From 'Iron Girls' to 'Leftovers' - Independent Women in China 

I don't understand how women can be scarce, yet considered leftoverrs.

One would think that since the men outnumber the women, the women would get to be the picky ones when it comes to choosing a companion.

desperate and picky? that's an interesting combo lmao

'Young, never married, and pretty', what about funny, loyal, intelligent or kind? That sounds like a marriage doomed to end up sexless and loveless.

First of all, I'm a guy from China. Most of the things in the video but not all are true. I just want to point out how media can "missed" some slight mistake and drastically change viewers' opinions. First of all, "leftover girls" in this video is a translation of "剩女“. But there is also a term called "剩男”, which is "leftover boys". What's said in the video "but they don't label men as leftover" is totally incorrect. If you google "剩男剩女" or “剩女剩男”, you'll find as least as many "剩男” as, if not more than "剩女“. This video just chose to pass on the "leftover boys" part to make this term more like a single-sided gender issue. It is not the Chinese society against strong independent women and men, but it's the Chinese culture against unmarried but "should-have-been-married" women and men. People are expected to get married. I don't understand why we should. But China has a family-oriented history of thousands of years long, and it may not go away easily. One another note, I think it is a good thing that more and more "剩男剩女" appear, which is quite a natural result of women and men are getting more and more educated, independent, and knowing more about what they want in their relationships. Leftover women and men, don't let the willingness to settle for anything kick in. You are independent. Why would stereotypes matter anyway? Domestic violence is something really need to end. But the video doesn't emphasize this. The stereotype of women should rely on men is quite common in China and other places. Recently in China, there is quite a controversy about a video of a female speaker telling her audience, mostly female, how they should be submissive. It's sad how she has become "herself", and how she believes it and keep the chain going. Girls, take good care of yourselves, and don't rely on anyone to take care of you. End the relationship as soon as you find it unequal. (Guys also) Last but not least, over the years, I have become more and more aware of how evil our media are. Misleading information gradually creates misunderstanding, which then inflames hatred and conflict, and then killings and wars. I see a comment "I don't understand how women can be scarce, yet considered leftoverrs." That's a good sign of a thinker. To be yourself, start from critically think about the daily information fed to us.

Numerically speaking, there are zero leftover women. There are 20m leftover boys.

I love when people say, "go find a good man." Like these type of people just grown on trees.

This is definitely an unspoken problem I'm only too familiar with. The ideal Chinese girl is pretty, healthy, never married, a virgin, filial, and if your parents were born before 1950, your star sign and name have to be 'compatible'. Obviously in this day and age this is pretty rare, but girls are still expected to conform to this bizarre and fantastical ideal. Even my parents who are pretty 'westernised' still can't shed their expectations. They brought me up to be competitive and career orientated, and now in my early 20s I'm fulfilling all my goals in those areas, but they're now suddenly changing their views in what I should be. Everyday I'm told that I should be more 'feminine', and I kid you not they have told me to wear dresses and skirts more often, to be a 小女人 when I speak to men, to not be so dominant and competitive in front of men. I really can't accept their words and I'm proud to be called a 女强人 no matter what others say.

my chinese teacher once told us about this issue, She was a second child during the one child policy, so she told us that her parents paid an anual fine/tax for having her, and they told her and encouraged her to study in a foreign country to reach a happy life without social pressures that could go uppon her by being a second child and a woman who wants a carreer. she told us her parents loved her so much and wanted her to experience life. She's been out of china for 15 years and even if she miss her family she says she's happy and grateful for the family she got. another chinese teacher I got said He was also happy to be just free of looking for a bride, and that he doesn't feel the pressure of having a big house, a car and a big bank account. It's a problem for both sides.

To my Chinese sisters: Stay strong. Your toughness is your beauty. You are not left-over or "less than". You are beautiful and inspiring just the way you are! *hugz* from America! Peace.

you'd imagine that since the demand for brides is high that the men would eventually have to suck up the age, wage etc issue and marry the so called ''leftover women'' . like who you calling leftover if you're the desperate one...smh

i especially despise how much this specific chinese society insists that a woman will never be happy if she does not find her 'other half'. A woman doesn't need to find her other half because she is not a half. She is a whole human being that is just as worthy as any man.

