Reflections on the Phenomenon of the Leftover Ladies.docx

Reflections on the Phenomenon of the Leftover Ladies.docx

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ReflectionsonthePhenomenonoftheLeftoverLadies

ReflectionsonthePhenomenonoftheLeftoverLadies

Abstract:

TheLeftoverLadiesiswellknownasabuzzwordontheinternet,butthesocialproblemsreflectedbythistermasasocialphenomenonarenotsowellknown.Thesesocialproblemsarenotsosimpleasthewomenwhoaremarriageabledon’tgetmarried.Ithasbecomeaspecialsocialphenomenonthatattractsthepublicattention.Atthesametime,moreandmoresociologistsengagethemselvesintheresearchonthisspecialgroup.ItseemsthattheresearchontheLeftoverLadieshasagreatpotentialtobecomeoneofacademicfocalpoints.BasedonthedeeperunderstandingoftheLeftoverLadies,thispaperfocusesonanalyzingthereasonsthatresultintheformationoftheLeftoverLadiessinChina.Wemainlycarriedoutliteratureanalysistomakeasummaryfromthepreviousstudiesrelatedtooursubject.Intheprocessofsummarizing,wefoundthat,theemergeofLeftoverLadiesshouldnotbeattributedtotheseLeftoverLadiesthemselvesonly.Infact,theLeftoverLadiesareundergreatpressurefromthemedia,thesocietyandthetraditionalconcepts.ThephenomenonofLeftoverLadiesresultsfromvariousaspects,suchasthesociety,theculture,thefamily,theindividualandsoon.Aftertheanalysisofthisphenomenon,wehavethereasontobelievethattheformationoftheLeftoverLadiesisnotaccidental,anditistheproductofsocialtransformationandculturalchange.

Keywords:

LeftoverLadies;Socialproblem;Reflections

Outline

Abstract1

1.Introduction1

1.1TheBackground1

1.2LiteratureReview2

2.ThebasicinformationoftheLeftoverLadies3

2.1Definition3

2.2Characteristics3

2.3Types3

3.Analysis4

3.1SocialFactors4

3.2Individualfactors6

4.Conclusions7

References9

1.Introduction

1.1TheBackground

ThephraseLeftoverLadieshasbecomeatermusedtodescribethewomen’scurrentstateinmediaandacademia,anditisoneofthe171ChineseneologismspublishedinAugust2007bytheMinistryofEducation.InChina,theLeftoverLadieshasbecomeanimportantfeatureofthecities.SomerelateddatashowthatthenumberoftheLeftoverLadiesinBeijinghasexceeded500,000in2009.AsurveyfortheLeftoverLadiesshowthat82.79%ofwomeninShanghaiholdtheideaofcelibacy.Amongthehighlyeducatedwomen,theproportionwasashighas89.94%.Thisinvestigationalsoindicatesthatmorethan860,000ofmarriageablewomenareunmarriedatpresent,andaregettingmoreandmore.ThesedataindicatethatthereisagrowingtrendforthegroupoftheLeftoverLadies.However,thegroupoftheLeftoverLadiesisnotonlytheuniquesocialproductofChinesesociety,butalsoexistsinothercountriesbecauseofsomesimilarordifferentreasons.AccordingtotheinvestigationofNewweekly,51%ofAmericanwomenlivealoneand1/3ofyoungwomeninGermanychoosenottogetmarried.InothercountriesofAsia,theproportionoftheLeftoverLadiesamongthemarriageablewomenisalsoveryhigh.SuchasinJapan,59%ofthewomenwhoarebetween25and29yearsoldareunmarried,andthereareonly39.3womenmarriedamong1000marriageablewomeninSingapore.

TherearedifferentbywordsfortheLeftoverLadiesindifferentcountries,suchasinsomewesterncountries,theLeftoverLadiesarecalled“3Slady”——single,seventies,stuck.InJapan,thisgroupiscalled“underdog”or“loserdog”asametaphorforthewomanwhoisabandonedbyman.Nomatterinwhichcountry,thebywordsfortheLeftoverLadiesarenotnice,andevenareinsulting.Thesegroupsareunderenormouspressurefromthemedia,thesocietyandtheirfamilies.So,manysociologistsbelievethatthereisimportantrealisticsignificancetodoresearchonthephenomenonoftheLeftoverLadies.

1.2LiteratureReview

Inrecentyears,theissueoftheLeftoverLadieshasbeenpayedgrowingattentiontobysomescholars.LongXiaotiananalyzedthereasonsresultinginthephenomenonoftheLeftoverLadiesandthepressuretheLeftoverLadiesfaceinsociallifefromthegenderperspective.Andhealsoputforwardsomesolutionstotheproblem.TangLipingstudiedtherootcauseofthepredicamentoftheLeftoverLadiesfromthedimensionofsocialstructuralchange.HuangShashaanalyzedthesocialinstitutionalfactorsthatleadtotheformationofthegroupoftheLeftoverLadiesandtheimpactsthatthephenomenonoftheLeftoverLadiesbroughttothesociety.TheseresentstudiesanalyzedthereasonsthatresultinthephenomenonoftheLeftoverLadiesfromthesocialperspectivebutfewofthemstudiedthesubjectfullyandsystematically.

BasedontheadeeperunderstandingfortheLeftoverLadies,ourthesisaimsatanalyzingsocial,traditionalandindividualreasonsthatleadtotheappearanceoftheLeftoverLadies,andprovingtheinevitabilityoftheexistenceofthisgroup.

