zhōng guó中国wèi hūn未婚nǚ xìng女性zhèng zài正在gǎi biàn改变hūn yīn婚姻de的guī zé规则
On weekends, in Shanghai’s People’s Park, some parents write information such as their children’s age, job, and income on pieces of paper, hoping to help them find marriage partners.
In the past, people often called unmarried women who were nearly thirty or older “leftover women,” as if there were something wrong with not getting married.
Now, this term is used less often, and the media and the internet more commonly use “middle-aged women.”
However, women still face pressure to get married.
Family members may ask, “Why aren’t you married yet?”
On Xiaohongshu and Douban, some women have begun discussing “marriage pressure”—that is, their families repeatedly urging them to get married.
They also talk about “fear of marriage,” meaning feeling afraid or worried about getting married.
Some move farther away from their parents to reduce the pressure; others change “leftover woman” to the homophone “successful woman,” showing that they are not failures.
They choose to work hard, earn their own money, and enjoy living alone.
However, do unmarried women really have to have a good job and earn a lot of money for other people to accept their choice?