Facing the phenomenon of losing face as a leftover woman : matchmaking and marriage in Shenzhen, China

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Facing the

phenomenon

of losing face

as a leftover

woman

Matchmaking and marriage in Shenzhen, China

Bai Fa Xiang Qin: marriage market - Sheng nu: leftover women - Mienze: Face

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Matchmaking and marriage in Shenzhen - 2016

Facing the phenomenon of losing face as a leftover woman – Inez Bolder 2

COLOPHON

Master Human Geography

Facing the phenomenon of losing face as a leftover woman: matchmaking and marriage in Shenzhen, China

University of Amsterdam

International New Town Institute Almere

Supervisor Ass Prof. M. Bontje Co Tutor C. W. Yang

MSc Date June 2016

Name: Inez Bolder (10203168) Inez.bolder@student.uva.nl

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Acknowledgements

In this thesis my interests in human geography and gender come together in the modern city Shenzhen, with all its challenges and developments. Living in Shenzhen for eight weeks and conducting a research project there has been both a magnificent and surprising experience. I would like to express my gratitude to several people that have contributed to the realization of this thesis. First of all I would like to thank my supervisor Marco Bontje and his co-supervisor Chingwen Yang for their guidance during the process of conducting this research and writing this thesis. During the data gathering collection there has been contact with several students of the University of Shenzhen, who I would like to thank for their cooperation. Linda Vlassenrood and the International New Town Institute (INTI) were supportive in providing the opportunity to visit Shenzhen and all the practical arrangements they have made. Additionally, the participation of all my respondents and informants is greatly appreciated, because they provided an important perspective to my research. Finally, intimates were very supportive, making it possible for me to start with this adventure abroad.

Inez Bolder Shenzhen

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Abstract

Simultaneously with the increasing individualization process since the post-unitary period, there has been a rise in the number of young unmarried Chinese career women in Chinese cities. The term leftover women (sheng nu) is the name given to urban, professional unmarried women in their late twenties and older in China. In recent years this phenomenon has received a lot of attention in public life and the media (Mail Online, 2013). In spite of their often good position, they are considered close to being beyond marriageable age (Women of China, 2012). In 2007, the Women’s Federation of China officially defined

leftover women as unmarried women over the age of 27 (Fincher, 2012). This thesis will give

a better insight of the marital markets, identity of young women and gender roles in Shenzhen, the first and one of the most successful Special Economic Zones. The overall aim of this research is to explore coping strategies to maintain face as a leftover woman in an individualizing China by conducting in-depth interviews in Shenzhen.

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Table of contents 1.Introduction...7

2. Theoretical framework ... 10

2.1 Modernization ... 10

2.3 Individualization in China ... 12

2.4 The concept Face ... 13

2.5 Gender of modernity... 14

2.6 Marriage and matchmaking ... 17

2.7 Leftover women in urban China ... 18

2.8 Summary... 21 3 Research design ... 22 3.1 Research Question ... 22 3.2 Sub-questions ... 22 3.3 Conceptual model... 23 3.4 Operationalization ... 23 3.5 Methods ... 25 3.6 Units of analysis ... 25 4. Process of investigation ... 30 4.1 Data collection... 30 4.2 Interviews ... 31 5.Contextual framework ... 33

5.1 Young professional women in Shenzhen ... 34

5.2 Social life in Shenzhen... 36

5.3 Urban life in Shenzhen ... 36

5.4 Cultural background ... 37 6. Results ... 39 6.1 Face... 39 6.1.1 Hometown... 39 6.1.2 Individual ... 40 6.1.3 Conclusion ... 42

6.2 Gender of Modernity in Shenzhen ... 42

6.3 Matchmaking in Shenzhen ... 44

6.3.1 Love ... 46

6.3.2 Coping strategies... 47

6.3.3 Marriage market ... 48

6.3.4 Conclusion ... 50

6.3.5 Future matchmaking in Shenzhen ... 51

7. Conclusion... 53

8. Discussion ... 54

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8.2 Policy implications ... 56

8.3 Reflection... 58

Appendix A: Interview topic list ... 60

Appendix B: Chinese letter to the Women's Federation of Shenzhen ... 62

Appendix C: Literature about leftover women in Shenzhen ... 64

Bibliography ... 65

List of tables, figures and images Figure 1. China’s rating for professional single ladies……….19

Figure 2. Conceptual scheme………..23

Table 1. Characteristics professional women……….……..26

Table 2. Single female respondents………..……….………….28

Table 3. Married female respondents………..………….………29

Table 4. Male respondents………..……….…29

Table 5. Informants……….………..…….29

Table 6. Focus group……….………...….…29

Image 1 The marriage market in Lotus Mountain Park……….………..….49

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1. Introduction

Urban development in China has been progressing rapidly for the past few decades, especially in the Pearl River Delta region that has become one of the most dynamic areas in China. The city of Shenzhen is one of the fastest growing cities in the world, both population and spatial growth is truly remarkable (Hang, 2006; Hao, 2012; Ng, 2003). It expanded from approximately 300.000 inhabitants in 1980 to 10.6 million in 2013 (Shenzhen Statistical Yearbook, 2014). This rapid urban development was evoked by the establishment of Shenzhen as an experimental city of a new model of economic development though a special market economy. The Special Economic Zone is based on more flexible economic measures and opening up to foreign capital (Ng, 2003). The connection to foreign markets was a lot easier due to Shenzhen’s proximity to the city of Hong Kong, which served Shenzhen as a trade partner as well as the source of inspiration for urban development (Ng, 2003). Moreover, Shenzhen is China’s largest city of immigrants according to the statistics and it houses a floating population of more than 12 million (Management Science, 2016). This is one of the most difficult groups to define and measure among Chinese migrants and it is a rapidly growing population mostly concentrated in urban areas. Despite the fact that there is not actually an official definition for the term floating population in China, the term encompasses everyone who is residing away from the place of their official resident location (Goodkind and West, 2002).

As a result of the modernizing society the marital age in China is changing. People in China are choosing to get married later in life, despite the embedded traditional culture spanning thousands of years that women should marry young (Women of China, 2016). According to Arnold and Zhaoxiang (1986) there is a general consensus that all aspects of marital and family planning programs are mostly affected by culture. Firmly embedded in the Chinese culture is the notion that men are more likely to marry a women from a lower class which causes the well-educated higher class women to stay single, these women are called sheng

nu in China translated into the term leftover women (Women of China, 2016).

