Description

From the late 1970s, paralleling the economic and social development and the fertility decline, China’s population has experienced a fast increase in the sex ratio at birth (SRB) and the female child mortality, resulting in a growing female deficit and consequently in a large amount of males with no choice but to remain single. It is estimated that annually, from the early 2010s, more than 10% of Chinese men at marriageable ages could not find a female partner to get married with. Under the background of sex imbalance followed by marriage squeeze, how will the male bachelors compensate for the absence of a regular female sexual partner? Will homosexual behaviour be a compensation for those marriage-squeezed male bachelors? Are male bachelors more likely to adopt unprotected sexual behaviours? Will an increase in the prevalence of unprotected homosexual intercourses among male bachelors put a threat on their health? Using the data from two surveys independently conducted among rural residents and rural-urban migrants, Dr. Yang Xueyan tries to understand the impacts of sex imbalance on forced male bachelors and public health.

Dr. Xueyan Yang, Associate Professor of Institute for Population and Development Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China, post-doctorial fellow at Dalla Lana School of Public Health, visiting scholar at Asian Institute of Munk School, University of Toronto. She obtained a PHD from Xi’an Jiaotong University in 2007. Her interests are mainly focused on sex imbalance in China and its governance. She has published articles on gender and health in English journals such as Biodemography and Social Biology, American Journal of Men’s Health, Population, Genus; Chinese journals such as Journal of Public Administration, Social Science Abroad, Collection of Women’s Studies, Systems Engineering: Theory and Practice etc.