CEU eTD Collection

In partialfulfillmentoftherequirement SPOUSE Department ofSociologyandSocialAnthropology POST-1980 GENERATION

SELECTION uevsr: prof.DanRabinowitz Supervisors: Central EuropeanUniversity Budapest, Hungary Yanjun Wang Submitted to 2012 prof. VladNaumescu By

AMONGST CHINA’S

s forthedegreeofMasterArts CEU eTD Collection members ofthepost1980gene between traditional and contemporary Chinesevalu sociological theoriesofspouseselectionhighlightssome of Analysis of thedatainlightofearlier 43 male participantsinthes are theOne practices withinthisgroup,usestheimmens social scientificinterestin surprisingly, issuesassociated withtheirma been atthecenter of attentionintheir familie playing amajorroleinit,members ofthispredominantly urbangene parents. Coming ofageatthetime ofCh cohort (estimated at90millions) family planningpolicyin1979-make aunique Chinese peopleborninthe1980’s-immediately following theestablishment ofChina’s asasourceofempirical data.Focusi China. This thesis,whichlooks how, itcommentsonvisionsofideal ration toreconcile them. comprising almost exclusivelyofsinglechildrentotheir ABSTRACT ina’s dramatic economic growthsince2000,and works onmarriages inChinesesociety andof ely popularChinesetelevisiondatingshow rriage anddatingpattern ii s of origin, are nowatamarriageable age.Not ng onself-presentationsby208female and phenomenoninhuman history:anentire es, illustrating thestrategies adopted by at spouseselectioncriteriaand the contradictionsthatexist spousewhichtheyproject. s drawmuch publicand ration, whohavealways If You CEU eTD Collection friends whoseloveandtrusthavesu generous sharingIcouldnotcomplete my re unforgettable periodinmylife.Iam alsodeeply a fantastic sociological andanthropological wo study. Iwanttothankallprofessorswhotaught express my gratitude toDoritGevaforherencouragement anddirectioninmy academic myRooney forpatientlyhelpingme torevise th fieldwork andthesiswriting. Imust also the researchproposal,butalso help me toconstruct my thes I thankmy supervisorsDanRabinowitzandVlad is, notonlythroughoutthehard ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS forsuggestionsandpatiencetheygavetome duringmy stained me Iexploredmydream. as thank my academic writinginstructor Thomas iii search. Finally,Imust thankmy and parents esis ashedidinmy studytime here.Ishould me andgaveme help.Theyintroducedme to rld, which made thepastacademic yearan Naumescu fortheirguidanceandsupportto gratefultoallmy informants; withouttheir beginning stageoffiguringout CEU eTD Collection

4.3 REFERENCES ...... 4 REFERENCES ...... 5. CHAPTER 4.2 4.1 4. CHAPTER 3.2 3.1 3. CHAPTER 2. CHAPTER 1.3 1.2 1.1 1. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...... FIGURES ANDTABLES ...... v CONTENTS ...... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... ABSTRACT ...... Effects ofthe one-child policyon Social changesandnewcharacters General characteristicsofparticipants Ideal spouse The basicinformationofparticipants Theoretical approachesinthestudy Chinese studiesonspouseselectionandmarriagestrategy Theories andempiricalstudiesof

CONCLUSION ...... 42 ...... CONCLUSION DISCUSSION ...... 32 DATA ANALYSIS ...... 19 SITE METHODOLOGY ANDRESEARCH ...... 15 PART THEORETICAL ...... 4 ...... 22 CONTENTS spouse selectionofthepost-80s spouse selectionandmarriagestrategy iv ofspouseselectioncriteria...... 36 of thedatingshowsandpost-80s ...... 19 ...... 32 ...... 10 ...... 39 ...... 12 ...... 5 ...... iv .. ii 5

CEU eTD Collection Table 7 Table 6 Table 5 Table 4 Table 3 Table 2 Table 1 Figure 2 Figure 1 .The registeredon .Male participants average success ratein eachround .Defects ofmen female participantsmost dislike .Words mentioned inmale requirements ofspouse’scareer .Words mentioned inmale requirements ofspouse’scapability .Words mentioned in male requirements .Criteria mentioned inmale requirements ofspouse .Recording site,duringtheshow .Recording site,thebeginningofshow e-child population FIGURES ANDTABLES Figures Tables v of spouse’spersonalityanddisposition CEU eTD Collection Republic

3 2 1 themiddle of1990s,consideringth From 1984to out attheendof1979,restrictedChinese marri 2005).Thispolicy,whichwasintr (Guo andYin, potential socialconsequences ofthispolicyar births.” anticipate andattaintheir de World HealthOrganizationdefine (estimated at 90 millions) comprising almost excl planning policyin1979,make Chinese peopleborninthe1980s depicted aBeijingfemalewriterborninthe1 Time Magazine’sAsian editionprovoked aheated debate intheChinesesociety, because it poets whowereborninthe1980 Initially, intheearly 21 mainly born generation was parents withoutsiblingstohavemore thanone the Chinesegovernment adjustedthispolicytoallowruralcouples,ethnicminorities and it almost

For English Official was

example,

hard 92%

of

website 1 version In China, the one-childpolicyisth

China of to

the

convince in

in of

the of national

August

World Family

rural

people

Health

population, area,

1995. planning

st to because

http://www.china.org.cn/e‐ century,“thepost-80s”wasused Organization:

accept in theurbanarea(Yu, 2008).

in

the sired number of ch

China the

population this a uniquephenomenon inhuman history:anentirecohort , immediatelyfollowingtheestabl s “Family planning”as“itallo s. However,onFebruary2

preference

INTRODUCTION

was policy. http://www.who.int/topics/family_planning/en/

published

of Furthermore,

e coreofthepopulat minorities of

boy 1 e alwayscontroversial white/familypanning/index.htm 980s asarepresentativeofthisgenerationand

child. Duetothisexception, thefirst one-child by ed couplestohavingon in oduced into Constitution in1978andcarried ildren and thespacing

Information Chinese e realisticsituation usively of singlechildren totheir parents.

is

too comparing

small.

traditional

Office

to to describeChinesewritersand nd

2004,thefrontpagestoryof the ion controlpolicy, ws individualsandcouplesto

notion of

majority

ishment ofChina’sfamily the both athome and abroad

in some specialareas and State ly onechildin1980.

group and timing oftheir the

Council

low

which

educational

of 2

whilethe accounts the

People’s

level,

for 3 ,

CEU eTD Collection version measurement

show ensuresconsiderableandincreasing their newmodelinproduction,themarriage andda 5 4 it wasfirstintroducedinthe1990s used theterm“newradicals”tocompare them 2 weeksafteritsdebutonJanuary15 the most popularone.From CSM’sofficialdata 2010, allofasudden,datingshowsgotpopularinChina,and issues associated withtheir marriage anddating major roleinit,members of thisgenerationar Coming ofageatthetime ofChina’sdram 2009). to describetheirnewimage: “self-confiden Beijing Olympics, thissituation haspositivel post-80s members afterWenchuan earthquake towards the post-80sgeneration during thelast century. Duetotheactive reactions of the “capricious”, “irresponsibility” and “bourgeois” Despite itsincreasingpopularity,wordslike“non phenomenon reflectingthefuturedevelopmen the media about thepost-80sgeneration.Many relevant researches between 1980and1989inChina,leadingtothe After thisevent,“thepost-80s”became agive http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004 http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/92047.htm http://www.time.com/time/covers/asia/0,16641,20040202,00.html

Relevant CSM

of Media

Official

reports

network Research

website:

and

responses covers

is

http://en.csm.com.cn/index.php/

a

1.25 joint

in

Times billion venture

Asian people

between into Chinesetelevision.Asfor

‐ edition th 03/28/content_318681.htm

. in 5

Actually, thedatingshowisnotanewissueinChina,

China

and CTR atic economic growthsince2000,andplayinga audience (Wang andR

y changedsince2008.Andnewwordsareused

2

China ce”, “responsibility”and“patriotism” (Wang, mainland withthe1960s“beatgeneration”ofAmerica. t ofChina(Huang,Deng,Chen,andLu,2009). e nowatamarriageable age.Notsurprisingly, Market n mark for thisfirstone-childgenerationborn patterns drawmuch attentionfrom In society. , theshowwon thelarg and totheirgoodperf -mainstream”, “selfhood”,“Littleemperors”, appearance ofalargenu

described thenegativesocialattitudes daily

ting valuesofthepost-80sreflectedin

Research and

:

6.40

and million has becomeIf YouaretheOnehas

the

If YouaretheOne people

Kantar ong, 2011).Infact,the est audienceratingin

ormances during the in

saw itasasocial

Media. Hong mber ofreportsin

Kong

Its

TV SAR. , besides audience

English 4

CEU eTD Collection Association top

strategies adoptedbymembers ofth values, thepositive and negativeeffects of theone-childpolicyonthisgeneration, andthe discuss someofthecontradictions thatexis works onmarriage inChinesesocietyandof new changesinspouseselection participants intheshow,Ianaly show, inthethirdchapter,focusingonself their marital practices.Followingthemethodology review ofprevioustheoriesand empirical ca within whichIexamine theChinesespousese in westernsociologyandpsychologytospousese In thefirst chapter, inthe theoretical part,Istart with areview of thevariousrelevant theories aims toidentify newcharacteristicsinspousese Drawing onthemost popularChinesetelevisiondatingshow 6 also ofChinesedatingandmarriag post-80s generation(hereafter“thepost-80s”)is 2010,

Since

2

marriage and

2005,

2011.

of

Chinese Social

and

The

dating

Workers official

dating

websites,

website:

of and

the

marriage

Chinese

BaiHe http://www.chinamarry.org/

ze the vision of theideal spouse theyproject, andIhighlight

and

status Ministry criteria ofthepost- e statusreportinrecentyears.

is generationtodealwiththem. ShiJiJiaYuan,

report

of

civil

has se studies,Ifocusonth t betweentraditionalandcontemporary Chinese

affairs. 3 and

been lection andmarriage strategies.Basedonthe -presentations of208female and43male lection criteriaandpracticeswithinthisgroup.

sociological theories of spouse selection, I sociological theoriesofspouseselection, an issue not only in the dating shows, but anissuenotonlyinthedatingshows,but the

The lection, togivethe published chapter whereIexplainthesettingof

Committee 80s generation.Last,in

post ‐ 80s

every

was of If YouaretheOne

Match year.

6 the

main e post-80sgenerationand The ‐ making

theoretical framework research subject

Service

of

lightofearlier is

this conducted

Industries, , thisthesis

report

in

by

China

2009,

the

CEU eTD Collection

and theapproaches Iuse inlaterchapters. review ofprevioustheories andempirical case researches ofChinesespouseselectionandrele were frequentlyreferencedbyCh understanding Chinesestudies.More psychology tospouseselectionwhichprovide In thispart, Iwillfirstly reviewthe various demography, andliterarystudies. studies havetheirrootsinthe selection, asacriticalpartof including politics,economics andgender Chinese historybecause ofits d and grain.”(Su,1922).Theresearchshowsthatthemarriage hasasignificantposition in and earth,atthoseintheancestral posterity of theformer sages, and to furnish thos the unionoftwodifferentsurnames, infriendship andinlove,ordertocontinuethe 7 argued thatnodefinitionofma socio-cultural phenomenon inhuman history Since the1920s,Anthropologist the firstdefinitionwasgivenbyConfuc philosophic

Confucius, thought

who lived

called

in

the

“Confucianism”

Spring CHAPTER 1. THEORETICAL PART

and

marriage, thefieldalsostar

fields ofsociology,psychology,education, medical and health, Autumn rriage canbeapplied

eep relationship withthevarious has s engagedindefiningthema inese scholars intheirstudies. temple,andatthosethealta

meaningful Period, specifically,Iwilldescri ius inthe Springand Autumn Period.

is

inequalities (Watson andEbrey, 1991).Spouse

influence a theoretical approaches inwesternsociology and

4 famous the framework andacademic backgroundfor studies, Iwillfocusonthepost-80sgeneration vant marriage strategies e whoshallpresideatth (Westermarck, 1891).Inthe1960s,Leach

in philosopher

Chinese to allcultures(Le ted inthe1920s.Spouseselection

society. and

Andthen Iwillexamine the politician rriage whichisalong-time be severalresearcheswhich respectsofChinesesociety

rs tothe spiritsof theland . Finally,basedonthe

in ach, 1961).InChina, e sacrificestoheaven

Chinese 7

“Marriageis history.

