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A review by ywanderingreads
Leftover in China: The Women Shaping the World's Next Superpower by Roseann Lake
3.0
This was such a fascinating read about women in China and their struggles dealing with expectations to marry. Lake covers the history of marriage and family planning policies in China. She also covers on restrictive and unequal gender roles which highlights the long term effect of excluding women from developing processes around the world.
This book follows the personal stories of a few "leftover" women in China, revealing that these women are unlike the norm and is not very bothered about the title. These women are independent and strong despite living in a society that constantly discriminates women past the age of twenty-five. they not only suffer pressure from society but more so from their own parents. Chinese parents play a big and interfering role in choosing spouses for their children. The personal stories interwove with date not based on China but also Korea, Japan and Singapore. Lake also covered on the effects of China's one-child policy which has caused a gender imbalance long after the policy has been lifted. Currently, Chinese women are coming out more educated and hold better job positions compare to before but the choice of men is lacking. Men are threatened by these women's capabilities and feel that these women are lacking wife materials.
Here are a few things I noted down from the book:
-Sajiao or anegyo is apparently important in relationships. This usually means acting cute or whinge like a small child. Apparently, this is important to create balance in a relationship? To make the man feel more manly and capable and make the woman seem less independent. This is quite absurd but it is such a common practice.
-A man who has a car, house and cash makes him eligible for marriage. These are the top three requirements for a woman to choose a man. This makes women look very materialistic but Lake explained this also stems from their parents who are the main decision-makers in them choosing a suitable spouse. This proves to create a huge burden on men, especially men living in rural areas or men who are not well off, it is almost impossible for them to find a Chinese wife which is why they will resort to purchasing Vietnam brides. This in turn, will increase the rates of leftover women which turns out to be a vicious cycle.
-I was appalled that there are too many terms for women who are past the so called "marriageable age". In China, they consider women as young as twenty-three to be getting old. If you are twenty-five and more married, you are basically turning into a "leftover" woman. In Japan, they call these women "Christmas cake" because they eat these on the 25th (age relevance) and on 26th December, they become expired Christmas cakes that nobody wants. In Korea, people call them "Gold miss" because once they have reached their prime age, no men would want them anymore. It is so so appalling and frustrating to see women being categorised this way!
-Another shocking thing Lake pointed out was that couples in China don't necessarily marry for love. They marry based on cash flow, car and house. The more the man has, the better. it doesn't matter if they are cheating on each other, they are fully aware of that, as long as they come home to each other because getting divorced is considered a shameful thing and parents will not allow their children to put them through that shame.
Lake also mentioned about women int he workplace and how they are discriminated from their job roles and also being hired based on their marital statuses so companies can avoid paying for maternity leaves. Another reason why companies prefer to hire men over women and how it is difficult for women to achieve a leadership role because she constantly have to make a choice between work or family.
This book follows the personal stories of a few "leftover" women in China, revealing that these women are unlike the norm and is not very bothered about the title. These women are independent and strong despite living in a society that constantly discriminates women past the age of twenty-five. they not only suffer pressure from society but more so from their own parents. Chinese parents play a big and interfering role in choosing spouses for their children. The personal stories interwove with date not based on China but also Korea, Japan and Singapore. Lake also covered on the effects of China's one-child policy which has caused a gender imbalance long after the policy has been lifted. Currently, Chinese women are coming out more educated and hold better job positions compare to before but the choice of men is lacking. Men are threatened by these women's capabilities and feel that these women are lacking wife materials.
Here are a few things I noted down from the book:
-Sajiao or anegyo is apparently important in relationships. This usually means acting cute or whinge like a small child. Apparently, this is important to create balance in a relationship? To make the man feel more manly and capable and make the woman seem less independent. This is quite absurd but it is such a common practice.
-A man who has a car, house and cash makes him eligible for marriage. These are the top three requirements for a woman to choose a man. This makes women look very materialistic but Lake explained this also stems from their parents who are the main decision-makers in them choosing a suitable spouse. This proves to create a huge burden on men, especially men living in rural areas or men who are not well off, it is almost impossible for them to find a Chinese wife which is why they will resort to purchasing Vietnam brides. This in turn, will increase the rates of leftover women which turns out to be a vicious cycle.
-I was appalled that there are too many terms for women who are past the so called "marriageable age". In China, they consider women as young as twenty-three to be getting old. If you are twenty-five and more married, you are basically turning into a "leftover" woman. In Japan, they call these women "Christmas cake" because they eat these on the 25th (age relevance) and on 26th December, they become expired Christmas cakes that nobody wants. In Korea, people call them "Gold miss" because once they have reached their prime age, no men would want them anymore. It is so so appalling and frustrating to see women being categorised this way!
-Another shocking thing Lake pointed out was that couples in China don't necessarily marry for love. They marry based on cash flow, car and house. The more the man has, the better. it doesn't matter if they are cheating on each other, they are fully aware of that, as long as they come home to each other because getting divorced is considered a shameful thing and parents will not allow their children to put them through that shame.
Lake also mentioned about women int he workplace and how they are discriminated from their job roles and also being hired based on their marital statuses so companies can avoid paying for maternity leaves. Another reason why companies prefer to hire men over women and how it is difficult for women to achieve a leadership role because she constantly have to make a choice between work or family.