Like most Asian nations, China has a traditional bias for sons (Sui-Lee Wee, 2016). Statistics point out that for China’s post 1980s generation, there are tens of millions more men than women of marriageable age (Koetse, 2016). Nevertheless these poorly educated men, mostly living in the rural areas, are no dating potential for the professional leftover women in the cities. The focus of this research is on China’s leftover women, because single women are, from a societal point of view, perceived differently than single men in China. The focus on single women relates to existing ideas in Chinese culture about the ‘ideal’ marriage age for women, which is between 25 and 28 years old (Koetse, 2016). When a woman is not married in her late twenties or early thirties, she is already considered an older woman who has surpassed the usual age for marriage. Single men often do not suffer the same familial and societal pressure as the leftover women and are less stigmatized in the media. Generally, it is more acceptable for men to get married at an advanced age (Koetse, 2016).

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Since Chinese happiness is derived from having a family and children, staying single is equal to losing face in traditional urban China (Wang, 2012). Nowadays many women work hard for their personal development, through education and their careers. According to the Hong Kong Women's Commission, it is a personal and individual choice to decide when to get married (Women of China, 2016). As Shenzhen is situated next to the border of Hong Kong, this could imply that Shenzhen is more influenced by the fast emerging city of Hong Kong than Mainland China in this regard. Because Shenzhen adjoins Hong Kong, women here have been able to learn about professional life and social organizations earlier than women in other regions of China (Women of China a., 2016). The fast development of the city and the modern urban environment attracts and produces females who are more independent and self-confident. These individual characteristics of the women contribute to the fact that well educated females are more likely to stay single. In depth exploration about this phenomenon will follow in the theoretical framework.

Social and scientific relevance

An overview of existing literature about leftover females in Shenzhen is of interest, because a recent study revealed that Shenzhen belongs to the province that is third in the rating for professional single ladies (The World of Chinese, 2014). There is only little scientific literature written about leftover women in Shenzhen, except for some articles in the newspapers. A female student from the university of Shenzhen did an investigation on the existing Chinese literature about this topic in Shenzhen for the purpose of this research and could only find a small novel about two leftover women in Shenzhen, which was hard to find for her and even harder to read for non-western scholars.

Existing literature about leftover women elaborates on the strategies of matchmaking, as well as division in categories of these leftover women and the question whether women have the option to choose their own partner (Geatano, 2014; To, 2013). Yet, there is little attention paid to the question why some women make the choice to be proactive or passive in their coping strategies of matchmaking.

Thesis outline

The main aim of this research is to explore the struggle that young independent women face between traditional lifestyle and metropolitan lifestyle in urban areas. By looking at the individual lives of young professional women as an exemplifying ethnographic study, a more thorough understanding of the struggle of these women might be achieved. The theoretical framework in this thesis will elaborate more on theories of gender roles, matchmaking and leftover women, leading to the research question regarding the individual choices and coping strategies to maintain face as a leftover woman in Shenzhen. The main research question of this study is What are the coping strategies of leftover women in Shenzhen to

maintain face in an individualizing modern urban context intersecting with traditional societal values?

The following chapter provides a theoretical framework for the concept modernization in cities and elaborates on the modernization process in China after the declaration of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Furthermore, this chapter outlines the concept face

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where this research is grounded on and the phenomenon of single professional women in China. Chapter 3 contains the research design of this study and explains the methodology that has been used to conduct this research. Chapter 4 provides a description of the process of investigation as well as the limitations faced during this research process. Chapter 5 consist of a contextual framework and an introduction of the professional women in Shenzhen. In chapter 6 is the elucidation of the difficulties and constraints respondents face in Shenzhen and perceptions of single females in Shenzhen on the risk of losing face. Furthermore in this chapter is a discussion about the contemporary gender of modernity and the processes of matchmaking in Shenzhen. In chapter 7, the different theories and the results of the research will be combined to formulate an answer to the main research question. Finally, in chapter 8 are the possibilities outlined for further research.

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2. Theoretical framework

The theoretical framework contains an elaboration on Simmel’s theory of the modernization process in cities. In addition, the economic modernization and the individualization process in China and the individual’s image with its roots in Confucianism is discussed. Furthermore in this chapter: gender of modernity, the gender roles in China and matchmaking in China. The seventh paragraph concerns the concept of leftover women in China. The last section will connect theories and concepts of the theoretical framework in a brief summary.

2.1 Modernization

This section starts with covering the theory of 'city air makes free', which is applicable to the migrant city Shenzhen. This is followed by an elaboration of the individual in a modernizing city, explained by Simmel (1903). Subsequently, this phenomenon is discussed in the context of Shenzhen.

In a globalized world as today, the changes made by the societies are so complex and so little crystallized out, that it is impossible to clearly distinguish patterns. It is difficult to deny that an increasing proportion of the world population lives in urban areas. It is noteworthy that quite a few of the most creative or innovative economic activities are around cities today. Cities clearly demand a greater role for itself on the national and even international politics, which is obviously not entirely new. Cities are traditionally a magnet for people who want to improve their future, as cities traditionally form the cradle of innovative developments. Modern cities are the central hubs of a growing number of global networks. The role of cities is undeniably important and depends on the interplay between various authorities, from the local to the global level (Gatz and Stouthuysen, 2007). Throughout history, cities have often acted as laboratories of political and administrative reform. Shenzhen is in this respect a good example of a city with such a reform, a fast developing city with its recent transformations and located in the south of Guangdong Province at the northern border of Hong Kong. Shenzhen has been through a metamorphosis of modernization, developing from an industry-based Special Economic Zone relying on domestic investment to a modern metropolis sustained by an export-oriented economy.

