I read it
This summer I blogged about my struggle with reading Mara Hvistendahl's book Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men while I was surrounded by such welcome girlishness. How could I possibly read a book about the gender imbalance that is spreading in the world when I was surrounded by tutus and fairy wings?
Some tutus and fairy wings went with me back to China, so eventually I had to bite the bullet and read Unnatual Selection as quickly as I could. I finished the book months ago, actually. Despite my certainty that I wanted to provide some sort of review for the interested, I was hesitant to enter the minefield this book presents. Hvistendahl is resolutely pro-choice, which she explains in this interview on Shanghai Scrap, and the subject of abortion cannot be ignored when writing about the epidemic of gender imbalance.
Earlier this week I was in Front Royal, Virginia, visiting some of my family that lives there. My grandmother attends daily Mass at Human Life International, an organization that Hvistendahl labels as "notorious" in Unnatural Selection for its activities in opposition to abortion, which we on this side refer to as "Pro-Life."
Grandma arranged for us to have a little tour of the Creche collection that decorates the hallways and offices of HLI. After that, we stopped in the chapel briefly. Brigid peeked under the altar and was delighted by what she saw.
Unnatural Selection still is an important, informative read for those of us who happily escort our unplannable families around the corridors of Human Life International, once you get past the author's dislike of us. It is well researched book and often eye-opening as she pieces together the sometimes unrelated factors, like the UNFPA, General Electric, and even George H.W. Bush, that have converged to create this crisis. I cannot universally recommend this book for obvious reasons as it is not a fun read. But there's a lot to chew on regardless of where you stand in the abortion debate as it exists in America.
Some tutus and fairy wings went with me back to China, so eventually I had to bite the bullet and read Unnatual Selection as quickly as I could. I finished the book months ago, actually. Despite my certainty that I wanted to provide some sort of review for the interested, I was hesitant to enter the minefield this book presents. Hvistendahl is resolutely pro-choice, which she explains in this interview on Shanghai Scrap, and the subject of abortion cannot be ignored when writing about the epidemic of gender imbalance.
Earlier this week I was in Front Royal, Virginia, visiting some of my family that lives there. My grandmother attends daily Mass at Human Life International, an organization that Hvistendahl labels as "notorious" in Unnatural Selection for its activities in opposition to abortion, which we on this side refer to as "Pro-Life."
Grandma arranged for us to have a little tour of the Creche collection that decorates the hallways and offices of HLI. After that, we stopped in the chapel briefly. Brigid peeked under the altar and was delighted by what she saw.
Unnatural Selection still is an important, informative read for those of us who happily escort our unplannable families around the corridors of Human Life International, once you get past the author's dislike of us. It is well researched book and often eye-opening as she pieces together the sometimes unrelated factors, like the UNFPA, General Electric, and even George H.W. Bush, that have converged to create this crisis. I cannot universally recommend this book for obvious reasons as it is not a fun read. But there's a lot to chew on regardless of where you stand in the abortion debate as it exists in America.
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