Coping with Parental Pressure to Get Married: Perspective from Chinese “Leftover Women”

Abstract

Postponed marriage has become the trend in China’s major cities in the recent decade. However, due to persistent traditional gender role expectations, women who remain single in their late 20s and beyond still face more negative discourses as well as significant parental pressure to get married. Through semi-structured interviews with 30 single Chinese white-collar professional women based in Beijing, the current research explored the parental pressure these women received, women’s response to the pressure, and these women’s own perceptions on marriage and romantic relationships. The results demonstrate the different perceptions on marriage, romantic relationship, and gender role perceptions between two generations, as well as young women’s aspirations for autonomy and independence.