The freedom of urban people have formed a good breeding ground for entrepreneurship, creativity and dynamics. Cities formed in the past the engine of growth and change. This phenomenon is called by Hall (1998) ‘City air makes free’. Cities were the natural habitat of social innovators and therefore of economic development. The statement that city air makes free, is inspired by a century-old German proverb. In the Middle Ages the rule applied that a serf who spent some time in the city, was fired of obligations to his landlord. From that moment the serf was free and he could do whatever he wanted. As a result of globalization more cities than ever before compete for the favor of residents, businesses and visitors. In other words, the global economy in which we live, calls for creative cities (Hospers, 2005). In general, every creative city is historically unique and can never be a standard model for other cities. In that way, it is not possible to translate historical examples to contemporary context. However, a typology that might be applicable to Shenzhen is that of a technological-innovative city (Hospers, 2005). In the past, acted technological-technological-innovative cities as the

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nurseries of new technological developments or even true technological revolutions(Hospers, 2005). The government in Shenzhen is clearly assigned a role which is to establish the conditions under which people can fully develop. This concern is for the urban environment accompanied by fueling a positive competition between cities, competing for the title of the most beautiful, the most modern and the most prominent city. This competition is fought through organizing international exhibitions, international fairs and major events. These initiatives could form the engine of the establishment of new districts and attraction of new investments (Gatz and Stouthuysen, 2007). The contrast between city and countryside, between the new and the established social forces, is politically strong present in Shenzhen (Cartier, 2002).

The sequel of this chapter will elaborate on the influences of modernization on the individual in the city. The modernization process within a city is context bounded. Simmel was the first by noting the adjustments and modifications made by people in response to external forces. Simmel wrote The Metropolis and Mental Life in 1903 in which he described the modern challenges of contemporary life in the city. He begins his article by discussing one of the most important ideas within this theme, that the urban conditions are necessary for the creation of an independent and confident individual. Due to the intensification of external modern changes in the city, in contrast to a rural setting, the metropolis promotes a situation where one must adapt to a constantly changing environment. This expected adaptability and creativity of urban citizens supports the rise of a logic and intellect of young people. This intellectualism defines life in the city, which develops fast. This is in contrast with the emphasis on personal relationships or characteristic of smaller settings, as in mainland China (Simmel, 1903). Hence young citizens are confronted with the challenges of matching the inner emotions and the external environment. His main focus, corresponding with the aim of this research, can be exactly explained by a quote of Simmel:

The deepest problems of modern life flow from the attempt of the individual to maintain the independence and individuality of his existence against the weight of historical heritage and the external culture and technique of life.

(Simmel, 1903, pp.1 )

Simmel elaborates on the process of modernity in a city and a variety of factors connected to modernity. Simmel argues that the metropolitan lifestyle leads to the decline of the personality of the individual. In other words, the struggle and inherent tension between individualism and the metropolis is a modern issue and the social structure of the metropolis is responsible for this conflict.

The consequences of a modernizing city are reverberated in Shenzhen. The local officials’ aspirations contain the creation of Shenzhen a 21st century world city. However, this desire results in a more uniform city, which neglect the expression of human diversity in Shenzhen (Ng and Tang 2004). Since Shenzhen is China’s largest city of immigrants according to the statistics and houses more than 12 million of floating population, there is a variety of cultures and traditions present in Shenzhen (Management Science, 2016). The floating population in Shenzhen includes migrants coming from their official resident location in

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China (Goodkind and West, 2002). These migrants in Shenzhen have to adapt to the modern situation in a constantly changing urban environment. Hence, different ideas and traditions of diverse groups from all over China are diversified into one single urban way of life in Shenzhen, which relates Simmel’s work in that it highlights the consequences of uniform cities on individuals coming from rural areas (Simmel, 1903).

2.3 Individualization in China

The process of economic modernization in entire China is explained in the following subsection, because the modernization of China from the ’70 during the industrializing is an precursor of modernity in the city. By understanding the modernizing process of a country as China, the consequences of modernity in a city as Shenzhen are more comprehensible. China has an enormous geographical variety, both physical and human, which provides a context for different types of urban life. The traditional Chinese cities incurred along the ideals of Chinese culture and society, to serve the defensive structures and to maintain the social structures of Confucian society. After the declaration of the People's Republic of China in 1949, most of the Chinese cities retained their characteristic urban form. Despite efforts to develop the country’s infrastructure and anti-urban ideology, the eastern region of China continues to dominate the urban system, in terms of housing the largest share of urban citizens as well as the highest share of the country’s wealth (Wu and Gaubatz, 2013). After Mao’s death in 1978, his successor Deng Xiaoping instituted significant economic reforms. These reforms marked China's transition from a planned economy to a mixed economy with an increasingly open market environment. This resulted in the modernization process of Chinese cities, with both positive and negative effects for urban life. The contemporary Chinese society recognizes the diversity in urban society more and more, stressed by China’s economic development and modernization.

Yan (2010) explores the rise of the individual and the consequential individualization of society in China. During the Maoist era, the first stage of the individualization process was launched when the state disconnected the individual from the family, kinship and local community. Simultaneously, the state re-embedded the individual as a social subject in the state-controlled system of work, life and wellbeing. The individualization and modernization process of China is de facto a reaction to the imperial and colonial challenges of the West. The era of collectivizing caused individual reflection and participation of the individual in the state-party. In this way the individual felt responsible for the state. According to Beck's theory of the second modernity and individualization, we have to step out of the western European perspective, before we could understand the complexity of this process in China (Beck, 2005).

The second stage began after the reform. The individualization process emerged as a reflexive correction to most of the mistakes of Maoist socialism and during this stage different processes influenced the individualization in China (Yan, 2010). Individualization in China is characterized by the management of the state and the absence of cultural democracy by which the absence of a welfare state regime, and the absence of classic individualism and political liberalism played a role in the modernity process simultaneously.

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The Chinese case demonstrates pre-modern, modern, and late-modern conditions, and the Chinese individual must deal with all of these conditions at the same time (Yan, 2010).

Four forces caused more independency of the individual during the second stage after 1978. Firstly, it was the privatization of the public-needs that became market led, for example health care and education. Secondly, people who migrated to the city had to leave their family behind in the rural area and had to find their own way in the city, from then on being accompanied by the structures existing in the city. Thirdly, the development of identity became increasingly recognizable in the city, expressed in consumer behavior, the availability of a variety of modern products gave the individual the ability to choose. Fourthly, the silent sex revolution was also an example of a changing lifestyle that promoted individualization, as romantic love and sexuality were just a taboo during the Maoist era (Yan, 2010).