His

CEU eTD Collection (Udry, 1971). to increasemutualunderstanding, andultimately process, inwhichagoodimpression generatesat which mate-choosing behaviorcannotbeexplaine selection (Coombs, 1961).Thefifthisthefilter embedded personalhabitbysocialization,and into suggests thatintheindividual possessive wouldliketochooseawoman whois mainly consideravarietyofcomplementary needs(Winch, 1958).Forexample, amanwhois Winch’s complementary needstheorywhichclai the female prefersamalewhohas asimilar pers will choose afemale withthepersonality traitsof hismother, whiledue to“Electra complex” the personality traitsthat parents have; inthis of hereditarydispositionsinspouseselection (Freud,1997).Thistheorygivesimportance to (Goode, 1982).ThesecondistheFreudianparentimage theorywhichstatestheimportance widespread phenomena arethatmarriage ormate The firstisthetheory consider scholars intheirstudies, especially Then, Iwilldescribesome empirical studies controversial andempirical theories whichare In thissection,Iwilladdress theories inthis Theories andempirica 1.1 l studiesofspouseselecti ing historicalprecedentwhich growing process,certainvalu some precedentsinthe earlyperiod. area,including theoreticalhypotheseswhichare 5 case,duetothe“Oedipuscomplex”, themale theory ofmateselection proposedbyUdry,in which arefrequentlyreferencedbyChinese applied frequently incontemporary research. thebeginning,andthenthroughself-reliance ms thatwhenpeoplechoosetheirmate, they achieve individual requirements respectively dependent. Thefourthisvaluetheorywhich choosingisarrangedordecidedbyparents d bypersonality.Itshouldberegardedasa these valueswillbecome thebasisofmate onality tothatof herfather. The thirdis on andmarriagestrategy emphasizes that inthehistory, e notionshave already been CEU eTD Collection income shouldbebetterthanher. The formation while women requirethatthe s theory claims thatusuallymen tendtochoosewo socio-economic statusandotherresources exchange. Inotherwords,agoodappearan arranged marriage, labor, A personprovidesresourcesascap theory: dependingonpersonalava social class,values,androleidentity who issimilar or closertothem interms of of marriage strategies.Firstof Besides thetheoriesIaddressabove,thereareso connects individualbehavior selection, value theory focuses on therela marriage strategy.Comparingtothe filtertheory theory, Istill think complementary needstheory seems likesuitable for contemporary though Winch’s laterresearchrepo the significanceofinnateconsciousnessupon physiological andpsychologicalneedsaremore impor the physiologicalandpsychologicalfactors,which dating relationship.Asfor parentimagetheory,thispsychoanal isverycr because thesupportfromfamily now onlyareidealstyles.Inreallife,thesi In my view,thearranged marriage andfreeda money andthepriceofbride osca atr. s tosocialfactors. allisthepropinquitytheory: pouse’s conditionsin ilable conditions,peopleareattr rt, whichtriedtoverifyhis ital to exchange whathedoesnothave. Forinstance, in an (Marvin, 1918;Goode,1982).Secondly,theexchange (Davis, 1941;Merton,1941).Thirdly,the mobility tionship betweenindivi age,residenceplace,ed 6 tuation usuallyisamix ofthesetwo styles, itical tothemaintenance anddevelopment of ting describedinhistoricalprecedent theory me theorieswhicharemo ce ofthebridecanbeusedtoobtain which paysattention totheprocess ofmate men socialstatusislowerthanhim, whose the development Moreover, ofpersonality. of thistheorywasattr insists thatinbehaviorofmate choosing, educational level,o tant thanthesocialfactor,andstresses are themost commonfactorsinthe people tendtochoosetheirspouse hypothesis, failedtosupporthis ytic theoryoverlyfocuseson acted byaparticularperson. duals andsociety, ucation, race,religion, ccupational classand ibuted topatriarchy re practicalinterm CEU eTD Collection results more orlessaffected similar Chineseso Some westernempirical studiesaswellth mentioned aboveintheprogram. dating show playsarole asamatchmaker an in marriage market (Lin,2002).I past, buttheroleofmatchmaker doesnotdisapp and theadvice ofmatchmaker. Now,incontem especially feudalperiod,themain waytoselect Chinese scholars proposed theguide theory: in thecontext of traditional Chinesesociety, 1976, 1986).Affectedbythesewestern theories, model usingstimulus, values,androlestomeas social effectsincluding culture class mobility goesonbymarriage. That’swhyBernardMurstein addresses theimportance of social structure and socialrespects.Forexampl courtship system. Inotherwords,tosome exte They providediverseexplana and complementarities. Furthermore, thesetheories integrate speculation andcomprehension. In my opinion,generallythecommoncharactersof Korman, 1989). getting men who hasabetter appearance, status,relativeage,andhousekeepin socio-economic status,men areinadominan which resultedinthesocialconstructionof background (Elder,1969;Taylor tions for marital quality,marital conflict andmotivation in andhistoryondatingmarri point outthistheor 7 aspousewastofollow ciological studies whichI willshortly refer to genderroles. Normally intherespect of nt, they can reflectchanges in socialsystem, porary period, matchmak eories Ireviewedabove, theirmethods and e, themobility theorygivesusapicturehow t position,butwomen’sconditionssuchas d includes diversemarriage strategiesasI ear. Instead, agencyand media playthisrole ure theprocess ofmate g abilityareupwardmobility tohelpthem thesestrategiesaresimilarity, coherence y, becauseinmy research,thetelevision considering Chinese age. And healsoproposed a and Glenn,1976;Leslie and the opinionofparents selection(Murstein, er is not common as er isnotcommonas specific situation, CEU eTD Collection studies onspouseselectionofmen women intheearly21 and appeared attractiveness andmutual satisfaction(Peres a partnertobefriends,thatis are more fastidiousthanmen; andtheattitude that the differencebetween male andfemale sel especially inmethod (Yang,1988;Tian,1993).Third,PeresandMeivarpointoutfindings Thomas, 1976).Chinesestudiesfocusingon in lowersocio-economicconditionsemphasize of materiality isinverselyproportionaltothei different gendersandraces,ther The subjectofresearchisstudents fromAm is material suchaseconomic condition,andanothe Chinese study(Li,1989).Second, capacity andreligion(Jyoti,1983). intelligence, healthand appearance,economic First, inthestudyofJy and studieswhichpayattentiontochange categories: namely generalstudies on criteria; studies that focus onacertain specific criterion; western researchesaremainly aboutspouseselec and thendiscussinthefollowi intelligence, educationandappearance.And they Outcomes demonstrate thattheirrequirement Hudson, 1981)aboutAmerican universitystudent Zhang, andZhu,2003;Dong,Qian,Wang, a oti, selectioncriteriaaresortedin , demands partlyshiftfromma ng partaboutrelevantliteratu e is nodifference in spiritual MeltonandThomas dividecrite Hiscategorieswereusedasreferencesinafamous s ofmate-selection towards marriage fromc andMeivar,1986).TheChinesecomparative 8 r socio-economic status;inotherwords,people erican universities. Theresultshowsthatfor erican conditions,temperament, age,housekeeping ection criteriaistend tion criteria,andIclassifythem three into more onmaterial standards(Meltonand nd Liu,2004).Anotherresearch(Hoytand university studentsfollowedtheirway, concernlessaboutfamily lifeinfuture, r isspiritualsuchas increases inrespectsofsocial status, s aims tofindchangesin10years. to 8items: personality, educationand and relativereasons. res onChina.Generally,these standards. Andtheimportance terial complement topersonal ria intotwocategories,one ing todisappear;women onsidering itasfinding st feelingsandhobbies. century(Qian,Wang, CEU eTD Collection main wayofspouseselection,and the endogamy Chinese Marriage Law In fact,almostallofthesestrategiesexis social class,itmeans therange determined bysocialclass;the random; secondly,thesetwoaredefinitelyinterd behavior areabsolutelyindependentfrom eachot Houri categorizebehaviorsinto according to therelationship betweensocialcl communities, butalso referto socialclass, groups. Thesesocialgroupsdonotonlyreferto within aspecificgroup,while be dividedintoendogamyandexogamy. Thefo arranged marriage andfreeselec based onparentalconsent,freemate choosingw Stephes (1983)arguesthatther historical precedent,arrangemarriage a thinks therearetwostyles,selectivemarri As forotherrelevantmarriage strategy,first Xu, 2004). attention onspecificstandards tosocial socio-economic conditions.Thiscasebecome include thechangeofgenderrole,influe housekeeping abilityandchastit . Forexample, inChinesefeudalperiod, arrangedmarriage wasthe e shouldbefourways:arrangedmarriage, freemate choosing is intherangeofsame hierarchy(Feldman andHouri,1975). the latterrequiresindividual last situationischoosingmate tion. Second,whichdependsonth three modes: first of all social stratification and mating y. HoytandHudsonthinkthe factorsinthebeginningof21 nd freechoice(Goode, 1982:52—74).However, ted inChinesecasesalongwiththereformof race, ethnic andreligion(Marcson,1950). Third, according tosubjectswho 9 age andmarket marriage, whichrespondto nce ofmass media, andthechangesin ass andmate selection rmer requiresthatindividualchooseaspouse waspreferredratherthan exogamy. In 1931, s anexample forChinesestudies divert ithout parentalconsent,andco-existenceof ependence, thusmate her, thatis, themate choiceiscompletely theexpansionofkinshipgroups,tribes, chooses amember from other randomly withinaparticular reasons leadingtochanges e rangeofselection,itcan criteria, Feldman and make choices, Goode make choices,Goode choose iscompletely st century(Xu,2000; the CEU eTD Collection

8 newspapers andmagazines. Shefoundthatage, She picked300casesincluding150female a The firsteffective reportis Li’s and marriage strategywhich relatetomy study. they prefertoanalyzematrimoni started inthemiddle ofthe1980s.MostChines development ofsociologyremained stagnantin becomes a potentialfactorinmate select society, freemate choosingbasedonparental important part toopposearrangedmarriage, andpromote freeselection. Soincontemporary the marriage lawstartedtoadvocatethefr Chen, 1997;XuandWang, 2002;Zhong,2003;Xu,2005). information inthiswayofmate selection magazines suchas most focusonmatrimonial advertisements in more important forChinesethan Because oftheGreatProletarian CulturalRevolution Chinese studiesonspouseselect 1.2 researches Iwillrefer toth to regions

The

1976.

Great

to

During

work.

