Sex Ratios, Gender Equality and Multiculturalism in South Korea

Gender is central to debates about multiculturalism, since as Susan Okin argued the private sphere is both perceived as the domain of women and at the core of culture. In this paper we explore the gendered nature of culture through an examination of the phenomenon of abnormal sex ratios in South Korea, specifically the preference for sons. In fact, the ratio peaked in 1990 at 116.5:100 (at birth) and is now close to the global average of 105:100. Identifying the reasons for that abnormal ratio and its subsequent normalisation tells us important things about the nature of Korean culture, specifically the development of an egalitarian ethos conducive to greater cultural diversity and on the changing structure of family relations (intergenerational justice). The paper will draw on evidence from biology, demography and anthropology and will compare South Korea with both Western and other East Asian countries. It will use these empirical data to illuminate debates within political philosophy over egalitarianism and cultural diversity.