The ad has had millions of views and has sparked debate and discussion around the country. Some people believe the ad is empowering. Some think it is pandering. Personally, I think the ad is daring not only because it empowers women, but because it directly undermines the Chinese government.

The derogatory term “leftover women” (剩女; shèngnǚ;) was coined over a decade ago by the All-China Women’s Association, an organization that was founded in 1949 as the leader of the women’s rights movement but has become little more than a Party mouthpiece to help keep women in their place. The term refers to women over 25 (it was 27, but apparently the age has been lowered in recent years) who are not yet married and thus unlikely to get married. Even though these women are typically not married because they have been furthering their education and careers, they are considered a drain on society because they are not getting married and giving birth to the next generation. Even though China’s explosive rate of leftover men is a much larger problem, shengnan (剩男) are not similarly criticized and the term doesn’t hold the same meaning. Men can get married at any time in their lives and are expected to get married later as they pursue their careers. Since there are at least 20 million more men in China than women, it is unavoidable that many of these men will never marry.

Leftover men are viewed victims who don’t have a choice but to remain single; leftover women are viewed selfish for choosing to remain single.Leftover men are viewed victims who don’t have a choice but to remain single; leftover women are viewed selfish for choosing to remain single.

The Chinese government has been behind this calculated attack on urban, educated women from the beginning. China has been hurtling toward a demographic disaster since the inception of the one-child policy in 1979, but China has only been taking steps to correct this course in recent years. By focusing on “leftover women,” the Chinese government was able to shift the blame the countries lack of employees to women who are getting jobs instead of getting husbands and pivot away from blame on the one-child policy.

“Yes, we are in a bad situation, but it wouldn’t be this bad if those women were hunting for husbands as hard as they are hunting for jobs,” the government seems to say. By not taking one of the millions of leftover men into her bed and giving birth to the next generation of Chinese workers, unmarried women in China are not doing their duty for the Chinese State.

The Chinese government has even ramped up its attacks on unmarried women in recent years. Especially since the adoption of the two-child policy, you expect to see more attacks against “leftover women” because these women are actively working against China’s efforts to increase its population.

I’m surprised that the SK-II ad was approved by Chinese censors and it hasn’t been removed. The message that women don’t need to get married or have kids is totally contrary to the message the Chinese government has been sending women for over a decade.

And that is why this ad is so subversive. This ad glorifies the leftover woman. It empowers them. It calms their parents’ fears. It tells women that they can be good Chinese daughters on their own. And that’s pretty awesome.

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The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics has found that the number of single women in Beijing is rising, accounting for 45 percent of all singles between the ages of 30 and 44, an increase of 40 percent from the last time the survey was held five years ago.

And as befitting the “leftover woman” model, these single women are usually city residents with good educations. Ninety-three percent of these women live in urban areas, and 81 percent hold college degrees or higher. By contrast, the survey found that single men in China usually live in rural areas. More than half of these single men only have a junior high school education at best.

If you’re thinking a quirky rom-com scenario is the ideal circumstance to match-up these unlikely pairs, you’d be wrong. Xinhua reports that Chinese men tend to marry younger, less educated women than themselves.

According to some experts, the rise of leftover women may be simply due to the fact that women are better enjoying their rights and freedoms. Writer Luo Aiping, 38,  has said the high numbers of leftover women in China is a sign of progress. Luo maintains that real achievement for women is attaining equal respect and freedom.

The Beijing survey was taken of one percent of the population as a way to supplement the national census.

Related:

• Hong Kong’s Gender Imbalance Leaving a Generation of Unmarried Women
• Guangdong has the most singles in China, but “leftover men” a problem
• Evolution of Dating in China: Trading Pressure for Preference

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The term “leftover women”, which describes single women over the age of 30 or so, is considered a pejorative because it singles women out for their failure to find a husband. But Luo Aiping, a 38-year old writer of a book called Investigation into China’s Leftover Women, says women should be wearing the title with pride because it shows China is advancing.

Luo maintains that a woman’s happiness has nothing to do with a husband or children. For women, real achievement is attaining equal respect and freedom. Luo says marriage restricts the freedom of women and hinders them from developing their careers:

When I look around at other women my age, they’ve mostly retreated from their careers and gone back to their homes. Women with ambition are a small minority.