Proletarian

these

ten

Cultural

years, Chinese Women,Friends,Family, Girlfriend,Lifepartner

Revolution intelligentsia ese strategies indetail.

The Mate Selection Criteria

al advertisements. Ireviewre inotherculture(L was

such

a

social as

students ‐ political to knowspecificstandards(Yang,1997;Wuand ion andmarriagestrategy ion (Xu,2000).Inthede eedom inmarriage. And in1950,itaddedan 10 consentseemsmore popul nd 150male casesrespec

China.Chinesestudies had height andmaritalstatus avarietyofyouth-cl e scholars’studiesareempiricalandusually movement.

to i, 1989).Followingresearches,untilnow,

interrupt 8 , from the1960suntillate1970s,

It

was their of ContemporaryChinese searches aboutspouseselection

conducted

studies

and aboutspouseselection

by arefactorswhich scription of Chinese scription ofChinese

ass newspapersand displaced

tively from national Chairman ar, andsocialclass , byanalyzing

forcedly

Mao from (1989).

to

rural 1966

CEU eTD Collection status

still affectedbytraditiona advertisements from anewspaperinBeijng.The Shen andMa,1987;Xu,1997).In1997,Qian 10 9 Entered the21 1988; Liu,1996;Wu andChen,1997). family backgroundislesscritical thanpersonality,e good job.“LangCaiNvMao”isstillin the main positionofspouseselection appearance andhousekeeping,whilewomen expect From the1980sto1990s,studiesshowedme andXu,2004;YeYe,2005). Li from family-center realmtoworkand cultural background(Xu,2005).Researchesalsoillustrate thatmate selection wayextends more diverse. Thistendency reflects dramatic changes in social, political, economic, and changed. Theaverageageofthisgroupbecome characters ofthisgroupwhotendtofinda increase interms ofcareerandpersonality(Q maritaloccupation, educationaldegree,andhist females, theireducationallevelshaveobvious while paylessattentiontohealthand history andcareerisreduced.Theyemphasi property, andappearancebecome moreimpor spouse, and

In So

the Chinese

called are

history they

critical

“Men

tradition, will

of

condition

compare family.

Dang st Century,thesituationbeginstoch

“Lang

They Hu

to whether

Dui” Cai

measure

think

Nv

l value“Men DangHuDui” is

Mao”

these the factors

women.

basic

means conditions

of

form each

that entertainment place(Xu,1997;Yang,1997;Wu,2000;

career (Zhu, Dong,Qian,Wang, andLiu,2004).For and other

could literary

rules

provide are 11 spouse throughnewspape

ian, 2003).Generally,duringthepast15years, ze more aboutwomen’s housekeepingability and

improvement, andtheycareaboutappearance,

of equivalent, tant, whiletheattention onfemale marital

results show thatChinesespouseselectionis

ory ofthemselves.Theirdemands ofmate n preferwomen whohaveadvantagesin Chinese artistic

a ction criteria become older, andtheirselectioncriteriabecome andWudidastudyon263dating ducational background and feeling(Yang,

their mate to havehighereducationanda ange. Malesthinkth guarantee 10

talent (Qian& Wu, 1998). Besides,generally,

feudal such

are to as

society.

the

property, essential

stability

It

means

for social

of r advertisement have

men,

eir ownpersonality, marriage.

when status,

while

they

social

9

appearance (Pan,1985;

choose

reputation

their

and

CEU eTD Collection participants, andsortoutth spouse selection.Wang andRong(2011)c audience towardsdatingshows,andtheresu explain whydatingshowsarepopularinChina. XiandFeng(2001)analyzedtheattitudeof 2011; Ma,2011).Ma(2011)used theconcepts “habitus”and“capitals”ofBourdieuto case, especiallythespouse pay attentiontothemass media 2004; Xu,2004).However,untilnowonlythreere of history(Xu,2000;Qian,Wang, Zhang,and Recently, the newresearchdirectiondivertstoch Theoretical approachesinthestudy 1.3 particular periodtoexplain,an Tian, 1993).Inmy view,thecauseofthisdeba abilities. Infact,thesepotential factorscanbetransformed condition reduces;insteadtheycaremore a and Chen,1997). Othersthink onthesurface,younggeneration consider on economic conditions includinghavinganap insist thatalongwitheconomic developmen occupational levelislowerwouldliketochoos modern, onthewholepeoplevaluelovemore than conditions infuturespouse selection.Some a The main debate oftheseresearchesisth eir spouseselectioncriteria. selection indating alyze anddescribespecificrequ television tostudymarriage stra artment andlivinginacityw eir speculationabouthow 12 lt reflectstheopenness bout education,career,occupation,andother onducted contentanalysistofocusonmale ofthedatingshowsandpost-80s shows (XiandFeng,2001;Wang andRong, Zhu, 2003;Dong,Qian,Wang, andLiu, ssert thatas living condition becomes more e amate with good income (Li,1989).Some t of society, the proportion who asks for t ofsociety,theproportionwhoasksfor te may bethatmost studieswerebasedona anges inmate selectionfrom theperspective before,whiletheelderlyandpeoplewhose searches from theperspectiveofsociology to materialto condition(Yang,1988; irements ofdifferentgroups. tegy, whicharerelatedtomy ill increase(Zhou,1990;Wu important theeconomic and modernity ofnew CEU eTD Collection sociology (WangandLiu,2007;Zhou,2012), there are only twopapers addressing this issue in general level from theperspective of perspective ofethicsdiscu now thereisfewerspecific graduates whichincludepartofthepost-80s,we from researchesfocusingongroupsofcontempor Chen, andLu,2009).However,interm ofsp phenomenon, charactersinsocialcommunicati what aresocial factorsaffectingthem, theva As forthepost-80generation,relevantstudies reasonable theoreticalexplanations to tradition and theexchange theorywhichissim the propinquity theory whichisthe same astheconcept “MenDang HuDui”inChinese what strategiesadoptedtosettle mainstream valuesandidealmodels revealedin and society.Itisinaccordancewithmypurposeto First, thevalue theory provide prefer tousethevaluetheor approaches inChinesecasestudy.Morespecif previous westernstudies.Inmy view,Iagre And most Chinesestudies inthisareaareem According tomy review, initial spouse selecti their concrete needsinmate selection andmarriage. ssed thepost-80svaluesonmarriage (Chen,2009;Jiang,2010), y, thepropinquitytheoryand study aboutthisgroup.Except s aperspectivetoanalyzethe thisprocessofsocializationinterm of Cieesos eeto rtra Chinesespouseselection criteria. 13 ilar totheconcept“LangCaiNvMao”provide lues, consumptionhabits e withapplyingsome ofwesterntheoretical pirical andtheyusuallyfollowedthewayof ouse selection and marriage strategy,though ouse selectionandmarriage on theoriesareoriginally from theWestern. on, andapplicabilityinwork(Huang,Deng, canmore orlessgetsome upto information, ically, among theoriesImentioned above,I theindividualspouseselectionprocess,and ary youth,universityst discusswhatkindsof relate toseventhemes: thecharacteristics, no researchwasconduc relationship betweenindividuals exchange theoryinmycase. two masterthesesfrom the spouse selection.Both spouse , thepost-80cultural udents anduniversity social contradictions, ted todealwith CEU eTD Collection to understand thesetting ofthedating showandth selection. Inthiscondition,Ialsowanttous system, genderdifference,andhistoricalch empirical studies, inthelate1990sChineseresearch positive and active.Itdirectly affected the rese talking aboutsex,whichwasstillaverypr the resultsturnedouttobeunsatisfactory.Fo traditional society. Although Chinese researchersusedthesame waytoconductthe research, grounds suchascultureandeconomics, some However, to some extent these western empirica studies aboutthisgroup. In thispoint,theoretically, itmay alsocontri in Chinawillputforwardanotherwaytothink a changes in theirmarriage practiceby comparing th Chinese societyandinfluence the futuredeve Since the post-80s isthe firs social mobility andmainstream values can provid and itisdynamic andvariable.While atthemacr Furthermore, inmy view,spouseselectioncriteria female andmale participants,butalsocompare theircriteriaanddiscussthedifferences. post-80s generation,Iwantto audiences and male participants Chinese scholarsengagedinnewcontext,the Besides, intherelevantliteraturesaboutth t one-childgenerationwhoplay not onlygivemorespecificspouseselectioncriteriaofboth . Soinmy projectbyfocusingonmarriage strategiesofthe e theguidetheoryproposedbyChinesescholars 14 television datingshow,a e spouseselectioninChinesedatingshows, bute to thegap inma ivate topicinthe1990s,responseswerenot anges influence the development of spouse anges influencethedevelopment ofspouse lopment ofChina,Ibelievetoexamine the r example, inTian’sresearch (1993), when arch results. Nevertheless, intherespect of bout theeffectsofsocialfactorspractically. l casestudieswereba e different waystoperceive socialchanges. e practicesofparticip reflectindividualvalues times theyweredifferentfromChinese o level,relevantmarriage strategysuchas em topreviouscriteriaindifferentperiods es inthisareastartedtoreflecthowsocial a major role in contemporary rriage anddatingvalues nd providedvisionsof ants inthis setting. sed onspecific social atthemicro level, CEU eTD Collection

most popularChinesetwittersite“SINAWeibo” information isshowninthepersonalvideoprof male shedislikes. Formales, theinforma to haveachild,whethersheminds tolivewith marriage experience, family background,attitude females, the information includes ten items, na female andmale 23to participants fromepisode videos ofshowfromepisode36to 12 11 domestic andforeignmainstream media. to thepersonaltwitterofsome participants.The show, thehostofaswellprodu including thedatingshow’soffi information sources.The firstisthe research. Mypreliminary workwasdata Due tothesettingofmystudycase,Iused February

SINA The

official Weibowas

2012. CHAPTER 2.METHODOL

website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sina_Weibo

launched

of

dating

by

SINA show Corporation

If

You cial twitterer,guestswhomake

are

the

on official websiteofthisdatingshow

One

14 : August

http://fcwr.jstv.com/ tion includesname, ageandcareer,other both quantitativeandqua OGY ANDRESEARCHSITE 15 collection. Generallyspeaking,Ihavethree 228, thenewestone.Detailedinformationof

iles intheshowvideo.Asecondsourceis 2009, cers andthedirectorsofshow.Ialsorefer episode228isalsoshowninthewebsite.For mely name, age,city,career,thedatingand last sourceisthecoverageaboutthisshowin parents-in-law afterma s towardtoconsumption, whethershewants 12

and . Here,Ipayattentiontoofficialusers,

has

more

than commentsandgiveadvicein

300 million litative method inmy rriage, thedefectsof rriage, 11

registered . It provides the the provides . It

users

as

of

CEU eTD Collection blue. Ifagirldoesnotliketh figure 1,thereisapanelinfrontofeachgirl. the girlswillmake basedonthefi adecision faces 24girls,andpicksagirlhewould liketodate, butthis isonlyknown bythehost.Then stage, briefly stateshis name, ageandwhichci right partgoesfirst. two main sections, namely whatiscalled“f ofparticip remarks making 2guests host, the There are24 female participants and from 4to I mainly quantitativemethod use toanalyzethe as whatcanbeseeninfigure2. In thissection,th Figure 1Recordingsite,thebeginningofshow is boy,shecanpusha ere arethreerounds.Inthefi ants’ performance, and audiences. Theshowhas 16 emale right”and“male ri At thebeginningofshow,allpanelsare rst appearanceofthisboy.Aswecanseein 6 male participantsineachepisode. Thereis ty hecomes from. Hestandswiththehost, videos, becauseofthesettingshow. button, andthecolorof rst round,aboygoestothe ght”, andthefemale

lightbecomes red,

CEU eTD Collection video

colleagues. about hisdatingandmarriage experience,ideal spouse, andthecommentsfrom hisfriendsor hobby andcharacter.Therearethreevideoprofiles; aftertheself-introduction,othersare play ontwodisplayscreens.Itprovidesbasi In thesecondround,firstvideoprofile,aself-introductionofmale participant,will 13 two girlswillbeinvitedtothe Inotherword,nomoretwo ofthem. than2girl he wouldliketodatethisgirl. First, if there isonlyone light, then themale At thebeginningofthissection,accordingtoth second section,the“male right”. the last videoprofileisfinished,ifthere are And duringtheprocess,females canturnoffthei each video,thefemale participants havechance

