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China’s ‘Leftover’ Women
New York Times ^ | October 11, 2012 | LETA HONG FINCHER

Posted on 10/13/2012 5:03:51 AM PDT by reaganaut1

...

In 2007, the Women’s Federation defined “leftover” women (sheng nu ) as unmarried women over the age of 27 and China’s Ministry of Education added the term to its official lexicon. Since then, the Women’s Federation Web site has run articles stigmatizing educated women who are still single.

Take this uplifting column from March 2011 that ran just after International Women’s Day:

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.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
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To: Lorianne

Having one problem doesn’t mean they don’t have another. Feminism is a destructive force anywhere it spreads. Especially in societies that still remember virtuous women.


21 posted on 10/13/2012 7:26:33 AM PDT by LastNorwegian
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To: LastNorwegian

Still seems like excuse making to me.
With the sex imbalance they have, women can afford to be choosy in what they accept and won’t accept, and that doesn’t sit well with some.


22 posted on 10/13/2012 7:36:44 AM PDT by Lorianne (fedgov, taxporkmoney)
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To: reaganaut1

Beauty standards can vary. I’ve been told large feet could render a woman considered smoking hot by American standards unappealing in parts of China.


23 posted on 10/13/2012 7:38:13 AM PDT by fso301
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To: bmwcyle

Look up the author online. See her photo. Know you are right. Seriously. As soon as you see her photo, you’ll know why this is her area of research.


24 posted on 10/13/2012 7:41:27 AM PDT by vladimir998
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To: reaganaut1
we have NOW, they have LOW, same same...
25 posted on 10/13/2012 7:47:21 AM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

Exactly! These “left over” women may just want to remain single.


26 posted on 10/13/2012 7:47:55 AM PDT by rcofdayton
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To: Lorianne

Iff they could afford to be that choosy they wouldn’t end up single.


27 posted on 10/13/2012 7:59:21 AM PDT by LastNorwegian
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To: LastNorwegian

Unless they are choosing to be single.


28 posted on 10/13/2012 8:00:44 AM PDT by Lorianne (fedgov, taxporkmoney)
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To: reaganaut1

I’ll take the leftovers.


29 posted on 10/13/2012 8:02:24 AM PDT by Lazamataz (WAAAAAAAAAHHHhhhhh.....)
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To: Lorianne

Most do not. Most simply have unrealistic expectations and don’t realize they get less attractive as they age. Just like in the west.


30 posted on 10/13/2012 8:08:37 AM PDT by LastNorwegian
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To: LastNorwegian

Everyone makes choices thoughout life. Some work out and some don’t. Very few people have no regrets.

I simply do not see what all the fuss is about.

What is the alternative? Forcing individuals to do certain things? Certainly that has been China’s history ... one that I would not like to see us emulate.

And even when you force people to do things or not do things, the law of unintended consquences rules. Witness the “one child” policy ... which I very much doubt that “leftover women” instituted.


31 posted on 10/13/2012 8:34:37 AM PDT by Lorianne (fedgov, taxporkmoney)
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To: Lazamataz

http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/author/letahongfincher/

‘When all candles be out, all cats be gray.’


32 posted on 10/13/2012 8:46:40 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (The best is the enemy of the good!)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Brilliant!


33 posted on 10/13/2012 8:49:45 AM PDT by Lazamataz (WAAAAAAAAAHHHhhhhh.....)
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To: reaganaut1
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.

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.

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.

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?

Wow - that's more unvarnished truth than we've seen in a single New York Times column in at least 80 years! :)

34 posted on 10/13/2012 8:59:14 AM PDT by Mr. Jeeves (CTRL-GALT-DELETE)
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To: reaganaut1

They should come to America. Our standards are a bit different. They probably match their needs.


35 posted on 10/13/2012 8:59:46 AM PDT by buffaloguy
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To: Mr. Jeeves

In looking for a spouse, there is no such thing as perfect. When looking for that special someone, why do people seek something that they themselves don’t exhibit? I have been married for more than 18 years to a woman who is wonderful in a lot of ways, but she is not my idea of perfection. Likewise, she will remind me on occasion, that I am far from perfect myself. But, what has made it work for us is that we accept each other for who we are. That doesn’t mean we don’t fight. We do and we have. But, through it all, I would choose her again. People who expect perfection will end up alone. Those who understand this will be much happier in the long run. Imho.

The male/female ratio is China creates some unique problems that you don’t normally see in the west. The closest thing I have seen to this problem is life in a military town where the number of single males far exceeds unattached females. Other places with such problems include San Francisco (lonely women due to high number of gays) and New York (women over 30 — think “Sex in the City” demographic). China’s one child requirement and cultural preference for males is probably one reason why will it become more aggressive and expansionist in the future.


36 posted on 10/13/2012 1:30:19 PM PDT by 3Fingas (Sons and Daughters of Freedom, Committee of Correspondence)
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To: Vaquero
Leftover Women? in country that practices abortion and infanticide on girl babies? preposterous. unless the Chicoms have a large bone smuggling male population.

Reading the article carefully, we see:

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.
There's LOTS of men available, but the women are all chasing the same small group of WEALTHY PORFESSIONAL men. Their hypergamous, status-oriented egos won't allow them to "settle" for men who are actually in their league, and then (as the article notes) they get older and even less able to attract a high-status mate. Unwilling to admit failure, they settle into being single and collecting cats. Like many American women.
37 posted on 10/13/2012 1:43:41 PM PDT by PapaBear3625 (Charlie Daniels - Payback Time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWwTJj_nosI)
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To: SC_Pete
The one child policy has caused a demographic nightmare for the Chinese: they don’t have enough people to accomodate necessary future growth in the economy.

More precisely, they don't have enough HIGH-IQ people to accommodate necessary future growth. They have more peasants than they need. They need brilliant engineers and managers to bring their country out of the Third World (Their GDP per-capita is $8.5K, versus $35K for Japan and $38K for Taiwan).

To accomplish that, they need for their high-IQ women to have lots of kids, while restricting the number of kids their peasants have.

38 posted on 10/13/2012 1:54:01 PM PDT by PapaBear3625 (Charlie Daniels - Payback Time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWwTJj_nosI)
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To: Mr. Jeeves
Wow - that's more unvarnished truth than we've seen in a single New York Times column in at least 80 years! :)

Read the article -- these are the things she DISPUTES.

39 posted on 10/13/2012 1:58:36 PM PDT by PapaBear3625 (Charlie Daniels - Payback Time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWwTJj_nosI)
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To: Lorianne
I simply do not see what all the fuss is about. What is the alternative? Forcing individuals to do certain things? Certainly that has been China’s history ... one that I would not like to see us emulate.

For thousands of years, the preservation of civilization has rested upon most men and women having no choice but to marry the best person available to them, and have enough children to support them in their old age.

Since WW2, it has become possible, and increasingly acceptable, for people to remain single and childless. It remains to be seen whether civilization will be able to survive this.

40 posted on 10/13/2012 2:04:28 PM PDT by PapaBear3625 (Charlie Daniels - Payback Time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWwTJj_nosI)
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