So twenty million men are going to die alone but career women who missed the boat are the great tragedy?

No mention of the practice of sons living with their parents and wife moving in to take care of them. That's one of the reasons for female infanticide. Parents of a girl would end up dying alone with no support. The government never addressed this issue. No social security or nursing homes until recently. Still it affects women greatly.

There's nothing new here, but it's always shocking to me to hear of how it's the same all over the world. Women are told to be "strong" when it suits men's agenda, and "soft" when it doesn't. And it's always decided for us, what femininity really means... my takeaway, though, is just how bright and hopeful and resilient these Chinese women are! To think Wang Zheng turned out to be the girl in those movies! It heartened me and gave me hope in my own life to see them. I'll always be a fan!!

And here I am at 25 not wanting to even think of marriage and having kids. By the way, by Mexican standards in my town, I'm also considered a "leftover woman"

That older Chinese lady is so eloquent in her thoughts and answers. I'm glad my parents chose to migrate from Chinese to Australia - this sort of society doesn't quite exist in Sydney.

Finding a man who can hold an intelligent conversation on a range of topics, reads, wants to get married, and isn't a conspiracy theorist is harder than it should be.

As a Somali woman, I can relate to all of this. Age discrimination is so real against women, and any woman above 25 is considered too old for marriage. It's sad.

My grandmother once asked me to let her hold a great grandchild before she dies. I asked her if "me being in a miserable marriage is an ok trade for her moment of joy."

I feel like they could have chosen a different host for this documentary. She doesn't have any grasp on Mandarin at all and I was kind of peeved by her calling what is daily, cultural activities in China as "people doing weird things." (at 8:33)

The marriage market in China is creepy, marriage has turned into a superficial competition with men looking for youth and beauty, while women search for money and security. And everything else is secondary.

Surprisingly a lot issues here resonates with the situation in South Korea right now lol except that we never had socialist liberalisation period and went straight to woman-hating; a lot of physical and psychological violence towards women, caused by the prevalent military culture of the society and general frustration among younger generation. Thank you Broadly for shedding light on what is often neglected - non white gender inequality!

Dear China, send us your professional women. Love, USA

I'm so glad that Broadly is also addressing gender equality around the world, rather than just focusing on the current storm of Feminism in the west.

I can confirm everything discussed in this is true from my own experience in China. No coincidence that young female suicide rates in China are higher than the norm and Mich higher than male. These, worldly, educated, independent "leftover" women are exactly the kind of woman I would look for if I was single.

When Ting Ting was speaking at the end I teared up. I can't help but wish I could stand up fight the fight with them. And that quote at the end, "To pursue a society of justice and equality everybody has to fight." These women are all amazingly intelligent, strong role models 💗

Props to Broadly for these excellent and very informative documentaries!

I definitely agree that it's sexist as hell to look down on women who are still single after 27. But I don't understand why when it comes to single women, it's always marriage vs. career. Yes, career is more reliable than a relationship in terms of feeling fulfilled about your life accomplishments and having financial security. However, I think people don't talk enough about the need for emotional security, of having a partner who understands you and shares your values and life goals. I know some people feel like they don't need that, and those people also shouldn't be shunned. But I think most people just really want to find the right person, and you may not find that person in your 20s. And I think a lot of single people, especially women in societies like China, find it difficult to share their personal vulnerability, because they have to "fight the system" that's treating them as second class citizens. Dating is already hard enough, and shaming people for not being able to find love just makes things much harder.

It's always the women who suffer no matter where in the world.

Marriage is for love. Men need to stop compartmentalizing women and themselves we are humans and we all have different passions and individual desires in life. We can not pose a standard like that on either sex.

I'm Chinese and turning "leftover", my opinion is that I'm woman, I like make up, nail polish, gossip,or more, but I am strong too. It's not defined as I'm feminine blabla, it's something in myself, undeniably man and woman are different, so just be a woman, but strong.