Usually,

profile, if

the then 13

Two video profiles will be shown in the Two videoprofileswillbeshownin male

the

third talks

profile about Figure 2Recordingsite,duringtheshow

shown both

Second, iftherearemore thantwolights,theman mustpickup

center ofstage.Ifinthesetw the in

the dating

third

and

round

marriage any girlswithlights on,thentheshowwillgotoa

c information ontheman, includinghiscareer, participantshouldimmediately decidewhether 17 will e number oflightson,th

be s canbechosenatthismoment. Thenthese s toaskthemale some relevant questions. r lightsatanytime. Inthethirdround,after

experience

the

comments second round,andafterthedisplayof

and o females thegirlwhowaspicked

from his

ideal

his

friend

spouse ere aretwosituations.

or

together colleagues.

in

the

second

CEU eTD Collection improve high‐ 43

16 15 14 and43maleson 208females in9episodes episodes Ipickedupare51,71,91,111,131,151,171, avoid therepetitionoffemale pa duration foragirltostayontheshowisfrom No.36 toNo.228.Andinmy pre-interviewwiththe 2010 Because oftheorderStateAdministratio just gives up the chanceandleaves might succeedorfail,the resultdependsontheatti his chosengirldidnotkeepth choices. Ifhechoosesagirlwhohadkepttheli more aboutthem. can choose1outof10items aboutthese2or by theman at the beginning isnot included,she w after interview scripts. recording place.ThenIusedcontent analysis to registers intheauditionsite.Unstructured participant observation inthe audition process andsome unstructuredinterviews with did semi-structured interviews with6female participants and 2male participants. Ialsodida fieldwork inBeijing,oneoftherecruitment site marriage.

Except In These males

quality early marriage, 15

, theprogram revisedtheircontentin the

in

items 6

June

these girls viewing"

content.

are

2010, having who

9

episodes. different

and were

the Through

14 an

Hecanalsoput forward aquestion tothese female avoid order

unretouched repeated

from

vulgar the of

the the

ruling,

and

tendencies State ten

e lightonforhim, hecantryto

living 2

girls rticipants, Ichoseepisodesat items the

Administration alone;inotherwords,hefails.

photo,

program who

in like

female do

money and

not should

whether episode 36.Soall of have basic 18 16

terviews werealsodonewithaudiencesinthe worship:

3females whoarenowonthestagetoknow atleast4episodestoaround20episodes.To Radio, ght onforhim,hecangoadatewithher.If . Asforqualitativemethod, Iconductedmy n ofRadio,Film andTelevisioninearlyJune analyzedata invideo, s andtherecordingloca

“consider

enough ill alsobe invitedtothe stage.Nowtheman information. tude ofthisgirl.Thethirdchoiceisthathe

accepting Film

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/15459367 director ofthisshow

information and

the 191, and 211. In total, there are data 191, and211.Intotal,therearedata

Television

The the public's convincehertogoonadate,he

and intervalof20.Thesample notarization differences

in

demand

website, requires s. Finally,hehasthree literal information and s Icollectedarefrom are

of

tions of this show. I tions ofthisshow.I

for these the

, Ilearnedthatthe marital about

varied, program

are

doing

208 property

multilevel,

to females

housework rectify

before

and and and

CEU eTD Collection medium‐ are administrative Development

first-line cities their briefself-introductionat As forthecityparticipants older than32make 8%. and 32makes women up82%.Women youngerthan23yearsoldaccountto10%,while average ageisabout26.Amongst females, the only 5%areabove32yearsold. and theaverageageisabout28yearsold.Peoplebetween2532accountfor95%,while 17 foreign cities. Chinese first-linecities.31%arefrom thesecond orthird-linecitie such asNew YorkandWashington.Among 208fema and Chongqing.22%arefrom Chines program, ofthe 43male particip According tothebasicinformation ofpartic 3.1.1 The basicinformationofparticipants 3.1

According

25 sub‐ Age, city,nationality, career sized provincial

to

(CRSUD),

cities region,

the

17

with Report

, forexampleBeijing, Shanghai,Tianjin,Nanjing, Guangzhou,Shenzhen, cities GDP the

the

more

standards of

with population

2011

than the CHAPTER 3. DATA ANALYSIS

in these9episodesco Chinese

for

population 160

more the beginningoffirstround,69%

18 ants, theyoungestis25yearsol billion

first Urban The ageoffemale participan

than ‐

line

more and

e secondorthird-linecities. 1

Development

million. cities

urban

than

are 19

The population 3 proportion ofpeoplewhoseageisbetween23 ipants providingbyofficialwebsiteofthis

municipality million.

official me from, among43male ,

which le participants,53%ofthem come from

And website: more

is

published directly the

than

http://www.chinacity.org.cn/ third

2 ts rangesfrom 22to37.The under d, theoldestis36yearsold, million.

of them come from Chinese ‐ by line

9% isfrom foreigncities China

the cities

s. And16%arefrom The

Central

Research

are second participants, from

24

Government,

‐ coastal line Society

cities

small

of

usually special Urban

and

CEU eTD Collection dated twice,38%havemore than and 4ofthem haveachild.21%offemale pa than twice.Among participants,201out female experience. 5men havenodatingexperience.7 married onceanddivorced.In43male participants,19ofthem haveonlyoncedating show, Ilearnedthatamongmales, 41outof43 werenevermarried, andtheothertwowere combined withinformation about female participant posted onthe official website of the From videoprofilesdealingwithdatingand 3.1.2 and othersmake up5%. managers inprivateorforeigninvestment co are freelancersandgovernmental staff.Among 2 private orforeigninvestment companies, 19%areindependententrepreneurs,andtheother8% Republic ofChina the officialwebsite,andusing Based onvideoprofilesaboutmale prefer some charactersof Chinesemensuchas“takingcareof family”. the hostasked them why theyattended thisshow Most ofthemcanspeakChinese,andhavestudiedorworkedinChinaforlongtime. When female is7%.Theymainly come from Japan, Out of208women whoparticipat The experienceofmarriageanddating for reference, 38% of43males are ju ed inthe9episodesIexamin participantsandinformation Occupational ClassificationDictionaryofthePeople's twiceandonly2%havenoexperience. 20 Thailand, Ukraine,Russia,Korea,andAmerica. mpanies, 25%areindependententrepreneurs, rticipants haveadati of208areunmarried, 7women weremarried, 03 females, 22%arejuniorstaffand48% , theysaidthatlikeChineseculture and marriage experience ofmale participants, have dated twice, an nior staffand35%aremanagers in ed, theproportionofforeign about female participantsin ng experience,39%have d 12havedatedmore CEU eTD Collection

18 monthly salaryisusuallyaboveaver understanding. Generallyspeaking,morethan half choices whichmen enteringthefinalstage family backgroundincludingtheoccupationoftheir the firstistheircareerIanalyzed,second higher educationexperience.With respecttothei descriptions of educational level. Combiningthei level, butintheshow, throughtheirdialogue The informationprovidedbythe208female part car inthevideoprofiles. income. Actually,some ofmen talkedaboutth judged bytheirjob.From thecompositionofthei viewing" program should “considerthepublic's dema Television requiredtheprogram torectifya salary. However,inearlyJune2010,anorderof in theearlyepisodesofshowmale particip Around 14%ofmen haveexperiencestudying degree oradoctordegree,and17%completed hi Of these,58% video profilestheyrecorded. Among 43male participants, twothirdsprovidedinformation aboutth 3.1.3

Report Other characteristics of participants

from 18 , andavoidvulgartendencieslikemoney worship.Sotheirsalaryonlycanbe

BBC:

China

to

limit

'vulgar'

reality age 6000RMBorholdstheaverageline.

television

nd improvethecontent. shows, 21 haveabachelordegree,25%master abroad. Secondly,abouteconomic conditions, eir property,forinstance,theirapartment and ants wererequiredto is theirmonthly salary,andthethirdistheir nd for varied, multilevel, andhigh-quality “male deeper right”canpickuponefor theStateAdministration ofRadio,Film and r income, thereare three basesfor estimation; r ageandcareer, Iestima gh school or got technical college diploma. gh schoolorgottechnicalcollegediploma. s withmaleparticip

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/15459367 r careerIfound,most ofthem stable have icipants does notincludetheireducation thegirlshaveastableincome andtheir parents. Thelasttwoareincludedinten introducetheirmonthly Throughtheruling, ants, thereareshort eir educationinthe te atleast 60% have

CEU eTD Collection are “appearance”, “stature”, and“refinement”. Second, inTable1,followingpersonalityanddi Specifically, inTable2,thetop3mentionedwo rds are“considerate”, “filial”, and“active”. the male’s spouseselection.Onlytwoofthemdonotmake First, inTable 1,wecan seethatpersonality 3.2.1.1 Character Finally, Ihavethefollowingresults. questions made bysuccessfulmale participants round totalkabouttheiridealmate inthe I recordedandcategorizeddescriptionsof41 3.2.1 3.2 Ideal spouse Male mate selectioncriteria Table 1Criteriamentionedin 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Rank Item Education 1 Dating andMarriageexperiences Fertility 2 Family Background Age 5 Economic condition Living withparents-in-law Consumption 22 Career 27 Capability 30 Refinement 33 Stature 34 Appearance 37 Disposition 40 Personality 41 and disposition arethemost important factors in 22 video segments. ThenIanalyzedchoicesand out of43men whoenteredthesecondorthird

male requirementsofspouse sposition, frequentlymentioned requirements whofinallycame tothemale rightpart. 18 5 Frequency 8 1 requirements inthisrespect. CEU eTD Collection In Table1,itshowsthat“capability” ranks6 Capability and Career 3.2.1.2 positive or neutral attitude, butonly twoof them about the“capable”,and theyhopethatspouseswouldnotbetoocomp would be"mighty inworkbutalso canbedeli times. Male’sattitudesaboutSpouse’sCapabilityarepolari mentioned 25times, “competent”ismentioned 15times, and“ Table 2Wordsmentionedinmalerequirements Table 3Wordsmentionedinmalere Table 4Wordsmentionedinmale 5 4 3 2 1 Rank Term Used 5 4 3 2 1 Rank Term used Take careof children/parents Housekeeping 9 Independent 15 Competent 15 Wisdom 25 2 1 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 Rank Term used Full-time wife Flexible job Job withoutheavyworkload Have theirown career Steady job Filial 36 Considerate Low-profile Open 12 Generous 17 Independent kind-hearted Lovely 22 Gentle 28 Active 30 th 23 among demands. AndinTable3,“wisdom” is amongdemands.

