The study investigates how sex ratio imbalance influences mate selection among young adults in higher education in China and looks at notions of power, choice and self.
The study finds that the sex ratio question has contributed to new social risk, and the fear of being “leftover” has unfolded into a moral panic.
Women in higher education did not experience an advantage in mate selection despite their shortage. Reasons for this include detailed criteria for the ideal spouse, gendered dating scripts and restricted social circles.
The risk of being “leftover” makes both young men and women – as well as their parents – aware of the “remote consequences of choice” which may urge on early timing of marriage, as well as the practice of marrying into higher social status.
The chapter concludes that by being constantly reminded of the risk of being “leftover”, marriage as a norm is being further intensified among young adults.
About the book, from Springer.com
This volume documents how families, communities and some groups (single men, young ‘scarce’ women, parents) adapt and adjust to recent demographic shifts in China and India.
It discusses how demographic change interacts with other processes of change, including changes with respect to economic development and globalization, gender, class, caste, families, migration and work.
The chapters offer micro-level analyses contextualized in larger processes of change and push further existing understandings of the consequences of the demographic imbalance between men and women in China and/or India, particularly from a gender perspective. As such this book will be of interest to scholars and students in population studies, sociology, international development, gender studies, and Asian studies.
Lisa Eklund’s personal page here on the Department’s website