"Today's consumerist culture is very oppressive to young men and women". At 30:30 That woman is extremely bright and insightful, on so many levels. I actually want to read her books if she wrote any.

great doc, coming from a chinese family its not unfamiliar but glad to see the a new generation that defines themselves the way they want to

That commercial killed me 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 no Kardashian can dream about so much drama than it was shown in such a short commercial

Everyone, women entering the workplace in China had NOTHING to do with feminism, and EVERYTHING to do with survival. As the video said in the beginning, Mao saw a shortage of manpower and introduced a practical solution to it, by encouraging women to work. Similar situations can be found in other countries (including mine). Back then, we were simply too poor to survive if our women didn't work. Hell, even children worked. And the same still applies for poor countries today. Women have always worked, and always will. You can't stop the tide, because it has nothing to do with feminism. As long as extremely harsh conditions exist, women will continue to put food on the table alongside men, so that their family will not die of hunger. Only people from countries with generally better living conditions like the US and modern China can delude themselves into thinking women must stay at home/ be meek or civilization will collapse, when the opposite is the very reality for some other countries.

So fucking interesting ! Also it seems to me that feminism is the new "f" word... But it's still cool to think about the place of woman and of the concept of feminism !

Men who are wasters who’ve been babies all their lives expect women to have no aspirations beyond being a servant for his families are useless.

This documentary shows what happens when you have many people uneducated about life.. These parents for example don't mention intelligence, compassion, values or any higher level human qualities. They're like animals.. "What's your height, weight, age, beauty?" Is this a shop or a zoo or the slave trade or something? Or are we in the 21st century..? Classic animal behaviour to go straight for "height, weight, age, beauty".. At least add some character on top of that and other things like ambition, compassion and so on?

I'm only 21 and my parents already worry that I don't have a boyfriend yet (yes, I'm Chinese). We are considered too young to have boyfriends in high school, but once we get into college, parents just expect us to find a boy and get married after college.

Both men and women here seem to be very shallow. The men only want a younger “prettier girl”. The women only want a rich guy. Sad.

personally, i think the biggest problem is the low social status of farmers. because of the blooming Chinese economy, farmers is treated unfairly, as a low income occupation. i have seen so many villages become extinct. there are some photographer who go to remote area, and record the last breath of those villages with perfectly good arable lands.

I loved this documentary! You talk about so many interesting topics that i've been binge watching your channel in this past few hours hahaha

this is changing but is a slow process. I have been living in China for a while and I had meet a lot of women who were very open minded about this topic and were not worried about not getting married soon. But the problem with the leftover men is even bigger, because those men are poor and they have to pay A LOT OF MONEY to the bride family to be able to marry, the expectations of men had become too high as a consequence. For example a woman would only choose a man if he has a car and a house and if he pays (or his parents) pay a lot of money to her family, so guys are under a lot of stress as a result of this.

I really like the older woman that was being interviewed. She's so well spoken and gives a really insightful view of the stark differences in the two generations that she's experienced.

This is so sad :( Why are women still so oppressed in 2016? :( The world would be such a beautiful place if oppression would finally end

"Being in your 30s is like being in your 20s all over again" *COPE*

Oh, good, I'm glad this video touches upon the fact that men so greatly outnumber women in China now. This means that women can now afford to be pickier. The men, however, are going to have to try harder.

Why can't they get married and pursue their career at the same time?

You guys should moderate your comments. There's so much abusive and degratory language everywhere, its sickening. Its a place to share your thoughts, sure, but some people leave nothing but hate speech around.

I cringed when he said 32 years is old.

"The word feminist seems to have a negative connotation in China." ROFL!!! It has that connotation everywhere.

The key is to follow your own path, whatever the cost. That is the only way to break the cycle of domination and cultural stigma. Women have to learn to hold strong to their own values which will create a new future and not give in to the pressures and demands which are not good for their or societies development.

"left over" men

she is been judged on superficial things in a dinosaur park! hahaha i lost it! LOL

I find Broadly's stories to be interesting. But this particular interviewer/journalist can be problematic. In some cases it feels as though she just casts judgment without thinking about how it may sound? Such as "people doing weird things in the park" or her issue with the theme of the event? I would prefer it if she reported and gave her feminist views without the cultural judgment.

this is one great channel I tell ya.

