of people, bicycles and cars. We rarely think of a nation populated predominantly by men and boys, with a notable but surreal absence of women. Although this is a bit of an exaggeration, in recent decades there has been an alarming imbalance in the gender distribution. This policy has clearly contributed to the unnatural gender imbalance in the country, with couples using legal and illegal means to ensure that their only child is a son. There are 117 men for every 100 women in China (Goodkind, 2004). In 1979, when the one-child policy was adopted, the intention was not to create this imbalance, but to control the population of a rapidly growing country. Unfortunately, the one-child policy, as it stands, illustrates cultural favoritism toward men and a degradation of women to a lower social status in which they have little control over their reproductive rights. In communist China, before the population boom, more people meant more labor to create more economic prospects for the communist nation. The communist government condemned birth control and banned contraceptive imports (Attane, 2002). Lack of birth control and government encouragement led China into a period of high population growth. Hundreds of millions of additional children were born during a baby boom that pushed the birth rate to 5.8 children per couple, a level considered unsustainable (Cai and Lavely, 2003). With an ever-increasing population, food sources began to become depleted and it soon became apparent that the rate of reproduction must decline. For starters, government propaganda appeared, pushing the slogan......in the middle of the paper......would just be less obvious. The cultural preference for male offspring would continue to dominate, most likely preventing a majority of families (particularly those in rural areas, most likely to express this favoritism) from having only daughters, by any means possible. it is currently enforced and is extremely harmful to women and children. The Chinese government must do more to not only encourage families to have more daughters, but also to improve the status of women in general. Allowing women to have more control over their reproductive rights would go a long way to alleviate many of the problems associated with this policy. While it is understandable that part of the problem stems from deeply ingrained cultural values, it appears that providing individuals with education and greater freedom of choice would help alleviate some of these problems..