Luo blames traditional Chinese culture for a lack of options:

A lot of women think having a child is a personal decision, but I think it’s worth asking if that really is the case. That’s because from birth, we are told that as girls we should get married and have babies. There’s no way you’re allowed to have the freedom to choose for yourself… This society requires women to both be pining for love or a marriage, but I don’t yearn for either one.

China recent economic advances in turn provide female empowerment. As Luo says, the phenomenon of “leftover women” shows that China is progressing:

A woman’s right to an education has been guaranteed. By becoming financially independent and able to take care of oneself, marriage changes from a necessity everyone needs in their lives to a choice you can make for yourself.

Luo is also critical of Chinese women who make marriage more important than romance and love. Even still, Luo thinks that marriage does not confer many benefits to women, who are instead saddled with responsibilities. And even within the bonds of marriage, the “feeling of security” that so many Chinese women pine for does not exist:

Before marriage, property belongs to each individual. However, our society has a predilection to make men provide a house for marriage. In the case that one day the couple may have a divorce, you may find yourself left with nothing.

Luo also opens up about not being married. She said she hasn’t been in a relationship in ten years and is enjoying single life. For her, love is just a fleeting, momentary emotion that is not worth yearning for. As for sex:

Marriage does not guarantee you will have a satisfactory sex life. Also, the methods to having a one-night stand are now becoming increasingly available and convenient.

Here’s the video of the interview:

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You can be a successful, independent Chinese woman with your own career, but you can’t control what you do with the eggs in your own body – at least, not without a man in your life. That’s because if a woman wants to freeze her own eggs to give birth in the future, she needs to meet an important requirement: having a husband.

China’s Ministry of Health has said that any Chinese couples interested in using assisted reproductive technology must present their marriage certificate, identity cards and birth permits and prove that at least one partner is suffering from fertility difficulties if they want to use the technology.

The ban comes after a controversy erupted earlier this summer when actor and director Xu Jinglei (seen below) was reported to have had her eggs frozen in the USA. The outcry over the procedure had to do with Xu’s age, 41, and the fact that she remains unmarried.

Netizens felt Xu was far too old to be considering having a baby of her own through any means, and should refrain from “playing God”. Meanwhile, Sina News reports that egg-freezing is a growing trend among women in Chinese hospitals who are following in the footsteps of celebrities like Xu.

For her part, Xu only had personal misgivings, saying, “The only thing I regret is that I am a little bit late in doing so.”  Xu explained her decision to store her eggs was the only way to make up for her past mistakes if she failed to get married and have a baby.

The issue of leftover women is a taboo subject in China, with society generally accepting that women should get married before the age of 27. This fixed age is important because pregnancies are not encouraged to take place after 30 years of age. Experts warn that postponing pregnancy can lead to a host of problems and urge women to reconsider using techniques such as egg freezing.

Regulations set by the Ministry of Health now state that freezing eggs solely for the purpose of preserving or extending fertility, surrogacy and trading in ova are all illegal acts. The ban was met with harsh criticism online. Here’s how popular blogger and Nescafe spokesperson Han Han lashed out at the Ministry of Health:

So it’s not possible to want to have a child without first getting married to a man? You can’t use your own eggs? Women don’t have the right to independently have their own babies? In addition to this, birth permits aren’t given to unmarried women who get pregnant, meaning that these children won’t even be able to get a hukou (residence permit) in the future unless they pay a large fine as a punishment. Does bearing children require a man for a husband? I can’t accept this kind of male chauvinism.

As pointed out by Chinese media, China has no major technological obstacles to successful egg freezing, only that there is an ethical line drawn by society as to how this assisted reproductive technology will be used. However, ethical standards aren’t impeding the progress of certain scientific research in China, such as stem cell research, which is occurring in a unregulated environment that has been called the “Wild Wild West”.

Nature reports that despite guidelines set by China’s Ministry of Health, clinics continue to provide untested medical treatments derived from stem cell research.

So while single women in China don’t have the right to control their own reproductive systems, at least Chinese scientists seem to be enjoying their freedom in China. As neurobiologist Luo Minmin said, “If I had stayed in America, the chances of making a discovery would have been lower. Here, people are willing to take risks. They give you money, and essentially you can do whatever you want.”