They're so materialistic. Even down to the characteristics of the would-be spouse, it's too objectified and quantified. And they're wondering why "it's so scarce". You're all just way too picky. All that time and energy wasted could be diverted to something more productive.

Really excellent documentary.

Wang Zheng's words are very inspiring

I see this in a lot of countries. I'm 24 and I'm already being asked by relatives about when I'll get married. The pressure is scary. I just got out of college for Pete's sake!

Wei ting ting is still waittingting

Sure," God made man before woman, but then you have to make a rough draft before the final masterpiece"

WoW! Black Women go through the same thing within the black community. All double standards and oppression

This was weirdly pro mao

So in reality it's left over men that caused by preferences for sons. Then because of quality of economy has improved live of women. Women are preferring to stay single rather than marrying and taking care of male family with no real return except for being consider a house wife.

Tingting is role model for us all. Her courage, commitment and compassion for the equal rights of women, despite the huge risks to her own rights, is truly inspirational.

If there are so many men and so little women, how can men be so picky?

It's pretty much the same in India, without the 'leftover' tag.

This is so controversial... Everyone should be free to choose the person with whom live and love, and actually... Making a family should be a choice as well. There should be chemistry between lovers that both of them would enjoy, if not then please, don't marry. I bet there are many people who want to find their second orange and nobody can find. Don't worry, you are not alone, there are millions of people in your situation...

I think the same thing happens in America but it's less talked about. But women are extremely stigmatized in America.

Wow this makes me sad. I lived in China for half a year and had no idea this was going on while I was there. I don't understand why their requirements are so superficial??? Like why would I care if a man has a car and a house or whatever, when I already have those things, or could get those things myself. I remember being on a date in China, and after the guy kept bragging about his materialistic things, I simply replied with "Oh, that's nice. Good on you for working hard to earn those things." After that he got mad that I wasn't impressed, and asked what I wanted in a man. After I told him I wanted someone funny, positive, smart, and who loves me, he reacted much like how the people in the video reacted to the interviewer's ideal type. I just thought he was a douchebag, but boy I was wrong. I don't hate the men though, I hate their society that causes the men to adopt such a misogynistic and superficial mentality. This mentality is detrimental to men too, and causes them to over compensate for material things due to all the competiton. Not to mention the men's options are already very limited with there being way more men than women, so why was a stigma of being so picky and belittling women who don't fit their requirements created. If anything shouldn't they want a working woman who can help provide so that way all the financial struggles isn't just burdened on him??? Some things I'll guess I just never understand.

"Leftover women?" In Japan, don't they call them "Christmas Cakes?" 🎂😵

As a female, I was born and raised in China. Got education there and worked in both shanghai and Beijing in male dominated industry without special connections. Lots of thing they said is not true. They collected opinions from those women and girls who are already biased and believe western society is way better. Having been working in Australian for years in banking, I can safely say, it is not true. The proportion of female make to top is larger than the industry here.

Remember ladies, you only need a man for one night to have a child. If your parents want grandchildren badly, they can raise it for you, while you have your career and make the money.

Wang Zheng the spoke person is very talented in speech. Clear and coherent.

im an american dude and i have a 26 y/o female chinese friend who wants to pursue medical engineering and she routinely asks for my advice on this topic. i basically tell her that she should make her own choice and not let her parents influence her - that is the american way. the truth is, idk if that is good advice. Westerners sound all nice and goodhearted when they say "Go for it! Don't fall for the pressure! Be yourself!" The reality is though, that advice is probably more damning than helpful. My advice for her is only good advice if she can achieve permanent residency in America. If she is forced to live in China after her education, then I think it is bad advice.

So the men look for their princess and the women look for their prince? Good luck!! ....I guess Chinese people don't understand the word, "compromise".

The worst part is that they have still got incredibly double social standard for women... Like you need to be less educated, short but not too short (yes they have a specific height of 168cm for that), will cook and give birth to children, under the age of 30, good-looking and be a virgin when you get married. There will be a strong discrimination for a girl if she does not satisfy any of the above, what's even worse? The entire society is just normal to turn against her in any circumstances such as violence in marriage and even rape.