cate infamily". Some holdanegative attitude requirements ofspouse’scareer donotmind playasupportive role infamily. quirements ofspouse’scapability ofspouse’spersonalityanddisposition 20 Frequency 38 20 5 11 8 Frequency 5 6 11 Frequency 8 zed. Some hopethatthespouse housekeeping” ismentioned 9 etent. Others holda etent. CEU eTD Collection experiences andfuturerelationshi marriage and datingarefirstshowninthevi In the9episodesIpickedupassamplesforrese Attitudes toward marriage anddating 3.2.1.3 own career”mentioned 11times. own career.Inthisaspect,inTable4,“steadyjob”ismentioned 11times, and“havetheir do nothopethatthespouseisafull-time 27peoplesaidthatwomen shouldhavetheir wife. times. 3men wanttheir spousestobeafull-time wife,andonthecontrary,other2people In Table1,“career”ranks7 experience. children; asinglemother isalsoacceptable. about theirattitudeabou divorced, amongunmarried anddi the exchangeofideasandmutual encourag spouse, firstofall,isagoodpartnerinthema working orstudyingabroad, becausethecomm seven years,Ihopethatmyspousehasaninte man whotookpartintheU.S.specialepisode the foundationofmy marriageis said, “affectionisloveornot,but Furthermore, theythink loversshouldpaye factors. Morespecifically,theywanttheirmate dialogue withfemale participants.Over77%of t thisissue,theydonot th in requirements. AndinTable4, based onthelove,instead of inreallifepeopleconsider p withidealspouse. vorced men, nonehadrequireme nough time toaccompany eachother.Mr.Zhang ement.” Aboutwhetherminding theirspouseis 24 Onlyoneexpectshismate hasfewerdating rnational outlook,especia tter ofideology.Thenloveisconsolidatedby arch, theattitudesofmale participantstoward mind whetherthespouse tohavesimilar hobbiesandhabitsasthem. on experience brings acommontopic.Ideal 43male participants said, “I have been studying in the U.S. for said, “IhavebeenstudyingintheU.S.for deo profilesoftheirdatingandmarriage And thenitisalso more aboutworthornot.Ihope my economic conditions.” One "full-time wife" is mentioned is 5 wife" "full-time nts. When theyareasked talked aboutaffection lly theexperienceof can befoundintheir isdivorced;orhas CEU eTD Collection 3.2.1.4 Living with parents-in-law explained, hegrewupwithhissinglemother up hischosengirl,becauseshedidnotwishto spouses toliveinharmony withtheirparent proportion ofmen stressedthattheyvaluethere male choice stage raised theissue of living of men theymost dislike. Inth parents-in-law, whethersheminds theproperty but noneadmit theyspendwastefully. consumption, and20%ofthem admit thattheyhaveahabitofpurchasingexpensiveitems, frugality, 50%ofthemchoosetoco seehowfemales think aboutthis official website,wecan think squanderingisagoodhabit.”From thein emergency spending.”Almost nonesaidthey we havetoconsiderthefeefortakingcare ofparents,children’seducation,andother prefer thatsheisfrugalandpla rational consumption; thoughmy income canmeet anymaterial demand ofmy spouse,Istill seem concernedmore aboutfemale attitudesto econom Instead ofpayingattentiontofemale 3.2.1.5 Consumption consumption, authenticphoto,whethershewant background, marriage andloveexperience,th The basicinformation ofthefemalepartic nned inconsumption. Itisbetter e partofmale right,halfofma nsume withinthescopeoftheirabilities,thatis,moderate s (Table1). Inepisode131,Mr.Langfinallygave n ecudntlaehrlvn ln. , andhecouldnotleaveherlivingalone. 25 ipants includeseconomic conditions,family ic conditionswhichranks10(Table1),males ward consumption.Mr.Husaid,“Iagreewith would acceptanorgyofspending.“Idonot with parentsaftermarriage. Aconsiderable e abilitytodohousework,attitudetowards notarization beforemarriage, andthedefects live withhisparents.However,asMr.Lang lationship withtheirparentsandexpect formation about208female participantsin s achild,whethersh point.30%ofwomen inclineto le participants whoentered the for futurefamily life,because e minds livingwith CEU eTD Collection 3.2.1.6 Other requirements information from theofficial website, inwhich do notliketodatewith.SoIcollectedrelevantda program, Iwanttoknowtheircriteriafrom th Since female participantsdonothaveenough 3.2.2 share herhappinesswhichIdidnothave.” made anoppositedemand, “Idonotwantmy spousewithasimilar experience.Iwantto the same growingexperience,Ithinkshecanu spouse. Oneofthem wantedtofindamate with come from afamily with one parenthavedi female inner quality whichwillinfluence th Three men expected theirspousetohaveagood education ofchildren,hehopedthele forward astandardabout education, becausehe and most reportedthey canaccept afemale who is wanted thewoman tobeyoungerthanhim, onema these requirements werementioned inrelativel As forspouse's age,educationbackground, about inmate selection. show. Besides,byanalyzingtheirbasicinform can beseenbothinme keeping iton. Thethirdisthereason leading to tolerate. Thesecondistheirpe eaemt eeto rtra Female mate selection criteria n’s exitinterviewanddialoguesbe rformance tomakejudgment of fferent opinionsaboutthefamily backgroundof 26 e childinfuture.Besides,twomen whoboth economic conditions,and family background, e opposite side; that is, what kind of man they e oppositeside;thatis,whatkindofman they completed high school. Considering thefuture ation, Ifoundotherfactorstheyareconcerned failures of meninthis they describethedefect family background;inth thesame conditions,ashesaid,“becauseof y lowfrequency.Intermofage,fourmen nderstand mebetterthanothers.”The other vel ofhisspousewouldbehigherthanhis. chances toaddressthei ta fromthreerespects.Thefirstistheirbasic 3to5yearsolderthan them. oneput Only le requiredhisspousetobeolderthanhim, tween females andmales duringthe men byturningofflightsor show.Diversereasons s ofmen theycannot eir mind, itrelatesto r idealmateinthe CEU eTD Collection

view iscoming from girlslikeMiss.Huang,“al movie togetherinsofa,hismother comes to depending ontheirmate, both prefers havingtwochildren,and15%thinksthat participants, onlytwosaid theydonot wantto 19 Could youimagine youwanttohavea when most females. Furthermore, asMiss.Qume dilemma whenthereis aconflict.” This statem everyday habitstodecorationoftheroom. Ido notwanttoseemy husbandinvolvedina the mother-in-law.different Youknow,weare parents isbetterforconjugal rela situation. From theinterviewees,Miss.Changsays 15% ofthewholeacceptslivi clearly expressthatdonotwant in female information. Itseems likemost take Responding tomen’s requirement aboutlivingwith 3.2.2.2 Living with parents-in-law Chinese marriage values,fertilit for men to knowmore aboutfemale inmale specifies whetherornottheywanttohavechildre aboutfemale participantsprovidedintheofficialwebsiteofshowThe information 3.2.2.1 Children

The

traditional

Chinese

old

saying

is

no

one andtwochildrenareok. ng withthem, and18%expre

offspring tions, because itisnot easyto to livetogetherwith y isaresponsib

is

the

worst join you? No, I will be unhappy with it.” Another No,Iwillbeunhappywithit.” Another join you? 27 ntioned, “We needmore spacetostay alone. adim viewofthisrequirement. who Females have achild.7%want ent represents theconsideration andworryof

though Idisagreewithliv one right part.Itisnodoubt thatintraditional sweet weekendwithyo generations. Thereisanapparentgap,from n inthefuture.Itisalsooneoftenchoices

, “Ithinkthattonotlivetogetherwithhis more thantwoisbetter. 20%saysthat of ility ofwomen. parents-in-law, thisitem isalsoincluded

the parents-in-lawaccountfor67%,while

three

unfilial sses itdepends onthe specific deal with therelationship with

behaviors 19 to have one child, 58% to haveonechild,58% Among 208 female Among208female ur husbandtoseea ing together,Iagree

to

their

parents.

CEU eTD Collection lights respectivelyinthe firstr participants and24femaleparticipants.Thes on formales ineveryround.Forexample, in As Idescribedinthemethodpart,recorded Performance inchoosing mate 3.2.2.4 appearance”, and“androcentrism”. “dishonest”, “withoutentrepreneurspirit”,responsibil and phrasesinTable5todescribethedefe From 208female participants’ information inth Defects ofmen femaleparticipants mostdislike 3.2.2.3 agree withlivingclosertoparents-in-law. parents. Actuallyofthe67%w attitudes show thatevenifthey that weshouldtakecareofpa 17.2. Thisaveragenumber showsfemale’s attitude Table 5Defectsofmenfemale Rank Defect 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 rents. Inmy mind, thebestwayis ound. Sotheaverageof lights the Smoking 22 Irascibility 34 Unpunctual 65 Peacockery 89 No self-confidence Selfishness 113 Androcentrism 116 Sluttish appearance Unfaithful 153 Without responsibility Without entrepreneurspirit Dishonest 189 Stingy 198 didnotlivetogethertheycould ho donotwanttolivetogether, e 5male participantsgot24,18,16,11and17 28 the averagenumber oflightsthefemales keep cts ofmen theymost dislikeare“stingy”, e officialwebsite, thehighfrequencywords participantsmostdislike Table 6,inepisode51,thereare5male in thefirstroundabout 169 Frequency 105 125 170 tolivecloserthem.”Their males gotinthefirstroundis still show theirfilialpietyto ity”, “unfaithful”,“sluttish two of three said thatthey the firstexpression

CEU eTD Collection At which Moreover, thereisacasespecialcase.In also verifiesthatoutsideapp This figureindicatesthatthein 21 20 I alsocountedtheaveragenumber oflights the beginningofshow,itis0%. girl. Sothe dating rateis60%. example, inepisode51,5male participantsatte rate”, it shows thepercent of male participan the females. Soduringthisprocess theycan basic informationand the dating and marriage experi same method togetth this decision,Iwanttoknow of male participants. Inthis such

the The The as

city

moment first second

career,

he

round

comes

Episode

round habit,

they

211 191 171 151 131 111 is 91 71 51 Table 6Maleparticipantsaver

“female

from.

make the is

also

dating

decision,

“female right”, e averagenumberoflig Round Lights asIndications

First and 20.8 16.6 21.5 10.0 20.5 14.5 22.8 9.4 22.2 9.0 21.6 12 19.5 5.5 17.3 9.0 17.2 7.0 of Interest(of24)

in

marriage right”, except round, female decisionsarebased

earance doesnotaffecttoomuch forafemale’s spouseselection. which 20 their attitudestowardmen’s outsi

Because nonesucceeded to date with

itial judgment offemale attendees the

the girls

experience. Round

difference

Second outside

elect

boys. episode171,Mr.Yangisahandsome youngman

21 looking

from

hts inthesecondround.In make amorejudgment. Asfor“Dating rational It 29

focuses these9episodesinth age successrateineachround

ts who can succeedtodate withagirl.For the

nded and3ofthem todatewitha succeeded of Dating Rate

the first Overall 16.7%

20% 75% 50% 20% 40% 40% 50% 60% on

ence of male participants willbe toldto

male round

female

participant,

is Match Rate

the attitudes on theirvisualjudgment. From de appearance.ThenIusedthe

female Girl theypicked

Dating Rate they isrelatively

the girl they picked up at thegirlthey pickedupat about

can e firstround,itis20.4.

only 20% 25% 20% 20% thesecondround, 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

know

the

know

first

more

expression his

objective. It about

name,

the

age of

male,

male.