2.4 The concept Face

The opposite of the modernization process and individualization is the concept of face ‘Individual’s public image’ with its roots in Confucian culture, which could explain the interpretation difficulties for western people. Hwang explains that the Chinese concept of face could be indicated into two different concepts: the social face mianzi and moral face

lian. In areas of southern China where Cantonese and Hakka are spoken, the term mienze

denotes the meanings of both lian and mianzi (Hwang, 2012).

Social networks among individuals of different social positions are important in Chinese society. The way they are maintained and cultivated is managed through the concept of face (Organization Science, 2016). The concept stimulates a person’s position in society and supports the maintenance of the same rank as others in a society in terms of capabilities, skills, and knowledge (Organization Science, 2016).

Many scholars tend to research the concept of face since Hu (1994) started a serious study of the Chinese concept. His conclusion of the meaning of this concept is the kind of prestige or reputation someone achieves in life. Meanwhile, Ho (1976) referred to face as respectability, which includes the quality of life and morally correct and socially acceptable values in life (Science Direct, 2016).

Despite the fact that it is hard for these scholars to completely understand the meaning of the concept, all pointed out that mienze is firmly linked to terms as position, wealth, power, family status, knowledge and character. The opposite of ‘gaining’ face is distinguishable from what is called ‘loss’ of face and could be expressed more as a process of erosion. The same applies the other way around: not losing face also does not mean gaining face, because the criteria for determining whether one loses face are different (Organization Science, 2016). As is evident from the preceding, not all of these factors belong to an individual, but are related to others with whom the individual is intimately associated or to the social group the individual belongs to by position or status. The concept face could be interpreted on various levels, rather on an individual, relational or community level (Science Direct, 2016).

First, concerning the individual gaining face, one’s own perceived reputability is arising from those attributes or characteristics positively valued by society. These characteristics are

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identified by the person as agreeable and respectable, defined in different aspects of a person, such as personality, behavior, appearance, education background, ability, position, social status, and wealth (Science Direct, 2016). These characteristics constitute the identity or contribute to the status of that individual and further differentiate the individual from others. Behaviors such as leading an unproductive and pessimistic life, all have great effects on life in the context of the Confucian tradition (Hwang, 2012). There exists a contradiction within Confucianism: besides the norm of promoting a family, the foster of avail of an individual’s full potential is paramount. In other words, once an individual is blessed with an above average intelligence, one must bring this to development. When you fail to accomplish this, you lose face as well. Therefore, many young people are struggling with these opposing values these days (Hwang, 2012).

Apart from the individual mienze in Chinese culture, relational mienze is also prominent: an individual may also encounter losing face when others evaluate characters of that person’s intimates negatively (Science Direct, 2016). Under the influence of Confucian tradition, the most important social relations for Chinese are those with family members and face is an essential element in Chinese families. Individuals' personal lives are a continuity of their parents' lives, who in turn succeed their forefathers. As a result, family members have the feeling that they predominantly lose or maintain face together with the family (Hwang, 2012). In the case of this research, parents and family experience losing face when their children do not succeed in matchmaking and marriage. This causes an interplay between the individual level and relational level of losing face, because at the same the time the daughters feel remorseful towards their family, but also for the community they belong to. According to Wei (2014) single Chinese women in their mid-twenties will be urged by parents and peers to get married. To argues that these girls are being treated with disrespect, because there is a lack of positive concepts to describe independent successful women (To, 2013). The patriarchal culture motivates their parents to find potential partners for their daughters at Marriage Markets (Wei, 2014), therefore many Chinese parents are willing to go to marriage markets for their daughters, despite the possibility of losing face (Wei, 2014). The two levels of mienze have great prominence in Chinese culture. One of the reasons for this is that Chinese people are group-oriented and they consequently try to earn positive judgments for other members by doing things that will glorify the group (Science Direct, 2016).

2.5 Gender of modernity

Following the discussion of processes of modernization and individualization, this section elaborates on the gender of modernity, as gender differences in modern development could exist in the research area of Shenzhen as well. Rita Felski challenges conventional male centered theories of modernity, through an innovative exploration of the complex relation between women and the modern society. Furthermore she assumes an opposition between experiences of the modern world between men and women, instead of the critical feminist perspectives of an inherently patriarchal modern society (Felski, 2009).

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After the argumentation of Felski’s theory about gender of modernity, this theory will be examined for China. To start the discussion about gender of modernity, the question could be raised: what is the gender of modernity? Gender affects not only a certain historical scope of what is included and what is excluded, but also our interpretations of the nature and meaning of social processes. Regarding the processes of urbanization and industrialization, the status of women under conditions of urbanization and industrialization further reveals itself not to acknowledge the social determination of femininity. Therefor a logic of identity which assumes that women's experiences of modernity cannot simply be assimilated to that of men must be advocated. Obviously, women's lives have been radically transformed by such modern transformations as industrialization, urbanization, new forms of time-space regulation and the development of the mass media. In this sense, there can be no separate sphere of women's history outside the prevailing structures and logics of modernity. However, women have experienced these changes in gender-specific ways, not only by the hierarchies of class, race and sexuality but by various identities and practices as consumers, mothers, workers and lovers. According to Felski these diversely feminine concurrences with the different ways of modern development are largely ignored by cultural and social theories about gender of historical processes. Consequently raises Felski an approach focusing on texts with experiences of women and that may result in a somewhat different set of perspectives on the meaning of historical processes (Felski, 2009). By using this approach, feminists risk a reinforcement of gender stereotypes if they devote all their attention to uncover a distinctive women's culture. If gender politics played a central role in shaping processes of modernization, these same processes help to initiate an ongoing modification and creation of gender specifications.

In the follow section will be discussed the gender of modernity in China. Recognizable in China where son preference is strong due to the one child policy is the low status of women (Arnold and Zhaoxiang, 1986). As previously mentioned traditional Confucianism aims for the support and reflection of a strong hierarchy, both within and outside the family. This is represented in different characteristics, but especially through age and gender. In line with these norms and attitudes, women were inferior to men in China (Bauer et al., 1992). In traditional Confucian thoughts, women were inferior to men as described before in this chapter, they were viewed as being weak and designated to serve others (Hughes and Maurer-Fazi, 2002). In the late 1970s the central government of China initiated an official program, the one-child policy to reduce the enormous population growth rate. Boys were preferred in traditional life, because they could carry on the family name and were able to help their parents with the hard work (Women of China b., 2016). After this family planning policy, there was an increase in sex selective abortion, the only child would be a son. The imbalance in China’s gender population ratio nowadays is the result of three decades of gender preference and gender selection before birth, especially in rural areas. Differences in status across time and between different countries or groups has been variously attributed to differences in discrimination, education, fertility and marriage.

