Tuesday, November 11, 2014

New roles and old ideas about women in China

5. New roles and old ideas about women.

Ironically, even though there are far fewer women than men in China, lingering sexism and traditional views of women mean that older, more educated and more professionally successful women can have trouble finding partners. Chinese give a harsh name to educated women who are older than 27 and still unmarried: shengnu, or "leftover women."

The hurtful label has prompted something of a backlash – like in the video below, where a group of women who call themselves “the Golden Leftover Girls” parody an older Chinese song in which a man asks for love even though he doesn’t have a house or car. The tone is similar to Destiny’s Child’s “Independent Women,” except with even more rampant materialism.
“Do you have a house or a car? My mom also wants to know, how much do you have in your savings accounts?" they sing. "Brother Poor, you just have a shabby BMW... If you are less superior than me, don't depend on me. I am not your mom!"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/11/11/why-chinas-single-people-need-a-hug-a-donut-and-alibaba/?wpisrc=nl-wnkpm&wpmm=1

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