and

CEU eTD Collection deeper understanding,manchangestheirchoice. other words,only1outof10can women inmate selection.Finally,theaveragera from 16.7%to75%,andtheaverag Then, dating rateistheproportion ofsuccessfulma interview, MissHuanggavearepresen them failedbecausetheyhopetheirmate canc not accept awoman whohashighcheekboneswhichisominous inhismind.Second, 20%of standards about theappearanceorcharacter of following outcomes whytheyfail. First, 35% of 43male participants make too strict self-reflection interviewofmale participantsafter failingto By synthesizingreasonsofapparentandnumer Reasons of malefailure 3.2.2.5 girls tokeeplightsonatth gradually becomes morerationa round showsadecliningtrend.Thisdemonstrates tw longitudinally, Ifoundthatthenum shining figuremay attractothergirls.Besides,comparing dataofthese9episodes so perfectthattheydonothave was lowerthanaverage.When participan female with perfectstatusandheight,butinthefi e beginninginorde senseofsecurity;they worried l; second,from interview,produ match withtheir initial choose. e is41%.Thisratereflectsth ber oflightsturnedoffbyfema tative responsetoabovetwopoints. rst round,therewere only19lightskeptonwhich oesr h rga oso el r toensuretheprogram goesonwell. 30 onduct their life-planning aftermarriage. Inmy the female. Forexample, aman saidhecould ous turningoutoflightsbyfemales andshort ts respondedtothisdecision,theysaidheis te ofdatingwithpicked-upgirlsis9%,in le out of total numberle outoftotal o points:first,thej datewithagirl,Ifoundthe thatheisaplayboyandhis e consistencyofthemen and Itpointsoutthatduringthe cers of this program advise cers ofthisprogramadvise les inthefirstandsecond udgment of thefemale in eachepisode.Itis CEU eTD Collection these men couldnotdealwiththere want toberestrictedbymen. Third,46%ofme of women gradually increasetoday,theybecome It isworthponderingthatmale requestspersona obligations.” children, but Ithinkall the things aremutual of each other. Yes, Icould be gentle and smart, andI could do housekeeping and taking care of to play as a fool to rely on you in everyday life? I am not an actor. We should respecttime infamily? IfIam self-confident and a person who has own opinion, how can you individuality require me independent and outstanding in the company and in the same time asthey wishto spend enough “I could not understand what kind of ideal spouse these men want to find. How can we be lationship withtheirex-girlfriend. 31 n failed because the female participants think l planningofwomen, but more involvedinsocialaffairs,anddonot and should be shared , these are notfemale as thesocialstatus CEU eTD Collection

22 news agencyreportedthattheone- married earlier thantheageof Firstly, marriage LawofthePeople's RepublicofChinarequiresthatthemale shouldnotbe participants ofthisshow. From thedataIdescribedinpreviouspart General characteristicsofparticipants 4.1 research (2006), theone-childpopulation isbetween 83million to90million. We canseethat Committee nolongerincludesthe And after1993,thedataofone-child data waschildrenwhoregisteredfortheone-c 6.1million. After10years,in1988, this numbe the dataofNationalFamily PlanningDe Until now,therehas beennoofficialstatistics implementation oftheone-childpolicy. be assumed tocome from singlechild family andtheyare thefirst generation after the participants were bornafter1979,most participants arethepost-80sgeneration,wh marriageable ageinChina.Thedatashowsth marriage lawencourages latemarriage,

The

official

report

from

Xinhua

news CHAPTER 4. DISCUSSION

agency: 22 andthefemale shouldnotbe youth whoareolde

http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2005 child population isabout90million. participantsof thedatingshow the agebetween25and32belongsto partment, in1979,theone-childpopulationwas population fromtheNationalFamily Planning 32 of Chineseone-child population. According to , wecan find some characters and patterns of hild certificationin department (Feng,1992). o isinthemarriageab r increased to34.15million. However,this at intheaspectofage,main groupof r than 14 years old. In 2005, Xinhua r than14yearsold.In2005,Xinhua married earlier thanage20.As ‐ 11/14/content_3779575.htm IfYou AretheOne le age.Sincemost 22 FromFeng’s can

CEU eTD Collection women, from theproportionwecansee 24 23 consider marriage earl before-80s takeacertainproportion.Comparis age ofmen isolderthanthatofwomen. dating experiences.Interms ofage,female range And according totheirmarriage experience, most policy onthisgeneration. In my laterdiscussion, Iwillcome backtothis social structure.Andbecause synchronizes withthemodern transformation of years, theirgrowthisalongwithChinesesocialeconomic reformandopening.It in Table7,thefirstone-childgeneration,most that ofmen. well

Leftover This ‐ paid

data

and

ladies is

independent. from

or Feng’s

Shengnv

research

And

in ier thanmen; secondthoughtheav Table7 Theregisteredone-child population

Chinese, they

about 1989 35.47 1988 34.15 1987 32.32 1986 30.51 1985 29.45 1984 28.17 1983 24.77 1982 19.53 1981 14.48 1980 11.43 1979 6.1 Year Total(million)

are

of theone-childpolicy,theyb

has single;

the

become

one

most ‐ child the problem of‘leftoverladies’

a were

buzzword

population

born And among female participants,post-90sand 33 on indicatestwopoints:firstwomen startto point,especiallytheeffectsofone-child Chinesesocietyintechnology,ideologyand

in

of them wereborninthecities.In last20 in iswiderthan thatofmale,buttheaverage

the in

the N/A 24.21 21.55 18.62 16.91 14.22 8.77 6.48 4.44 3.15 1.71 City ofparticipants areunmarried butwith

2006

70sand

Chinese

(Feng, erage ageofmen isyoungerthan

are N/A Rural 9.94 10.76 11.89 12.53 13.96 16.00 13.05 10.05 8.29 4.39

language. ecome aspecial groupinChina.

2006). now

stuck.

They 23

24

are is more serious than

well ‐ educated,

CEU eTD Collection interviewee talkedabout potentialrulesincompany. colleagues. Duringtheinterviewwithamale Although theyhavecertainsocial other occupations,andtheyareusuallybusywith reflects thatontheonehand,inChinesecontext, show thatmostmale andfemale participants activities, andindirectlyaff Third, tosome extent, thecareerdirectlydetermines aperson's socialrole, statusand comes from thesecondandthirdlinecity. opinion, themobility theory who partlyworksinthiscase,thatis,it inthefemale the first-linecitysaidtheyhope is higherorlowerthanthem, theypreferif city said theydonothave suchconsideration, and theycanacceptaspouse whoseconditions men whohavebetterconditions Actually female participantsfromthesecond-line citysaiditgivesthemachancetoknow more confidenceaboutdatingcompetition, whil registers areobviouslylessthantheformer. I subjects oftheshow.Wealso usually men who havegoodconditionscome fro director of thisprogram explained,“We willfilt from orthird- the proportionoffemales second this program are set upinthese first-line cities Secondly, mostofparticipantsco ects thecircleoftheirinterp consider whocomes fromcities theconditionoftheirspouseisequivalentorlower.Inmy thanthem. Whilebothwomen andmen from first-line the me from thefirst-line cities. activities,thecircleisalwa they areequivalent.Maleswho donotcome from think itmight becausegoodconditionsgivemen 34 who works in a worldfa who worksina may beoneofreasons. are from privateorforeigncompanies. This e women seem notto be worriedaboutit.” er male participants intheaudition process, theirworkandhavelimited time fordating. their workloadandpressurearehigherthan line citiesislargerthanthatofmen.The m thefirstlinecity.Theyareprior ersonal communication. The results ersonal communication.Theresults ys limited totheirclientsand On-site registrationpointsof inthe lowerlevel, butthe Furthermore, obviously mous ITcompany, my CEU eTD Collection conditions thatmake them moreconfidenttosel On theotherhand,members ofthisgrouphave are common inmost privateandforeigninvestment companies inChina. female participantswork inIT companies.Other interviewees alsoimply these potential rules His explanationcouldbeverifi at amarriageable age,thei but alsothemain force inthedevelopment of group isnotonlythedominant city. They arehighly educated, To sum up,theparticipantsof be aresponsetothephenomenon of conditions of men. Besides,compared tomen, women, astheycanaffordthemselves, theydo can satisfymostmaterial demands ofthefemalewhichcanbeseeninprogram; for weekday, the only time I had for dating was the week wasthe dating for time the only Ihad weekday, employee, when Iwas a programmer oneyear ago, I had to work formore than 10 hours every leave which means indirect loss. Furthermore, there is no protection rules really works well for maternity her to permit have will company the future near the in means, It soon. married to get plans particular for female. Administrators do not want to employ a female who has dating relationship or relationship will divert your attention and affectthe efficiency ofyour work.Another situation is does not want to see hisstaff fallin love with each other, especially in the same office.Hethinks this your contact, and you have to obey them ifyou do not want to lose your job. Obviously, the boss there are company, of kind this in know, you But “The company Iworkfor is manager, I have more freedom than before.” not want to do, well, there areso many people waiting for your position. Whatever, now I am a you if do reject tasks, cannot You me anytime. a give project new my and could you, to boss belong r spouseselectionbecomes a a world famous company, I am so lucky to get this job with high salary. salary. high job with this to get Iam lucky so company, famous aworld population withcomparative adva e the post-80s generation who come from mainlythis showarethepost-80sgenerationwhocome from independent, andhavestablejobsincomes. Thiskind of ed bythedatathat25%ofma leftover ladiesIaddressedabove. contemporary Chinesesociety.Astheyarenow 35 stableincome, goodeducationandother not needtoconsider more females getsenior positions. Thismight ect theirspouse.Formen some rules which are not expressly stipulated in end. But myin the company, weekend does not heated issueofsociety. ntage inthemarriage market, le participants and 15%of too muchabouteconomic to some extentthey CEU eTD Collection characters asfollowing. context, throughthis long-term transforma cities, thelivingconditionsofurbanpopulations have become stable andsatisfactory.Inthis generation, mostofwhom are of genderandsexuality,family andmarriage, andfreedomdemocracy, affecttheyoung more obvious,notonlyineconomics butalsoin of thiscentury, theprocess of globalization intensifies, and itsinfluence inChina becomes material conditionhasalwaysbeentheimportant apparent intheearly1990s.Therefore, from th the socialistmarket economy. Theeffectofth policy inreform andopeningupwasconductedto modernization programme. Followingthes China decided toshift thefocus of thework in productionorarmy wasapopul In terms ofeconomic condition,therewasalmost nodifference; anoutstanding representative establishment ofthePeople’sRepublicChina, the state,contributetocriteria changesinhistory.Inth Social changes ineconomic, culture andpolitics,whichis mainly influenced bypolicies of Social changesandnewcharact 4.2 the social statusofintellectualswasimproved. Atthesame time, in1978, In fact,from thelate1970stoearly198 the reopeningofnationalexams broughtyoungge factor and the criticalconditio Because ofGreatCultural Revolution,from 19 Third

Plenary

Session oftheEleventh n to beconsidered.After1977,af the post-80s.Meanwhile,because ar standardinspouseselect ers ofspouseselectioncriteria Central uggestion ofXiaopingDeng,from 1979,the 36 tion, Chinesespouse selection reflectsnew 0s, itwasatime ofChin is economic reform onsocialstructure became ofthePartyandStatetoeconomic at perioduntilthebegi culture.Western thought, Chinese societywasintheheroworshipera. 66 to1976, politicalid factorinspouseselection.Inthebeginning transform thesocialistplannedeconomy to neration opportunitiesto