The Chinese Communist Party has always advocated and promoted sexual equality, and it regards the reduction of sexual inequality as one of its major long-range goals (Arnold and

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Zhaoxiang, 1986). In the first decade of the revolution, women’s labour force participation increased dramatically and was viewed as a form of liberation. The discourse of the period suggests that Chinese women’s participation in paid labour improved their status remarkably. The introduction of the economic reform has introduced many new elements into women’s own and others’ perception of women’s roles and status in the workplace. In the pre-reform system, workers received nearly equal wage regardless of their work effort, resulting in more wage equality between women and men. With the start of economic reform in the 1980s, the authorities decentralised the wage payment system to local levels, allowing employers to diverge from national wage scales. For the first time, worker‘s earnings were linked to their own productivity and the profitability of their enterprise. It also allowed managers more freedom to engage in discriminatory practices. As a result, women’s earnings and status declined compared to their pre-revolutionary levels. Another result is that the rise in competition in both the product and labour market, increased the labour market outcomes of disadvantaged groups. This reform has caused an imbalance in the gender labour market (Hughes and Maurer-Fazio, 2002).

After the reform, the process of globalization is widely considered as one of the most important driving forces of economic growth and social change, and may induce gender equality in the labour market. Globalization is inducing large influxes of women away from the household or unpaid work to foreign-invested and export-oriented industries, which leads to a female labour surplus and widening of the gender wage gap (Zhihong Chen et al., 2016). Globalization increases competitive pressure, thus increasing gender discrimination in wages and employment (Zhihong Chen et al., 2016). There are other channels through which the effects of globalization indirectly affect gender inequality in the labour market, such as economic growth, investment in the human capital of girls, technological improvements and household decisions. The global outsourcing in booming sectors such as software and services has provided opportunities for women as well. However, according to Zhihong girls are more likely to be educated in English and thus in a better position to take advantage of the job opportunities created by globalization (Zhihong Chen et al., 2016). Job opportunities for women have helped to improve their economic status and Chinese women are now participating in the paid labor force as much as in most other modern societies (Women of China, 2016).

Starting in the end of 2015, the one child policy is formally phased out and all couples are allowed to have two children for the first time in more than three decades. This policy arrangement has a lot of consequences on births rates and influences the lives of women related to sexuality and the reproductive system. In contemporary China, femininity still implies tender and nurturing, instead of independent and ambitious. This reinforces a normative womanhood grounded in domestic roles and asymmetrical gender relations (Geatano, 2014). Young women and men are coping with a ‘non-digestible Chinese culture mix’: Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, communism and recently the Western influences. Added to this, they try to develop their own individuality and sexuality (Vriesekoop, 2015). However, the position of Chinese women has changed dramatically in a short time. Women

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are clearly winning in many fields, for example in university and in workplaces traditionally dominated by men (Women of China, 2013).

2.6 Marriage and matchmaking

In this section marriage and matchmaking in China will be discussed and followed by an exploration of the meaning of love in China compared to the understanding of love in Western countries. Since the period of de-collectivization and the gradual introduction of a market economy, the high price paid for increased individual space and determination among younger people, was a loss of civility and the growth of ego centred consumerism (Yan 2003). Changes in the legal, social and economic fields during the period of de-collectivization have had a particularly strong influence on the way the process of individualization has occurred in China, discussed in chapter 2.3.

The accelerating changes in family relations, the request on the individual to establish a livelihood outside the village and support family members, and the high awareness of unequal lifestyles have all contributed to people’s subjective experiences of social risk and the need to make choices. However, these choices regarding areas such as social engagement and collective activism are certainly not made freely. They are shaped by the way the government examines its control, the government’s definition of the possible field of action and its dominant techniques, and structures such as class and gender, all of which continue to play a powerful role in the social lives’ of the people in modern China (Hansen and Pang, 2010).

In China involves free love very pragmatic considerations involving the family as a collective of decisive importance (Hansen and Pang 2010). Parents become increasingly important as a relationship is getting serious and moving towards engaging in a lasting relationship. Parents in China are very powerful in affecting their children’s marriages, which is also pointed out in the article about the leftover women of To (2013). At this point, individual choice is in reality inseparable from family negotiations in the practice of the free love ideal. Gender differences are reflected in the fact that men tend to emphasize the ideal of free love even more strongly than women, who on the other hand consider their family responsibilities more. As soon as they start to consider marriage and talk about their considerations and criteria for choosing a partner, parents and often also siblings are brought onto the stage (Hansen and Pang 2010).

Is love the same in all cultures and historical periods? Pimental (2000) focuses especially on the urban Chinese marital relations, because she states that similar researches are done in western settings. Originating from the Confucian culture, men prefer to marry women with a lower socioeconomic status to have control over their marriage. China hardly has a dating culture in comparison to the western freedom of picking a marriage partner. The Chinese couples do have a different understanding of love, contrary to the western view. The Chinese couples see love more as respect, mutual understanding and support, whereas expressions of passion are less present in the interview data of Pimental (2000). The rise of romantic love is related to the economic development of the society and romantic love is fostered by modernity, capitalism and individualism (Yan, 2003). In the era of economic openness Chinese people are able to enjoy individual freedom, conjugal privacy and romantic love

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(Yan, 2003). However, the rise of romantic love puts new migrant generations under great pressure, because finding a partner for marriage often requires great effort to achieve (Zhou & Hou, 2010). Several decades ago people were more eager to have a stable life, later generations appear to be more romantic, while the younger generation of women wants to have more respect from their husband (Women of China, 2015).

Two reasons for the opposing understandings of love are described by Eifring: first, while history of Western concepts of emotion involves a number of terms from many different languages, the corresponding Chinese history centers around one single Chinese term, despite the differences in word use for each dialect as is described before in chapter 2.4 Second, the meaning of love turns out to be quite different from meanings corresponding with the Western term (Eifring, H, 2016).