I'm a Chinese American guy at 5'11 turned 40 last year, would love to find a woman of equal or taller height. Strong, independent, and smart women are actually a major turn on for me. I don't want someone who stands silently beside me, I want someone who speaks her mind and pushes forward. That's quite difficult from my personal experience, why can't more women be like that here?

every country unfortunately have these problem hopefully in the future women n men willbe more equal , after living in china 6 years , been many villages . i see chinese women are much more stronger than many women in midd east , south america even in europe , so i believe chinese women will make a change in the near future

You left out the part where in cultural revolution where 50 million to 100 million people were slaughtered during the cultural revolution. You paint a rosy picture of the cultural revolution, but in reality it was the most bloody in the history of the world.

I'm 42 and never married so if I lived in china I would never have a chance...this is so sad.

When my parents tried to find matches for me I just laughed and made it clear that It was my choice who to get married to

The gender imbalance is not caused by one-child policy, it's caused by Chinese traditional gender discrimination. One-child policy made a whole generation of girls raised as the only daughter in the family, they got the chance to become educated and independent women, they can decide what they want for their own life, and that's an improvement. If there weren't the policy, if the girls had a brother or brothers, they wouldn't have had the same chance and the same power like they have today. Even though the discrimination still exist nowadays, more and more chinese women are aware about it and fighting against it.

This was really inspiring.

well i really enjoyed the documentary ! i agree with the idea , even though i am Mongolian and we are in a little bit better condition than in China from the viewpoint in equality and justice of job market and marriage, i agree with the statement that women should stand up to protect their rights ...there are always few groups of people in every society who"re brave enough to bring issues out to the daylight despite the long period of social pressure... Besides that, i find it ridiculous to marry without love and passion ... yes as choosing life partner , there must be responsibility against to each other ,,,,but what , wait money can't be solution to each problem.. those matchmakers are just going against the human nature! people should have freedom to choose their life partner at least!

The funny thing is that in 2019, I had planned a trip to Ghana and was going to stay with a family friend's relatives, but because of timing and the late arrival of my passport, I had to cancel. What I later found out was that the family friend and my mother were trying to match make me with his youngest sister.

Can a communist authoritarian regime contribute to the improvement women's status? My answer is yes. That's exactly the case of China. At the peak communist movement in 50s, 60s and 70s, women's status are largely improved under Mao's regime, although this regime is brutal. Now China is even more capitalist than many western countries; yet, the women's rights have witnessed a strong backlash.The idea of feminism have been abandoned by the official ideology after this country decides to follow a capitalist path. Being a feminist shift from pro-government to anti-government.

"Leftover women" in Chinese is "剩女Sheng Nü" (pronounced ShenNyu). The video said "匈奴 Xiong Nu" which means nomadic peoples that once invaded the Han Dynasty. lmao

I appreciate that this examines this social issue through the lens of the individual, but also through the narrative of class struggle that is still a major driving force in Chinese society.

This video appeared on youtube years ago...ITS STILL ALIVE N SHOWING IN 2024 😂. These women still haven't found someone because "im not settling" 😂.

Due to the 1-child-policy and female infanticide Chine has WAY more men then women. On every single woman comes around 5 or more single man. Yet it is only the single WOMEN who are brandmarked as "leftovers"

"(Synchronised singing with dinos)" PFFFFFFT who did the subtitles? I love them😂😂😂

"Is this considered good looking in Sweden" "He's cute" "Just cute? its over" HAHAHAHA

I would love to see a documentary about LGBT rights in China.

These are making me realize I’m so happy to live in America I mean my country ain’t perfect but I’m glad I still have certain freedoms.

13:58 Inner Mongolia is not Mongolia. It's actually a place inside China!

I wish I was 5'10! Haha My parents call me old bride all of the time. But being 32 and unmarried isn't that awful in the states. Or so I think... 😂

The guy towards the beginning is like Mitt Romney, with his "binders of women"