Leftover Women - 2

In the previous article “Leftover Women”, we learned what “shengnv” means and who this special group of people are. Today we go one step further to have a deeper vision on leftover women in China.

In 2007, the Women’s Federation defined “leftover women” as unmarried women over the age of 27 and China’s Ministry of Education added the term to its official lexicon.

Model, film, and television superstar Lin Chi-ling, born 1974, represents the university educated, financially successful, and wealthy "A-quality women" that have remained unmarried beyond their late twenties.

Actually, not all Shengnv (learn pinyin) are pretty girls. Pretty girls don’t need a lot of education to marry into a rich and powerful family, but girls with an average or ugly appearance will find it difficult. These kinds of girls hope to further their education in order to increase their competitiveness. The tragedy is, they don’t realize that as women age, they are worth less and less, so by the time they get their M.A. or Ph.D., they are already old, like yellowed pearls.

After knocking some good sense into those misguided women who pursue a higher education, the column accuses educated, single women of sleeping around and having degenerate morals:

Many highly educated “leftover women” are very progressive in their thinking and enjoy going to nightclubs to search for a one-night stand, or they become the mistress of a high official or rich man. It is only when they have lost their youth and are kicked out by the man, that they decide to look for a life partner. Therefore, most “leftover women” do not deserve our sympathy.

Lin Chi Ling - "Goddess" in the eyes of Chinese Men

Glad we got that straight. Now, why would China’s state feminist agency conduct a scare-mongering campaign against single, educated women?

The Women’s Federation columns on shengnv all share the same goal: convince single, educated women to stop being so ambitious and get married. The main reason many girls become “leftover women” is that their standards for a partner are too high … As girls are not too picky, finding a partner should be as easy as blowing away a speck of dust. Some of the columns have been reposted several times over the years and list helpful tips, such as “seduce but don’t pester” and “be persistent but not willful”:

When holding out for a man, if you say he must be rich and brilliant, romantic and hardworking ... this is just being willful. Does this kind of perfect man exist? Maybe he does exist, but why on earth would he want to marry you?

As the number of "leftover women" is growing, the social issues their status causes is also getting more attention. Some scholars propose the idea that they will pose threat to social stability. They are more likely to develop physical and mental illness since they are under great pressure financially, to support themselves and their parents, and emotionally by society to find a spouse.

Facing this seemingly embarrassed group of people, what’s your opinion? Do you think they should stop being single under pressure or just be themselves?

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