A heart-wrenching commercial produced by skincare company, SK-II, is reminding Chinese women it is okay to be single even if they live in a society that looks down upon unmarried women.
In a new documentary-style video called “Marriage Market Takeover” the brand aims to reveal how traditional practices and norms around marriage in certain societies can put extreme pressure on women to marry before they enter their late twenties.
China, and many other Asian countries, share a long history of conservative and patriarchal views of marriage and the family structure including marrying at a young age and hypergamy. The general consensus in China is that a woman should be married in her early 20s.
There is even a derogatory term used to describe unmarried women: “Sheng nu”, which translates to “leftover woman.”
The term 'Leftover Woman' was first coined in a report by the Chinese Women's Federation in 2007 to describe young females in their late 20s who had not yet married.
The tendency to look down on women comes from a range of sources in China. From organizations like the Chinese Women’s federation to communities to families, many unmarried women in the country have been made to feel shame or intense anxiety.
The National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China (NBS) and state census figures reported approximately 1 in 5 women in the country between the age of 25-29 remain unmarried. The increasing popularity of marrying later in China has been largely accredited to the growing educated middle class.
Women are freer and able to live more independently than previous generations. Another noted outcome has been the reluctance amongst male partners to date women who are professionally more successful or unwilling to give up work for a family or both.
The SK-II ad showcases a Marriage Market in Beijing, where parents of single children would gather at the city's Zhongshan Park, in the hope of matching their child with the offspring of another desperate parent.
20 to 30 parents, meet every week in the park, armed with pieces of paper containing information about their child - their job, level of education and salary, as well as their physical attributes.
One young woman in the ad says, “It’s like you’re selling your daughter.”
"She's not pretty...that is why she is a leftover woman," one mother in the heart-wrenching ad theorizes about her adult daughter, who fights back tears. The parents give explanations for why their daughters are not yet married stating, “You’re picky,” “You’re too stubborn,” “Don’t be so free willed.”
The parent’s strict observance of their culture and their views on marriage seem to change when the young women “take over the Marriage Market.”
Instead of the typical profiles usually found hanging in the market, the parents are greeted with empowering messages of independence and strength from their daughters.
One message reads, “I don’t want to get married for the sake of marriage. I won’t be happy that way.”
Another reads, “I’m confident. I’m independent. I love life. I’m a pretty outstanding woman.”
The empowerment of women is crucial in today’s society for the economic and social advancement of the world. Just as important as a woman’s own self-empowerment is the reassuring support from those around them.
When confronted with this courageous display of self-confidence and independence, the parents of the young women were forced to to vow to stand behind their daughters and their decisions to stay unmarried.
“My daughter is beautiful,” says one mother, “Leftover women should be proud. Leftover women are incredible. Maybe it is the ‘leftover men’ who need to try harder.”