The results of a recent survey in China showed that trends towards marriage in China have been changing. Nevertheless traditional values are still ingrained in China when it comes to people finding a mate. The age for Chinese people to get married is not rising, but sticks to the average age of 26. There exists a difference in age of marriage between men and women. Most of the men get married between the ages of 25 and 34, whereas most women get married before turning 30 years old. Parents often interfere in the love lives of their children and try to connect before they reach the 'mature' age of 27. Certainly women are

leftover and suddenly reduced to cliques (Vriesekoop, 2015). Wong (2014) states that the

Chinese marriage markets are attractive alternatives for parents that are eager to help their single children to find a partner. 42 percent of the Chinese college students in Mainland China think that they will find their marital partner through these markets. However, despite the rising popularity of marriage markets in mainland China, the rate of success is very low. This is because many women in Chinese cities nowadays want more independence and personal freedom and that is not in line with these matchmaking markets by third parties (Wong, 2014).

2.7 Leftover women in urban China

Why do urban educated women end up single? Why are they derided in the media and labeled as undesirable? As mentioned in e previous section, men tend to marry a women from a lower socioeconomic class, similar to many other countries. To (2013) writes about the phenomenon of late marriage among Chinese professional women and argues that the leading cause of the women being leftover in the marriage market is the discriminatory and controlling gendered constraints reflected in the persistence of the Chinese patriarchal structure. Her focus could be interpreted as feminist, by stating that the leftover women cannot be blamed for their status, because they are the ones who are rejected by men in matchmaking.

The National Bureau of Statistics of The People's Republic of China states that approximately 1 in 5 women between the age of 25-29 remain unmarried. A recent survey conducted by a dating website showed that Guangdong is third in the rating for professional single ladies in big cities, as can be seen in figure 1 below. Work stress and pressure are the primary factors for young women's single-status (The World of Chinese, 2014; Statistics China, 2016).

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Figure 1. China’s rating for professional single ladies

(Offbeat China, 2016)

Geatano (2014) investigated the reasons for delaying marriage and the aspirations for the future of these women. In contrast to To (2013) she concluded that they are single, because they dedicated themselves to attain their education and to establish their careers. Her research also showed their frustration with the conflicting gender identities and role experiences and that the modern women are encouraged to pursue education and develop their careers to be confident and independent, all at the same time. In contradiction, they are expected by the family or society to follow the traditional path of marriage and family, but according to Geatano, achieving both goals is a mission impossible. To states that the refusal of leftover women confirm the rigid gender prescriptions and challenges the patriarchal constraints in China.

However, she states that women in China do have the choice of different strategies in matchmaking and divides the leftover women into two categories, the proactive women and the more passive traditional-type women who do not use strategies and wait for open-minded men to date. However she does not give an elaboration of this division or a reason of the choice women in China make to be proactive or passive. Along the considerable control of parents over the women’s marital choices in China today, the majority of the women in her research took their parents’ opinions and expectations into consideration in their marital aim.

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The government is aware that the expanding unmarried population is not an exceptional situation, however changing the tradition is difficult and may be an even slower process in China than in other countries, associated with political and social upheaval. The United States as well as many other countries have publicly expressed their disapproval of Chinese leaders for their population control policies, as the Chinese government has used several methods to control population growth, starting with the one child policy in 1979, which contained the requirement of a birth certificate before the birth of a child (Cook, 1999). These policy changes and established programs by Chinese officials in China caused many problems, in particular because these programs have been difficult to implement and have had little success.

The government interferes actively, since this phenomenon affects the overall quality of the Chinese population.

‘The State Council names upgrading population quality (suzhi) as one of its key goals and appoints the Women’s Federation as a primary implementer of its population planning policy.’

(New York Times, 2012)

The aim of the governmental policy is stimulating women to produce high quality, well-educated, wealthy children, who will contribute to China’s development (Echinacities, 2016). However this policy stigmatizes the leftover women, the government does not want that the sociodemographic balance to get threatened by ‘frustrated’ single females.

Besides the influence of the government the pressure of social environment is enormous in China, illustrated by the fact that the plastic surgery industry has boomed in China, because an energetic, young and sexy appearance is considered to be very important for herself, her friends, her employer and in relation to fengshui. One should have perfect face shapes and lines, which will show someone’s future success. Vriesekoop suggests that women with a beautiful face have more chances and opportunities on the labour market. Nowadays, women are not optimizing themselves in order to catch a rich man, the reason to seek a treatment like plastic surgery is a fantastic job (Vriesekoop, 2015).

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2.8 Summary

The discussed articles differ in research methods and world views. This appears in the articles about gender roles and the urban femininity. Several scientists, Geatano and Vriesekoop, argue that there is still a patriarchal culture in China as well as typical expectations of females and their urban performance which contrasts with Western culture. The same cultural difference could be applied to the matchmaking and dating. The explanation of love for the Chinese couples is respect and mutual understanding, in comparison with the western view which is much more about soul-mates and mutual recognition.

Furthermore, the modernity process in China started off as a resistance against the western capitalism and has led to more individualized citizens in the urban society. This means that the arguments for individualization in the context of Shenzhen could not be explained with theories from a western scientific view. Concurrent with the modernizing process of China, Chinese leftover women are facing the complex situation of succeeding in being an independent professional and conceding the traditional expectations of their family.

The different theoretical concepts and societal trends lead to a set of assumptions that can be examined in the context of Shenzhen. These assumptions are strongly related to the sub-questions. They are the conclusion of the theoretical exploration and lead to the debate on how the concept face is perceived in Shenzhen. Several authors suggest that the concept of face with its traditional values is still quite important in modern society and single professional females are very likely to lose face for the community in their home town. Therefore, by asking different professional females and related experts how they perceive their position in Shenzhen society and in their hometown, it becomes clear if the modernization of the last decade has influenced the females’ perception of losing face in the city. Furthermore, this perception can be constructed by different social relations and sets of characteristics, such as individual, cultural and spatial characteristics. These characteristics will be further clarified in the next chapter. With regard to the social characteristic can be stated that it is known by many western as well as Chinese scholars that parents play an important role in matchmaking. However, due to the process of modernization the question is, to what extent do young women respond to the request of parents nowadays. As discussed in the theoretical framework, leftover women use different strategies in matchmaking, which creates an overview of the different categories of leftover women: the more active once and the passive once who wait for their future husband. According to this division, the strategies and actions taken by leftover women to maintain face can be described. Geatano claims that succeeding in family life and professional life is beyond the bounds of possibility. Hence in the follow up of this thesis, the question regarding the ambitions of the young professional women and their future perspectives will be discussed to understand the influence on their daily lives and world views.