Committee of the e 1950s and early 1960s, as the e 1950sandearly1960s,asthe ter thesuspension for11years, ion, suchascadresinarmy. of therapiddevelopment of nning of this century, Communist ese renaissance.The entity wasthefirst especiallynotions gotouniversity. Partyof CEU eTD Collection In remain allowed could

dating values,especially inthefeudal age. marriage. In thepast,“chastity” hasbeenacr barely demanded. Besides,spiritualandaffectiona main positions,whichissimilar tomale. Howe emotion andmarriage. Itismanifest thatfor dislike reflect their requirements inpersonality, ha corresponds withcomplementary needstheory. compatible andcomplementary relationship betw more influentialthanoutsideap for male, as showninTable1,immanent requi age, appearance,height,chastity,themarriage Moreover, spiritualresonancebe 25 Firstly, bothmale andfemale put self-confidence. Forinstance, inthe respects pay attentionnotonlytowome reality thatthetwogendershavebecome equa Secondly, asthedevelopment ofsocietyprogre attitudes aremoreopen. and datingexperiencewhichwas 1990s. However,noparticipantmentioned the“cha was

feudal In

forbidden fact,

not

a

to

widow

age,

do “chastity”

talk

that.

men

or for

or

have

Besides,

keep can girls

issue

marry

any

single to

is

remarriage

physical have originated

several in

the sexual

contact

whole

women,

of from

behavior

pearance. From theirdescription women

n's traditional character butal comes thekey indating and ma life.

with men’s inner personalityatthefirstpl

a privateissueforChineseinthepast,butnow people’s but

men

were

before women virgin

except

regarded

complex.

marriage,

25 can 37 of female capability a itical factor inChines l andwomen havebecome independent,sothey females, innerandspiritualqualityaccountfor Ithas aconsiderable influence untilthelate

their experience inthepast

only rements like personalityanddispositionare ver, oppositetomen, outsideconditionsare

as sses, more men begintoacceptthesocial een eachotherinterm bits of life, morality, future career planning, l factorsarealsoincreasinglymeaningful in

For female, themen’s defectstheymost In

fixed

a

marry sometimes

the stity” issueatall. contemptible

spouse past,

a

man.

especially

who requirements

Men

thing. so totheirindependenceand ace instead ofmaterialneeds. of idealspouse,theyexpecta get rriage, insteadofmeasuring

had

in

the e traditional marriage and nd career,most men who According

the

(Li, 1989).Specifically, rights

recognition In my view,marriage

old were of personality.This

to Chinese

to

divorce, stricter.

custom,

of

feudal duplex

while They

they

society,

parents. are women

should

not

it

CEU eTD Collection not thinkthe have requirements intheoccupationprefer educational levelofwomen, men losetheir more peoplecanaccess tobetter notion “Lang CaiNvMao”.Furthermore,onth positions in choosingaspouse,andthistendenc conditions likeappearance andstature illustrate th mainly reflectedonmen’scriteriaoftheir However, Iwanttopointoutth consideration ofchildre requirements aboutspouse’seducationalleve shows thatwhenmen selectwomen, theyha show theirattention on male future career pl Furthermore, thoughfemales donothavespecif I canafford withmy ownincome. Anyway,after Igetmarried, Iwillconsider my family first.” females, asMiss.Liureposed,“Ithinkitisreasonableforme tobuymyfavoritethingwhich underline long-term plansandconsumption habitsovercurrent economic conditions.For respect ofeconomics, bothmale andfemale Thirdly, bothmen andwomen have outside, butwhenshereturns,shoul her self-confidence.Mr.Husays,"Idonot can havetheirownworkandcareerbutdonotn after thefamily isreasonablenow.Onemale pa Chinese traditional n’s futureeducation. at thecontradictoriesbetween idea that the man goes out to work while the woman looks ideathatthemangoesouttoworkwhilewoman looks education,andtheimproveme along-termandrationalsigh eoegnl nfoto e" d becomegentleinfrontofme." the women whohaveindependentwork.Theydo 38 approve moderate consumption. Formen, they an. Besides,asforothe object superwoman. I spouse. Forexample, th rticipant intheprogram considersthat women e onehand,asthedevelopment ofeconomics advantages ingender, instead havingmore l andfamily backgroundconnecttotheir eed ahighincome, andtheworkjustbrings y isinaccordancewithChinesetraditional ic demand intheoccupationofmen, they at formen thesefactor ve longterm goals,forexample,their changes andtradition,which are t inspouseselection.Inthe nt ofsocialstatusand r requirements, italso hope sheismasterful s stillhaveimportant e ranksofexterior CEU eTD Collection

in most situations,“parents-in-law” canbesimplified to“mother-in-law”. In Chinese understood whythisrequirement isproposedby they willbeseparatedfrom herparentsandliv family. Sothecustom isawifeshouldbeco downs onwomen. Menareregardedassuperior to women becausethey aresuccessorsof a patriarchalsociety,especially they dealwithhouseholdaffairs,playa males andfemales. Formen, theyarethemainstay ofthewhole family; forfemale, though big family insteadoflimiting inacoupleandch Notions like“family” and“home” aredeep-rooted female, thatis,whether thefemale wouldlike generation. Firstandforemost especially itsone-child Family planningpolicywhichhasbeenc Effects oftheone-child poli 4.3 contradiction betweensocialdeve to internalrequirements, male demands areovermuch. Inmy essentially,itisa view, mate toregard him asa family-center to bede 26 androcentrism, inwhichideals women. On theotherhand,theystillkeeptraditionalconserva material and spirit.Inthis condition, theychan pressure insocialcompetition. Thus,they hopetheirspousecanshareburdensbothin to

have It

describes

a

good

the housekeeping

ideal

womanhood ability policy, isanothercritic

as

in

well

China , thereisafundamental inChina,acountrythat pouse isa“Wise Wife, GoodMother”

as omn n araca rdto. lopment andpatriarchal tradition.

in have

Chinese cy onspouseselectionofthepost-80s

virtue

onducted since1979bytheChinese government, tradition,

to role relyingonmen. This

39 educate mpliant withahusbandaf pendent onhim.Inother ge partoftheir notion toacceptnewimage of ildren. Thisnotionhasdifferentmeanings for al factorinspousese men, mentioned butnever bywomen. Infact to livewithparents-in-law after marriage.

and e withhim. Inthis sense,italsocanbe in Chinesetradition. Usually,itmeans a

children.

it

still conflict

works

thepastlookeduptomen and

in in

modern point tive valueswithpotential lection ofthepost-80s

situation iscommonin society. ofviewsmale and 26 words, fromexternal ter marriage; usually . Theyexpect their

Female

are

expected

CEU eTD Collection sisters, theygrewupinaprivate space. Thisha Thus, theynolongerblindlyfollowtheconventi feeling astheonlychild,butal opportunity ofeducationasman allparent and situation oftheman beingsuperior towoman. Astheonly child one-child policy.Intheaspectoffemale, to The answercanbeattributed totheessential tradition, whydoesawifenotre between mother-in-law anddaughter-in-law. Howeve life aredecidedbyfemales; males donottake condition thechildrenshouldnotgo family. Chinesethink“filial piety” isavirtue whichmust beincompliancewith,any marriage, the relationshipbetweenmother-in-law anddaughter-in-lawis their family. That’swhyduring interviews,almost most ofthepost-80sgeneration, pa the datashowsmost female wanttohavemore The effectsarealsocanbeseeninotherrespec in contemporary marriage. selection transforms from thedeterminate role a partoftheirfuturelife alone.Inaword, brothers tosharetheresponsibility especially in habit.Inthe asp or share space with others. Asmy interviewees ect ofmale, theimplementation ofthispolicy,theyhave before pc h le’ pno? spect theelder’sopinion? so their educational oftakingcareparents.But rticularly who werebornin against theirparents’opinion. point, thefamily planningpolicy,particularlythe the importance offamily relationshipinspouse 40 some extent, theone-childpolicychanges t. For example, in the issue of having children, t. Forexample, intheissueofhavingchildren, in arranged marriage to said,thereisagap bit lowerstheir applicab thanonechild.Dueto onal rules.Furthermore, withoutbrothersand al care.Theydonotonlyhavesuperiority allfemale interviewees expressedthesame care,sousuallydifferent opinionsarise level bringsthem independentopinions. r, thereisaquestion, if“filialpiety” isa the city,areonlychild in now, theyhavetotakethisas infamily, girlshavethe In afamily, thedetailsof between twogenerations, theone-childpolicy, a contradictoryfactor ility tocollective life always acoreofbig CEU eTD Collection However, thedatashowthat more thanmen. Thedirector saidthattheregi female inthenationisimbalanced.Itreflected inthisshowthatthenumber of females is In addition,theone-childpolicybringsanother affectional factorsinmarriage. need ofcompanionisalsoreflectedinbothma alone whentheygrewupwithoutaccompanying opinion thattheywanttohave city wheretheone-childpolicyiswe of havingmanysons.Now,most areas. Since traditional ideaprefer boy thangirl, intherural area,bigfamilies werestillproud period ofimplementationplanningpo offamily than men toattendsuchkindofdatingshow? and Yin,2005).Sowhydomore females particip who wasbornfrom 1980to2000,thenumber ofmale is33 million morethan women (Guo the populationofmaleandfema twochildrenbecauseastheonl of male populationisdistributed ll conducted,therearemore females. 41 sters of female arethree times more thanmen. le andfemale attitudes about theimportance of problem thatthepopulationratioofmale and licy, itwas notcarried outwellintherural ate more thanmales? Arewomen moreopen Except natural reason, in by brothersorsisters.Thisstrongemotional le are119:110.Inthepopulation y childinafamilytheyfelt in rural area, while in the inruralarea,whilethe fact,inthe early CEU eTD Collection This thesis,whichdealswith parents-in-law. about age,heightandchastitytonewrequirement their performances bothathome atwork; third, males and diverttheirtraditional demands independent, themales starttoacceptthechan spiritual needstakeoverprimacy overmaterial because they dependonindividualcondition.On long-time socialchange.Ontheotherhand,thesecriteriaarest these criteriaarechangeable andmarked byepoc level, thesediversecriteriaincludeinnerquali requirements suchasspiritualcommunicationin project andintegrate Chinesetraditional valu as amarriageable groupmade ofhighlyeducated In respecttothevisionofid explores anewvisioninChinesespouse combining theirvideoprofilesandinformati Focusing ontheperformancesand43male of208female participantsintheshowand empirical dataanalysisofthemost CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION eal spouseIlookedat spouse selectionpracticesofth popularChinesedatingtelevisionshow selection inthefollowing respects. 42 ties andoutsidecharacte demands; second,asthefemales become more es suchas“Lang CaiNvMao”andmodern ges ofgenderroleandadaptrequirements to on from theofficialwebsite,myresearch their spouseselectioncr andindependenturbaniteswithstablejobs, s ofpersonaltraitsan hal character;tosome extent,they reflecta thewayinwhichpost-80sgeneration, themicro level,first,complementary e post-80sgenera ill subjectiveanddiscrepant, ristics. Longitudinally, d therelationshipwith iteria. Onthemacro If YouaretheOne. tion, engagesin CEU eTD Collection private lives. selection, theymake anefforttobalanceta are more positive effects aremore thannegative ones.With therelative free choice inmate one-child policyinthefuture, bu they areheldresponsibletotakecareofparents. given afreehandindecidingtheirmarriage a also beattributedtoit.Astheonlychild brings merits likeindependencetothepost-80s, been achieved,butalsogendereq in thethesis.Obviously,duetothispolicy,notonlybasic strategies adoptedbymembers ofthepost-80sge On theotherhand,inlightofpositive a strategy ofthepost-80sge conservative Chinesetraditions,and,asthe economics andculture)whichdirectlyconnectto developing Chinesesocietyabsorbswesternmodern development ofeconomics hashappenedinCh the one-childpolicy,notonlysocialstructure has beenchanged,butalsothemost rapid Cultural Revolution,reopeningof events andpolicies such astheestablishment of thePeople’sRepublic of China,Great traditional and contemporary Chinese values.More specifically, because of aseriesof the which areapparentlyreflected According toearlier works onspouse selection inChinese society, neration, willleadtofurt in spouseselectionofthepost t forthepost-80s,firston nationalexams, thepolicyofreform andopeningup, uality has increased inmany aspectssuchas education. It in afamily, thepost-80sgenerationmembers are king careoftheirparent nd negative effectsofthe one-childpolicy, the 43 main forceofChinesesociety,themarriage nd datingaffairs;however,inthemeanwhile, It ishardtopredictth neration toreconcileth but atthesame time, ina. Furthermore, withglobalization,the her socialdevelopment. social values,graduallyaffectandchange values. Allthesesocial factors (politics, e-child generation,Ithinkthere -80s generation, goal of population control has goal ofpopulationcontrolhas s andkeepingtheirown e possibleeffectsofthe their individuality can can individuality their em arealsodiscussed some contradictions, exist between CEU eTD Collection of empirical data,italsoe about thisgroupfrom perspective. asociological that intermmarriage of anddatingvalue, this th show areonlyasmall partofChinesemarriag have studiedcouldnotrepresentthewholepos information may notreflecttheexhaustivespouse current spouse selection studies.First, the research isbasedononedatingshow,sothe I think this thesismay belimited because of tw xplores anewwaytoobserveth 44 eable post-80spopulation.Nevertheless,Ithink t-80s generation.Peopleenrolledinthedating o reasons, but Ibelieve itfills inagap inthe esis contributes tofilling inthegap instudies Usingthetelevisiondatingshowasasource selection criteria.Second,theparticipantsI e effectsofsocialchanges. CEU eTD Collection York: OxfordUniversity Press. Leslie, GeraldRandKo Rethinking Anthropology.London:AthlonePress. Leach, Edmund.1961.“Polyandry,Inheritanceand New Delhi:Deep&Deep publication. Jyoti, S.K.1983MarriagePractices oftheSikhs: AStudy ofIntergenerational Differences. Hunnan Normal University. Jiang, Lihong.2010.EthicalAnalysisontheMa Post-80s Generation. Huang, Hongji,Deng,Lei,Chen,Ning,andLu,Ye.2009.ReviewoftheResearcheson among CollegeStudent. Hoyt, L.LandHudson,J.W. 1981.PersonalCharac 划生育政策的反思. TheoryMonthly Guo, XibaoandYin,Juan.2005.RethinkingofChineseFamily PlanningPolicy. Goode, William. J.1982.TheFamily (2 edition) Freud, Sigmund.1997.SexualityandthePsychologyofLove 国独生子女：规模、差异与评价. TheoryMonthly,No.4,pp.5-10. Feng, Xiaotian.2006.Chinese One-childGeneratio 独生子女：他们的家庭、教育和未来. SocialSciences Academic Press. Feng, Xiaotian.1992. on Information, Feldman, J., andHouri,M.E.1975.SocialCl Review Elder, GlenH.1969.Appearanceand No.3, 376-395. Davis, Kingsley.1941.Interma Vol.10, No.5,51-54. Coombs, RobertH.1961.AValu Master thesis.SouthwestJiaotongUniversity. Chen, Fang.2009.

