From ‘half the sky’ to ‘halfway’. ‘Leftover Women’ in China and the potential of commodity feminism

2021 ◽  
pp. 207-218
Author(s):  
Liesa Herbst
Keyword(s):  
Leftover Women

scholarly journals Gender discrimination in societal and familial realms: Understanding agency among Chinese marriage migrant women in Switzerland

2021 ◽  
pp. 011719682098159
Author(s):  
Yali Chen
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Chinese Women ◽  
Professional Women ◽  
Migrant Women ◽  
Leftover Women ◽  
Foreign Wives

To understand the agency of Chinese marriage migrant women in Switzerland in their everyday life, the present article examines the reasons why Chinese women marry European men and their post-migratory life in Switzerland. Based on interviews with Chinese marriage migrant women, the article discusses their gendered representations before migration (as “leftover women” or “divorced women”) to being “foreign wives” after migration to Switzerland. Their migration from China to Switzerland also resulted to a change in their roles from “professional women” to “homemakers.” The gender-related discrimination the women encountered from China to their post-migration life in Switzerland demonstrates a continuum of gender discrimination in which they highly exert their agency that has also been enhanced by acts of resistance.

Book Review: Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China

China Report ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-150
Author(s):  
Madhurima Nundy
Keyword(s):  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Leftover Women

Leftover Women

2015 ◽  
pp. 100-124
Author(s):  
Anni Kajanus
Keyword(s):  
Leftover Women

Caveats and criteria: intercultural courtships of shengnü (‘leftover women’) and Western men in urban China

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy To
Keyword(s):  
Filial Piety ◽  
Married Women ◽  
Chinese Economy ◽  
Urban China ◽  
Partner Choice ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Never Married ◽  
Choice Strategy ◽  
The World ◽  
Leftover Women

The phenomenon of shengnü (‘leftover women’) has attracted much attention in recent years. Many of these single, never-married women have adopted the alternative partner choice strategy of choosing Western men, in the belief that they would be more open-minded about their accomplishments than patriarchal Chinese men. In this study of 17 shengnü’s intercultural courtship experiences in Shanghai, it was found that they faced many caveats. In reality, it was difficult for them to find equally accomplished Western men who were looking for serious relationships. Those who were high-flying executives were often orientalist or licentious, and those who were unambitious were resented and scorned (by the women). Economic criteria aside, one key criterion that the Western men had to fulfil was to know Chinese in order to communicate with the women’s parents. The topic of intercultural courtships brings to light the haigui (overseas returnee) identity of the shengnü who straddle the world of a global cosmopolitan professional elite, and the world of a developing Chinese economy where traditional features like filial piety and guanxi (social connections) still endure.

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