2.ThebasicinformationoftheLeftoverLadies

2.1Definition

ThephraseoftheLeftoverLadiesisoneneologismspublishedbytheMinistryofEducationofChinainAugust2007.Andwhatisleftoverladiesthen?

Inacademia,thereisstillnoexactdefinitionfortheLeftoverLadies.Here,wedefineitasfollows:

itreferstotheelderunmarriedwomenwhoareusuallyhighlyeducated,beautiful,andearnsalot,buthavenotbeenmarried.

2.2Characteristics

TheLeftoverLadiesarenotthecommonyoungwomen.Theyarealwaysexcellent,elderunmarriedwomen.Theyareusuallyhighlyeducatedandtheytendtohavetheirownthoughtsandgoodtaste.Theyhavehigherstandardsforchoosingamateandtheydesireforafreeandhappymarriageverymuch.SometimestheLeftoverLadiesmaybedescribedas3S,namelysingle,seventiesandstuck.Inotherwords,itmeansthattheyarestillsingle,theywerebornintheseventiesoflastcenturyandtheyarestuck.

2.3Types

Traditionally,peopledividetheLeftoverLadiesroughlyintofivecategoriesaccordingtotheageofthem,i.e.primary,intermediate,advanced,special,super.AsshowninTable1:

Table1:

TheclassificationoftheLeftoverLadies

Category

Age

TheConditionofChoosingaSpouse

Primary

25-27

Moreopportunities,Widerrangeofchoice,

Haveconfidence

Intermediate

28-32

Bebusywithwork,

Havenotimetolookingforacompanion

Advanced

33-35

Surviveinthefiercecompetitionintheworkplace

Haveevenhigherstandards

Special

36-45

Achieveasuccessfulcareer,Havestableincome,

Youthfadesaway,Narrowerrange,Lessopportunity

Super

Above46

Remarkablecareerachievements,

Almostzeroopportunity

Besides,wecanalsoseparatetheLeftoverLadiesintotwokinds,thatisactivetypeandpassivetype.Theactivetypemeansthat,accordingtotheRationalExpectationsTheory,theLeftoverLadiesmakethechoicesactivelyandrationally,howevertheyareleftoverbecausetheywon’tsacrificetoomuchforamarriage.Whilethepassivetypereferstothosewomenwhocan’tfindaproperspousethatcanmeettheirexpectationscompletely.

3.Analysis

3.1SocialFactors

Intraditionalsocieties,womenhadalowsocialstateandtheyweredeprivedofmanyrights,suchastherighttobeeducatedandtherighttochooseamarriageonherown.However,withthedevelopmentofthesocietyandtheabundanceofthematerialcultureandspiritualculture,themodernsocietypresentsadifferentlook.Itismainlymanifestedfromthefollowingfouraspects.

（1）Women’srightofreceivingeducation

Atpresent,womenhavetherighttogotocollegeandhaveequalrightswithmen.Withtheimprovementofeducationlevel,womenpaymoreattentiontothequalityoftheirmarriage.TheLeftoverLadiesgrewupinanopensocietyandthisprovidetheLeftoverLadiesmoreopportunitiestobeeducatedandtocompetewithothersthanthewomenwhowerebornbefore.Associetychanges,people'sconcepthasalsoundergoneaconsiderablechange.Theideathatthemodernfemmeholdsisdifferentfromthepastfemale.Themodernfemmehasaccesstohighereducationinordertopursueasuccessfulcareerandtoparticipateinthesocialcompetition.Therefore,themarriageableagehasbeenpostponedingeneral.

（2）Women’seconomicindependenceandpursuitforprofession

Inpre-industrialsocietyatwhichtimetheproductionwasunderdeveloped,economicmotivationisconsideredasthemostimportantcriteriaformarriage.Womenchosemarriagetoimprovetheeconomicconditionsandwomenarecompletelyattachedtomen.Withtheimprovementofthemodernizationlevelandthesocialrecognitionforwomen,therearemoresuitablepositionsforwomen.Theappearanceofvariousfemaleelitesdeclaresthewoman’ssocialvalue.Therefore,womenwhocansupportthemselvesneedn’tdependonmeneconomicallyanymore.

（3）Socialinclusion

Inthepastandtraditionalsociety,theoldmaidswhowereunmarriedwouldbeafraidtogooutofhomeandtheirownparentswouldeventhinkthatit'sabigshameofthemforbeingunmarried.Peoplewouldtalkaboutthembehindthem,probablyunfriendly.Fewwomencouldwithstandsuchbigpressure,sotheytendedtogetmarriedatanearlyage.However,womeninthemoderntimeregardmarriagesasonlypartoftheirlifeandtheywon’tsacrificethemselvesfortheirmarriagesjustbecauseoftheargumentsbyothers.Unlikeinthepast,todaypeopledonotliketoinvadeotherpeople'sprivacy.Thelessinterveneintootherpeople’slifealsopromotetheformationofLeftoverLadies.

3.2Individualfactors

As theChinese proverb says,everyone has the cupboard.ThereisnoexceptionfortheLeftoverLadies.ThereareseveralindividualreasonsfortheLeftoverLadiestobe“left”.

（1）Changesofwomen’s ideology

Associetychanges,people'sviewsandva