Leftover Women......what a waste

[Obvious Li]

I wish i was young and single again....



China's 'leftover women', unmarried at 27



By Mary Kay Magistad PRI's The World, Beijing



Over 27? Unmarried? Female? In China, you could be labelled a "leftover woman" by the state - but some professional Chinese women these days are happy being single.



Huang Yuanyuan is working late at her job in a Beijing radio newsroom. She's also stressing out about the fact that the next day, she'll turn 29.



"Scary. I'm one year older," she says. "I'm nervous."



Why?



"Because I'm still single. I have no boyfriend. I'm under big pressure to get married."



Huang is a confident, personable young woman with a good salary, her own apartment, an MA from one of China's top universities, and a wealth of friends.



Still, she knows that these days, single, urban, educated women like her in China are called "sheng nu" or "leftover women" - and it stings.

Huang Yuanyuan (front right) and a fellow "leftover" colleague, Wang Tingting, at their radio station in Beijing Who are you calling "leftover"? Huang Yuanyuan (front) and her colleague Wang Tingting



She feels pressure from her friends and her family, and the message gets hammered in by China's state-run media too.



Even the website of the government's supposedly feminist All-China Women's Federation featured articles about "leftover women" - until enough women complained.



State-run media started using the term "sheng nu" in 2007. That same year the government warned that China's gender imbalance - caused by selective abortions because of the one-child policy - was a serious problem.



National Bureau of Statistics data shows there are now about 20 million more men under 30 than women under 30.



"Ever since 2007, the state media have aggressively disseminated this term in surveys, and news reports, and columns, and cartoons and pictures, basically stigmatising educated women over the age of 27 or 30 who are still single," says Leta Hong-Fincher, an American doing a sociology PhD at Tsinghua University in Beijing.



Census figures for China show that around one in five women aged 25-29 is unmarried.



The proportion of unmarried men that age is higher - over a third. But that doesn't mean they will easily match up, since Chinese men tend to "marry down", both in terms of age and educational attainment.



"There is an opinion that A-quality guys will find B-quality women, B-quality guys will find C-quality women, and C-quality men will find D-quality women," says Huang Yuanyuan. "The people left are A-quality women and D-quality men. So if you are a leftover woman, you are A-quality."

[Anonymous]

Thank you for posting that article Obvious Li..



The social norms in East Asia would leve many Canadians speechless..



Taiwan's social development is decades ahead of China, but still this pressure for both men and women to get married..



I would assume Korea is like that too?

[Obvious Li]

Ever since 2007, the state media have aggressively disseminated this term in surveys, and news reports, and columns, and cartoons and pictures, basically stigmatising educated women over the age of 27 or 30 who are still single," says Leta Hong-Fincher, an American doing a sociology PhD at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

The one-child policy I believe was needed at one time, but it should have been scrapped by now. Educated women over the age of 27 are being shamed because of short-sighted government policy.



I am definitely an A-quality woman. The chances of me ever agreeing to meeting a D-quality man for coffee let alone marrying one is about as likely as EU/Oscar getting a senior managerial position at Suncor.

[/b]



wow..those are pretty big odds.....always thought you were A quality...... nothing less allowed on here......

[Romero]

Thank you for posting that article Obvious Li..



The social norms in East Asia would leve many Canadians speechless..



Taiwan's social development is decades ahead of China, but still this pressure for both men and women to get married..



I would assume Korea is like that too?

I have a friend from South Korea who came here in part because of that kind of pressure. Her family insisted that she got a certain education, a certain job... then get married, have kids and become a good housewife right away!



She still loves home but doesn't want to go back because of all the bugging. She much prefers living here as she gets to decide how to live her life.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for posting that article Obvious Li..



The social norms in East Asia would leve many Canadians speechless..



Taiwan's social development is decades ahead of China, but still this pressure for both men and women to get married..



I would assume Korea is like that too?

I have a friend from South Korea who came here in part because of that kind of pressure. Her family insisted that she got a certain education, a certain job... then get married, have kids and become a good housewife right away!



She still loves home but doesn't want to go back because of all the bugging. She much prefers living here as she gets to decide how to live her life.

I know several people in that same boat. Even for me I am under pressure to get married and have an heir. It's tough because I will be 34 this year and I do want to have a family, but when I am ready.

[Anonymous]

The one-child policy I believe was needed at one time, but it should have been scrapped by now. Educated women over the age of 27 are being shamed because of short-sighted government policy.



I am definitely an A-quality woman. The chances of me ever agreeing to meeting a D-quality man for coffee let alone marrying one is about as likely as EU/Oscar getting a senior managerial position at Suncor.

[/b]



wow..those are pretty big odds.....always thought you were A quality...... nothing less allowed on here......

CC, Fash, Pinay and myself are all A-quality. We have the Special Ed Dept for D-guys.

CC and Fash are exceptional and have been assigned the grade of A++. Azhya Aryola and Pinay I don't know very well, but they seem like upper echelon women. Shen Li has improved to a solid A-.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for posting that article Obvious Li..



The social norms in East Asia would leve many Canadians speechless..



Taiwan's social development is decades ahead of China, but still this pressure for both men and women to get married..



I would assume Korea is like that too?

I have a friend from South Korea who came here in part because of that kind of pressure. Her family insisted that she got a certain education, a certain job... then get married, have kids and become a good housewife right away!



She still loves home but doesn't want to go back because of all the bugging. She much prefers living here as she gets to decide how to live her life.

I can certainly understand her feelings Romero.

[Odinson]

Non-european men seem to be scared of educated women.

[Anonymous]

Non-european men seem to be scared of educated women.

I respectfully disagree with you Odinson..



Educated men in Asia do not prefer uneducated women.

[Odinson]

Non-european men seem to be scared of educated women.

I respectfully disagree with you Odinson..



Educated men in Asia do not prefer uneducated women.

I hear a lot of talk and the fact that europeanwomen have more rights than any other women on the globe.

[Anonymous]

Non-european men seem to be scared of educated women.

I respectfully disagree with you Odinson..



Educated men in Asia do not prefer uneducated women.

I hear a lot of talk and the fact that europeanwomen have more rights than any other women on the globe.

Europe and North America are very different from Asian countries though.

[Odinson]

I respectfully disagree with you Odinson..



Educated men in Asia do not prefer uneducated women.

I hear a lot of talk and the fact that europeanwomen have more rights than any other women on the globe.

Europe and North America are very different from Asian countries though.

True.

[Anonymous]

I hear a lot of talk and the fact that europeanwomen have more rights than any other women on the globe.

Europe and North America are very different from Asian countries though.

True.

All three continents have good and bad points, but I could not imagine living anywhere else than where I am now.

[Odinson]

Europe and North America are very different from Asian countries though.

True.

All three continents have good and bad points, but I could not imagine living anywhere else than where I am now.

I sometimes get pissed at the climate here but home sweet home.

[Anonymous]

True.

All three continents have good and bad points, but I could not imagine living anywhere else than where I am now.

I sometimes get pissed at the climate here but home sweet home.

I have to go pick up my husband at the airport now Odinson..



Have a good evening.

 :)