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3 Research design

The research design will be discussed in this section and the following aspects will be explained: the research question, sub-questions, conceptual model, operationalization, methods and units of analysis.

3.1 Research Question

To take the above mentioned factors in consideration and in order to provide a starting point for my research, the following research question is formulated:

What are the coping strategies of leftover women in Shenzhen to maintain face in an individualizing modern urban context intersecting with traditional societal values?

3.2 Sub-questions

The questions will support the problem of my research (Bryman, 2008). Five sub-questions will be answered during the research:

1. How do young professional women in Shenzhen and the society in their hometown define the concept face?

2. What actions are taken by professional women to maintain face for their family and

for the social environment in Shenzhen?

The above mentioned questions will be answered in chapter 6.1.3, in the conclusion of the section about their perception of the concept face.

3. What are the coping strategies of leftover women in matchmaking in China?

4. What is the influence of parents and family on the partner choice of the leftover

women in modern China and how does their influence affect the self-esteem of the leftover women?

The above mentioned questions will be answered in chapter 6.3.4, in the conclusion of the section about matchmaking.

5. To what kind of life do professional women attach the highest value: traditional rural

family life, traditional urban family life, modern rural family life or individual modern urban life?

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3.3 Conceptual model

The sub-questions and the literature in the theoretical framework have resulted in the a conceptual scheme as can be seen in table 1. The conceptual scheme below shows the main variables that are likely to influence the dependent variable strategies to maintain face.

Figure 2. Conceptual model

3.4 Operationalization

Strategies to maintain face are the core of this research. What kind of strategies do the single women use? The concept strategy could be explained as a method or plan chosen by these women to bring about a desired future, such as achievement of a goal or solution to a problem (Business Dictionary, 2016). Since this research is embedded in a specific urban context, it could be influenced by the following phenomenon: Shenzhen is China’s largest city of immigrants according to the statistics and houses more than 12 million of floating population (Management Science, 2016). This is one of the most difficult groups to define and measure among Chinese migrants and thereby it’s a rapidly growing population mostly

Perception

on the risk

of losing

face

Understanding

of the concept

face

Actions taken

to maintain

face

Matchmaking

experiences

Future

perspectives

Strategies to

maintain face

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concentrated in urban areas (Goodkind and West, 2002). Despite the fact that there is actually not an official definition for the term floating population in China, the term encompasses all people who are residing away from the location of their official resident location. In contrast to those who move and change their official household registration location, are referred to as permanent migrants (Goodkind and West, 2002). Due to the fact that Shenzhen has a high proportion of floating population, the pressure on the risk of losing face in Shenzhen might be different than in other Chinese cities. However, the importance, experiences and emotions towards the concept face in traditional China will be tested during the interviews. Besides this, maintaining face depends on who you face. The highly educated women are probably permanent residents in the city and face the challenges and tensions of face preservation more individually and in relation to their friends and family, compared to people belonging to the floating population.

First of all, the strategies to maintain face are expected to be influenced by the perception on the risk of losing face by young professional women in Shenzhen. As elaborated in the theoretical framework individual characteristics may affect the way the young professional women perceive their risk of losing face and therefore influence the development of strate-gies to cope with the phenomenon of losing face. The perception of maintaining face is seen as an intervening dimension in the research design. When they perceive a high risk of losing face in front of their family, it is more likely that they developed strategies to maintain face in front of their family and society. The variable understanding of the concept face is linked to sub-question 1. Sub-question 2 is about the actions that are taken by the young profes-sional women to maintain face and correlates with the second variable in the conceptual model. Hence, it can be argued that the perception on the risk of losing face of a female is affected by the actions taken in the past to maintain face. When the females are convinced that their actions are working in daily life, there is a high chance that they reconsider the perception of losing face. When the taken actions are not proven in daily life, it is likely that the perception on the risk of losing face changes with time. The third variable matchmaking

experiences contains sub-question 3 and 4 regarding matchmaking and the influence of

par-ents on it. The last variable in this conceptual model is future perspectives of the young pro-fessional female, referring to sub-question 5, which could influence the perception on the risk of losing face and vice versa.

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3.5 Methods

The data has been collected by a qualitative approach. A comprehensive understanding will be realized by gathering mostly in-depth interviews among professional, well educated women with the age of 27 and older. This research characterizes an ethnographic study, exploring the cultural phenomenon of a specific cultural group (Bryman, 2008). By focusing on the different characteristics of the female professionals, this research could be described as descriptive as well as exploratory. The thesis describes the influence of the characteristics regarding the Chinese women of the upper class in an urban setting like Shenzhen.

The respondents are reached with snowball sampling, through the networks of professional women. The interviews are mostly conducted in restaurants in Futian district, close to their work office in Shenzhen. During the events of marital markets in the neighbourhood of Lotus Mountain there were parents who advertised for their children’s matchmaking, however the focus group consist of parents of highly educated children.

3.6 Units of analysis

The research location is Shenzhen, the city in which I was residing for two months. This section describes the units of analysis. The core group for the semi-structured interviews consist of professional women of 27 years and older. Since the Women’s Federation defined

leftover women as unmarried women over the age of 27 in 2007, this seemed to me the

most contiguous group to have in-depth interviews with. Hence the focus of this research is on professional females in Shenzhen, for the sampling it was not important whether they have a management or a technical position, rather a profession in the tertiary sector. The tertiary sector consists of the service part of the economy, activities where people offer their knowledge and time to improve productivity, performance, potential, and sustainability, which is termed as professional skilled labour. Indicators helped during the sampling to find women from a high class, for example through indicators as age, level of education, place of residence or profession. The interviews are held not only with leftover women, but with professional women in general as well as with a couple, in order to make sure the perception does not lead to a distorted outcome. To the group of single professional females (age 27>) belong young unmarried professional women. This includes girls who are having an uncommitted relation, which is becoming more common in China. Even so, these women are called leftover, because they are not legally married. A married professional females (age 27>) is a man's legal partner in marriage. The characteristics and indicators of the young professional females can be seen in table 1. The young professional females who cooperated in this research will be introduced in chapter 5.

