| Beijing has over 500,000 girls who are left behind | |
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| Sep 8, 2009 03:49 |   |
 | 剩女(shèng nǚ),a new expression in Chinese lexicon, literally means "girls who are left behind”. I read a newsarticle which address this topic in CBCnews.com. The article was composed by Matt Yue, who just completed a summer internship at CBS News' Beijing bureau. I was attracted by the headline “China's "Girls Who Are Left Behind". Since “Sheng Nu” is a most eye-catching Chinese word currently, it addresses a very typical phenomenon in Chinese dating market. As you may know that China has a very severe sex ratio imbalance, there are about over 30 millions male surplus, so there would have been no a single Chinese girl who would be left behind. As it is stated in the newsarticle on CBSnews website, to your astonishment, (“According to the state-run China News Agency, more than 500,000 young women over the traditional Chinese marriage age of 25 are still unhitched in Beijing. This figure is stunning to many Chinese people, who consider raising a family to be the center of life.”) (Source: cbsnews.com) You may be curious about the strange phenomenon. So am I. Who could believe that these women who are well-educated and hold high-paying jobs couldn’t find a husband? Simply, the reason is that many of these left-behind girls wants to a perfect Chinese guy. The ideal life-partner in the Chinese young girls’ mind makes it harder to find a Mr. Right. Although many Chinese girls claim that they want to be independent and equal to Chinese men in very aspect, when it comes to finding a partner, they still insist on their Golden Rule: “My ideal person should be someone better than me in every respect”. Many girls who are left behind don’t think they are picky. In some cosmopolitan citys like Beijing and Shanghai, girls have very high standards for their future life-partner. In other words, they want to find a perfect guy: rich (having an apartment, a car and a large sum of saving at the bank account), handsome, humourous, gentle and good-tempered. Fancying the perfect guy seems to be the biggest obstacle to matrimonial bliss. Well, it seems to be unjust to just blame Chinese girls. It may be related to Chinese culture. Chinese traditional family structure still exerts its influence on Chinese family. The society defines men’s gender role as the one raising the family. Husbands should make more money to support their wives and kids. Does any change have happened in your country’s dating market? Do you have such similar phenomenon as “women or men who are left behind”? What are the reasons? What are the average marriage ages for women and men in your country? The average marriage for the current Chinese generation is late to that of the previous generation. What’s your view on China’s Sheng Nu Phenomenon? Do you think what the contributing factors are ? Have you finally married the one who is your 'perfect man/woman" on your mind? |
Last edited by LEONARDO: Sep 8, 2009 03:49 | |
| Sep 8, 2009 23:05 | #1 |
| GUEST21131 | "The increase of Left-over girls" is an epitome of a materializing Chinese society. Chinese people are concerntrated on making money, comparing with others in respect of material possession. Women, eastern of western, are considered to the most vain animals in the world. They like to compare whose husband/boyfriend is rich, whose husband is more handsome. They are blindly persuing the perfect man and don't want to rush into marriage. Sadly, the perfect man may never come to her life. |
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