(London Telegraph) Around a year ago, both Chinese and western media
went into a frenzy over the term “leftover women”, officially defined as
“unmarried women over the age of 27″ by the Chinese Ministry of
Education in 2007. The label, far from being stamped out by enraged
feminists for its derogatory categorisation of women, has instead been
popularised by the Chinese media and is widely used in today.
But
a more insidious relative of the “leftover women” label, one that has
failed to generate the same media furore, is “female PhD” – referring to
women who are studying for or have completed a doctoral degree. While
in the West the term may imply intelligence and accomplishment, its use
within China is often laced with a social stigma that infers a
headstrong personality lacking in femininity and attractiveness. Perhaps
more disturbing is how the phrase has been used interchangeably with
“the third gender”, a highly demeaning label that objectifies educated
women as sexless and abnormal beings.
With Chinese New
Year being celebrated throughout the coming week in China – local
families host a weeklong diary of events and activities from New Year’s
Day, on Saturday – what is traditionally a refreshing and restorative
time has in recent years become a dreaded undertaking for many single
women (and men)...More
Read more www.telegraph.co.uk
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