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Table 1. Characteristics of the respondents: young professional females

Characteristics Indicators

Individual

Individual characteristics can be identified as having originated with a particular person.

Information and knowledge Level of education and literacy

Profession Age

Social

Social relations are the social networks and contacts of someone in a society. Parents Men Friends Colleagues Governmental connection Spatial

Spatial characteristics contains the integration of spatial data, its characteristic for a geographical analysis and its spatial location.

Urban environment Place of residence Place of work

Cultural

Cultural characteristics are the customs, traditions, attitudes, values, norms, ideas and symbols governed by human behavior pattern.

Tradition Gender roles

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Since the Women's Federation plays a key role in the leftover women debate, they were approached to provide some insights in policy arrangements and future perspectives on the phenomenon of professional single women. The opportunity arose to interview the organization during the fieldtrip due to Guanxi (social network). Unfortunately the request for an interview was denied on the final day of the fieldtrip. Similarly, the Women's Federation in the most important district of Shenzhen did not reply to my request for several weeks, when they were finally reached through one of my contacts in Shenzhen, they refused to speak to me. After this disappointment, the Women's Federations of one of the other districts, Baoan, seemed willing to have an interview. Even though, the organization was already preparing the answers on the provided questions that I sent them by email, the request was rejected after several days. They were questioning if they are able to represent the professional women in Shenzhen, because they state that over 80% of the women in this district are uneducated factory workers, implying that they could not say anything about the well-educated women in Shenzhen. It seems that the organization is very cautious and unwilling to be interviewed on this matter. Unfortunately, The Women’s Federation is a non- response.

Besides young professional females, well-educated males are interviewed as well to highlight their perspective on the core theme of this research. One of the male respondents is studying urban sociology and his specialization is about the individuals’ image: face. He explained how the concept is perceived in Shenzhen from his point of view and clearly defined the difference between religion and believe, which is important to understand the meaning of face in Shenzhen. The other male respondents are interviewed, because they are both married with a professional female. In this way, their opinions, statements and arguments are taken into account in this research.

One of the key informants that has been contacted, Sabine de Rooij is an expert on this subject after conducting research among students for several years at China Agricultural University (CAU) in Beijing. Topics include students’ experiences and an assessment of living and working in the city versus living and working in rural areas, their plans and wishes for the future and their views on developments in agriculture and rural areas. During her research she has met some female students and heard about the pressure they experience to find a partner and not to become a leftover woman. Mrs. Rooij emphasised that it is especially difficult for women with a PhD to find a partner. Since men must be better educated, have better jobs and earn more money and are preferred to be older and taller than the women and therefore the risk exists that women have to make concessions, e.g. search for a job below their level. Recruitment specialist Floor Nobel is approached as well, an expert in attracting Chinese (female/male) IT professionals for Dutch companies located in Shenzhen. She lives already for two years in Shenzhen and learned about the Chinese culture and the language, besides this she has a column about the labour market in Shenzhen in a leading Dutch newspaper. She works especially online together with the most popular social media in China: WeChat, which is very instructive. WeChat shows the online social life of the young people in China and at the same time gives information about social profiling of females on social media. Her recruitment agency consist of a Chinese partner

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and a Chinese team, they are all men though. She wants to attract women in her company, but that did not succeeded yet.

Furthermore, data has been collected through interviews with parents at the marriage market. The interviews that were conducted at the marriage market was done in a focus group of five mothers and one father. An overview of the respondents who participated in this research project can be seen in the following tables.

The data obtained from the professional females will be considered as more valuable by the researcher, in comparison with the data of the male respondents and informants. The professional young women are after all the main characters in this study. Most of the respondents are quoted through the writings and they are all referred to by numbers to grant their anonymity. The informants are quoted with their full name and the respondents are retrievable to their number in the respondents list. Respondents referred to by the numbers 1 till 8 are the professional females and 9 till 11 are the male respondents.

Table 2. Single female respondents in Shenzhen

Respondents Gender Age Relational

status

Education Profession Hometown

Respondent 1 (14-04-16)

Female 27 Single 2 master degrees (Studied in UK) Research Center for Design Hefei Auking province Respondent 2 (14-04-16)

Female 30 Single 2 master degrees (Studied in US) Researcher Center for Design Shanghai Respondent 3 (15-04-16)

Female 29 Single Master degree (Studied in US)

Researcher Urban Planning & LRRC

South East city in China

Respondent 4 (17-04-16)

Female 30 Single Master degree (Studied in US) Management commercial copy Tsingtao Respondent 5 (26-04-16)

Female 40> Single PhD (studied in US) Chief / Management Urbanism and architecture Gangzhou

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Table 3. Married female respondents in Shenzhen

status

Respondent 6 (14-04-16)

Female 27 Married Master degree (Studied in UK) Research assistant UPDIS Dalian Respondent 7 (15-04-16) Female 28 Married one child Master degree (Studied in Poland) Researcher Center for Design Central China Respondent 8 (21-04-16)

Female 30 Married Master degree Studied in HK)

Urban planning (governmental)

Shenzhen

Table 4. Male respondents in Shenzhen

status

Respondent 9 (21-04-16)

Male 28 Married Master degree (Studied in UK) Urban planning (non-governmental) Shenzhen Respondent 10 (22-04-16)

Male 29 Relation Master degree (Studied in Canada) Expat: teacher English Born in China – lived in Canada Respondent 11 (24-04-16)

Male 21 Single Undergraduate Student at the University of Shenzhen (Urban Sociology) Xián, Shanxl Province Table 5. Informants

Name Gender Age Profession Hometown

Floor Nobels Female 40> International recruitment specialist in Shenzhen

The Netherlands Sabine de Rooij Female 40> Professor in

Wageningen / Specialization: Gender issues in China

The Netherlands

Table 6. Focus group

Focus group Gender Age Relational status Profession Hometown

5 mothers and 1 father

(24-04-16)

Parents at the marriage market