WHAT'S CAUSING MUSLIM NATIONS TO HAVE SERIOUS GENDER-IMBALANCES IN THEIR POPULATIONS?

The Economist publishes a fascinating little booklet with all sorts of fascinating facts and figures about a variety of things. It's titled, "POCKET WORLD IN FIGURES", 2005 Edition; Profile Books; London; 2005.

I just got one. I found an interesting chart on page 24 - a page titled, "Men and Women." The chart I found most interesting is one of three on the page; it's called, "Most male populations." It's sub-titled, "Number of males per 100 females."

Of the thirty (30) nations on the list (being the thirty with the greatest IMBALANCE, with far more men than women - and far more than might be expected if there were no intervention - 20 of them are predominantly Muslim (or with a very large Muslim segment of the population).

The most imbalanced is (at #1) the UAE [189 males per 100 females], followed by Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia [117 males /100 females], and then non-Muslim Guam, followed by #8 Jordan, followed by non-Arab - but Muslim Brunei, Sri Lanka, Libya, and then non-Muslim Polynesian & Papua, followed by Muslim (but non-Arab) Afghanistan, followed by India (which has a very large Muslim population), and then China [where we KNOW they practice female infanticide - 106 males/100 females], then Muslim Bangladesh, non-Muslim New Caledonia, then Muslim Pakistan, Muslim and European Albania, non-Muslim Nepal, then Cote d'Ivoire (which has a significant Muslim population), and then Taiwan and Costa Rica and Fiji, then Muslim Gaza and Muslim West Bank, Muslim Iran, Muslim Malaysia, and Muslim Yemen [103 males/100 females] .

Twenty of the thirty nations with severe imbalances -- which cannot be explained by natural forces, but which are most likley the result of direct, human intervention -- are Muslim. Another indication that there is a connection between this imbalance and Islam is the fact that (according to another chart on the same page in the same booklet) of thirty (30) nations with imbalances which FAVOR women, only ONE (1) is predominantly Muslim or has a significant Muslim minority.

If there were no correlation between this imbalance and Islam then we would expect that there would be fewer Muslim nations on the chart which shows the nations with imbalances which favor men, and more on the chart which shows nations with imbalances which favor women. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that there is some relationship betweeen Islam and gender-imbalances in the national populations which favor men.

Could it be female infanticide? Or "honor killings?" Some people think so - at leasst they think that the horrific practice is very widespread. These charts lend credence to them. ALSO: this imbalance may reveal what is at the core of the current "clash of civilizations." The propensity of certain nations and cultures and religions to produce disproportionately more terrorists, and specifically the propensity for Islam to produce jihadoterrorism might be related to the fact that their culture promotes the devaluation females and femininity and subjugates women - turning them into chattel, making them the property of husbands who have many wives.

This practice tends to DEHUMANIZE HALF OF THEIR NATION, AND HALF OF EVERY HOUSEHOLD. That cannot help but create a culture conducive to non-violent dispute resolution, in general. IOW: if it's alright to murder your own daughter or sister or mother or wife, then murdering a stranger who doesn't share your form of faith is EFFING EASY!

Then again, this may NOT be a "root cause" but merely a another symptom of a culture/religion which is very effed up.

[NOTE: in Indonesia (the world's biggest Muslim nation), "honor killings" are unknown, and there is NO imbalance. This further suggests that there is a connection between the imbalance and "honor killings" in the other Muslim nations on the list.] More on "honor killings HERE. And a very clear statement from American Muslim Women who utterly condemn "honor killings" can be found HERE. Another Muslim condemns them - on Islamic grounds - HERE.

These condemnations by Muslims are very GOOD. And they point the way to positive change. But they do reveal that even many Muslims agree that THIS IS A BIG , WIDESPREAD PROBLEM - one so large that it can be measured in the populations of Muslim nations (if my deductions are correct).

I think that if-and-when the widespread practice of "honor killings" stops, that jihadoterror will stop, too. IMHO, they are co-symptomatic.

FURTHER NOTE: There are 61 nations in the world with significant Muslim populations, and MOST of them do not have gender-imbalances in their populations, or a history of "honor killings" - or even an obvious propensity to produce jihadoterrorists, (at least not yet).

SO, there is NOT an inextricable link between Islam and either "honor killings" or jihadoterror. Which gives me reason to believe that this horrific practice can be wiped out without necessitating the wipe out of all of Islam, and that gives me cause for hope of a WIN-WIN victory in WW4, too. We will rid the world of jihadoterror when the religion of Islam rids itself of its fanatics.

I believe that unless-and-until the practice of "honor killing" is wiped out, we will be a world at war with fanatical Islam. When Islam can get itself free of this horrific practice, then it will have demonstrated the capability to reign in it's fanatical terrorists, too. We shall see. Up until now, I am NOT seeing nearly enough condemnation by Muslims of either "honor killings" or terror. So, we shall see. We shall wait and see. And while we're waiting, we have got to defend ourselves with everything we've got!]

Welcome BETSY'S PAGE readers! WELCOME CLUB FOR GROWTH READERS! Welcome JAWA REPORT readers!

UPDATE: the UN has taken very critical positions on gender-imbalance in CHINA and VIETNAM, but not in the Muslim nations listed above. This reveals that there is (a) consensus on the general issue -- that the statistics DO indicate an underlying social problem which can lead to other serious negative social conditions -- but also that (b) there is a pervasive bias at the UN which skews its efforts and diminishes its potential positive impact. [ASIDE: I GOOGLED a few variants of several keywords in the above essay, and found that there is MUCH written on China's population imbalance but very VERY little written about the much MUCH WORSE IMBALANCES which occur in Muslim nations. So, the propensity to ignore this issue goes well beyond the UN. It may reflect PC attitudes or FEAR of retribuition at the hands of the jihadoterrorists for "daring" to criticize Muslim nations.]

UPDATE 8/16: READ THIS NOW (an article by Athena of TERRORISM UNVEILED. It's a gripping account of life-threatening misogyny in Jordan.

MORE HERE - A MORE RECENT POST OF MINE ON MULSIM DEMOGRAPHY AND POLYGAMY AND MISOGYNY.