Related:

• Hong Kong’s Gender Imbalance Leaving a Generation of Unmarried Women
• Guangdong Has The 2nd Largest Population of “Leftover Women” in China
• Guangdong has the most singles in China, but “leftover men” a problem
• University student becomes celebrity for marrying and having kids early
• Anhui Bill Proposes “Pink Holidays” For Menstruating Women
• Did the Times Censor a Story on Foreign Abortions in China?

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A woman reads single men’s profiles posted on a dating board.

Guangdong, the most populous Province in Southern China, is not only a draw for migrant workers; it also draws large numbers of single women. According to a list released by dating website, jiayuan.com., Guangdong has the second largest population of “leftover women” in China, second only to Beijing. Single women aged 27+ are generally considered to be ‘leftover women”, while men aged 30+ are considered “leftover men”.

The dating site attributed the high numbers of single women to the Cities’ work pressures, fast pace and lifestyle: about 80 percent reported that their life revolved around going to work and returning home. About 30 percent said they had no time for a relationship.

According to the report, Henan is home to the highest rate of bachelors, or “leftover men”, with 74 percent. The Yangcheng Evening News cited another report, indicating that “leftover” men and women invariably work as journalists, lawyers or public relations professionals. Journalists account for almost 20 percent of the China’s total leftover population, followed closely by lawyers at 18 percent, the report said. Among leftover men, computer techs are most likely to have a hard time finding a partner because, “they are introverted and socially awkward”.

Photos: China Daily 

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Women browsing single men’s information displayed on a board in a dating event in Shanghai.

While China has a lopsided sex ratio of 1,176 men for every 1,000 women, an imbalance that could leave 24 million men without a wife by 2020, the country’s special administrative region of Hong Kong is having an equally confounding problem but in reverse: a surplus of unmarried women, the result of the city’s worst gender imbalance recorded in history according to the latest official government statistics.

In 1981, the city’s sex ratio was 1,087 men for  every 1,000 women. However, 33 years later, the gender imbalance has declined to 864 men for every 1,000 women, down from 876 men recorded in 2013. This is Hong Kong’s most imbalanced gender ratio since the city first started recording it in 1961.

According to Xinhua, there are two factors behind the problem. One is the influx of mainland women who generally hold a single-entry Hong Kong visa. The other is the mass of foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong, mostly women from Philippines and Indonesia. The population of domestic helpers in Hong Kong is estimated at more than 300,000, wrote The Diplomat.

Meanwhile, the pool of unmarried Hong Kong women aged 25 or above, or the so-called “leftover women”, is also growing. In the city’s central and western district, for instance, the number of unmarried women account for 33% of the district’s total population. In Shatin district alone, there are more than 90,000 unmarried women, according to the Xinhua report, citing official figures.

As a result, the ages for marrying and child-bearing have been pushed later and later. The average age for a woman to marry has moved from 23.9 years old in 1981 to 29.1 years old in 2013. Likewise, their child-bearing age has been postponed to 31.3 in 2013.

In addition, the plight of the city’s leftover women is worsening as more of the city’s men marry mainland women across the border. There could be many reasons for this, but popular belief in Hong Kong is that mainland women are, rightly or wrongly, viewed as more compliant than the stereotyped selective and picky Hong Kong women. In 2013, close to 20,000 Hong Kong men married mainland women.

Squeezed by the worsening gender imbalance in favour of men in the city, Hong Kong women are looking to the fuerdai, the second generation of rich, on the mainland for future partners.

Dating consulting agency personnel Ou Huifang said Hong Kong’s surplus women are “perfect matches” for the mainland’s surplus men. Mainland men in general favor Hong Kong, which means they will have an additional sense of accomplishment if they can marry a Hong Kong woman, Ou continued.

But so far, the cross-border dating experiences have been disappointing for Hong Kong women as they are far too independent to fit the traditional model for mainland men, which involves seeking a “virtuous wife and caring mother”, according to another Hong Kong-based dating agency. For now, most Hong Kong women will continue to be unmarried and lonely by choice, or increasingly, by default.

Photos: Daily Mail; Reuters

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