. Vol.34,No.4,519-533. Quality&Quantity Study onChinesePost-80sGenerationValuesofLoveandMarriage 关于 About theOne-childGeneration: rman, SheilaK.1989. Social BehaviorandPersonality “80 后” rriage inCasteSocieties, e TheoryofMateselection. 的研究文献综述. ChinaYouthStudy , Vol.9,No.4,283-316. , Vol.11pp.68-74. REFERENCES Education inMarriageMobility. 45 assification from Homogamy: aMethodbased The FamilyinSocialContext (7 edition). New , NewJersey:PrenticeHall. rriage andLoveof80s-born,Masterthesis, n: Scales,DifferencesandComments, the Definition ofMarriage”Pp.105-113 in teristics Important in . Vol.9,No.1,pp.93-96. Family, EducationandtheFuture American Anthropologist , NewYork:Touchstonepress. theFamilyLifeCoordinator, American Sociological , Vol.7,pp.5-13. Mate Preference MatePreference 对我国计 , Vol.43, 中 . .

CEU eTD Collection and SocialSciences) Selection ofChineseWomen inthe Last15Years. Qian, Mingyi,Wang, Yiping, 倾向. SocialPsychologicalResearch Qian, MingyiandWu,Selection of BeijingResidents. Zhihong.1998.Spouse 19-31. Classified Advertisement inIsrael. Peres, Y.andMeivar,H.1986. Front Bimonthly,No.4,pp.139-162. Pan, Yunkang.1985.Exchange ValuesinMarrige. Murstein, Bernard.I.1986. New York:SpringerPublishingCompany. Murstein, Bernard.I.1976. Vol.4. No.3,361-374. Merton, RobertK.1941.Intermarriage andth 509-517. Black andWhiteCollegeStudent. Melton, W. andThomas, D.L.1976.Instrumental a Publication oftheAmericanStatisticalAssociation Marvin, DonaldM.1918.Occupa No.1, 75-78. Marcson, Simon.1950.ATheoryofIntermarriage andAssimilation. 播的社会学分析. ContemporaryYouthResearch Ma, Lan.2011.SociologicalAnalysis Publishing Company. MarriageandFamilyinShanghai.Shanghai:SDXJoint Liu, Bingfu.1996.Contemporary Society Lin, Sheng.2002.CommentsonSpouseSelectionTheory. 性别偏好研究. YouthStudies,No.10,pp.1-11. Li, YuandXu,Anqi.2004.Patternsof 标准. SocialSciencesinChina SelectionCriteriaofContemporary Chinese. Li, Yinhe.1989.TheMate

, No.9,pp.47-50. . Vol.40,No.5,pp.121-128. Paths toMarriage.London: SagePublication. Who willMarryWhom?Theories and ResearchinMaritalChoice , No.4,61-74. Zhang, Xiaoyun and Zhu, Song. 2003. Changes of Mate Zhang, XiaoyunandZhu,Song.2003.Changes ofMate Self-presentation duringCourts tional PropinquityasaFactor Journal ofComparativeFamilyStudies , No.3,pp.14-18. Journal ofMarriageandtheFamily,Vol.38,No.3, of thePopularity of DatingShows. Mate SelectionandGenderPreference.

e Social Structure: FactandTheory. 46 , No.4,pp.7-12. , Vol.16,No.123,131-150. nd ExpressiveValuesin Journal ofPekingUniversity (Humanities 试论婚姻中的交换价值. SocialScience 从择偶的理论到择偶理论 hip: aContentAnalysisof inMarriageSelection. Social Force,Vol.29, 当代中国人的择偶 MateSelectionof 电视相亲节目热 , Vol.17,No.1, 北京人的择偶 择偶模式和 Psychiatry . ,

. CEU eTD Collection 代人择偶重什么. CollectionofWomen’sStudies Wu, XueyingandChen,Ru.1997.WhatisIm pp.13-15. Tradition toModernity. Wu, Luping.2000.SpouseSelectionofYoung Harper. Winch, RobertFrancis. 1958. Westermarck, Edvard.1891. Society Watson, RubieS.andEbrey, PatriciaBuckley,eds.1991. Vol.3, pp.60-66. Wang, Fang.2009.ResearchontheMediaImage oftheGenerationafter80s, Matchmaking Show. Wang, FangandRong,Yan.2011.MateC Committee, No.2,pp.105-106. 后” 2007.CommentsWang, BingandLiu,Ping. onth Sociology Udry, RichardJ.1971.SkinColo 当代女大学生的恋爱观和性价值观. CollectionofWomen’sStudies Tian, Lan.1993.DatingandSexValuesofthe No.3, 484-498. for Females' StatusAttainment ThroughMarriage. Taylor, PatriciaAnnandGlenn,NorvalD.1976. Su, SingGing.1922.TheChinesefamily system University PressofAmerica. Stephens, William N.1982. Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, Study ofChineseMarriageandFamily Shen, ConglinandMa,Youcai.1987.“MenDang HuDui”inMarriage,Pp.10-29In

中国女性婚姻观念变动初探. . Berkeley:UniversityofCaliforniaPress. , Vol.76,No.4,722-733. Youth Studies,No.2.pp.31-40. 农村青年择偶观从传统向现代的位移. The historyofhumanmarriage.NewYork:Macmillan The FamilyinCross-Cultural Perspective Mate Selection:aStudy Journal ofthePartySchool r, Status,andMateSelection. , Liu,Ying,Lei,JieqiongandXue,Suzhen,eds. 47 portant inContempor , NewYork:Columbia universitypress. Contemporary Chinesefemale inUniversity. hoice ofChineseMenPresentedonTV , No.1,pp.40-44. The UtilityofEduca Generation in Rural Area Changes from Generation inRuralAreaChangesfrom e Post-80Female ValueonMarriage.“80 American Sociological Review of Complementary Needs Marriage and Inequality in Chinese Marriage andInequalityinChinese ofCPCZhengzhouMunicipal China YouthStudies ary SpouseSelection. , No.1,pp.30-34. tion andAttractiveness American Journal of American Journalof . Washington, D.C: Youth Studies, . NewYork: , Vol.41, , No.3, the 当 CEU eTD Collection 十余年我国青年择偶标准研究评述. YouthStudies Zhong, Daoping.2003.Review ofYouthSpouseSele pp.31-34. 30 years. Yu, Xuejun.2008.ReviewsandCommentsabout Chin 及其影响因素——以厦门市流动人口为例. PopulationJournal Floating Population:ACaseStudy Ye, YanandWenzhen. 2005.TheSpouseSelect Northwest Population Journal,No.3,pp.34-37. Reform andOpeningupPolicy. Yang, Xinke.1997.ChangesinMate Selection Valuesin ChinaundertheConditions of Cites. Yang, Shanhua.1988.Attitudes towards Dating pp.631-635. China. Changes: ChoiceMadebyChineseFemale in Xu, Xiaoling.2004.OntheEpochCharactersof 析切入点. ChangbaiJournal Marriage Advertisements. inMateSelectionCr Xu, Duoshu.2005.Changes pp.32-35. 青年初婚与再婚择偶标准比较——对 marriage and remarriage: QuantitativeAnalys Xu, ChuanxinandWang,Ping.2002. 偶标准：五十年变迁及其原因分析. Sociological Research Xu, Anqi.2000.TheCausesofChangesinSpous 海女性择偶行为的现状和变迁. CollectionofWomen’sStudies Xu, Anqi.1997.CurrentSituationandChanges of Female SpouseSelectioninShanghai. pp. 46-49. 从电视征婚看青年择偶 SelectionStudyBasedonDatingShows. Xi, JuanandFeng,Xiaotian.2001.Youth’Spouse

城市青年的婚姻观念. YouthStudies,No.4,pp.29-36. Journal ofWuhanUniversity 中国计划生育政策三十年的回顾与评论. —— 十五年间征婚主体及其择偶标准的变迁—— , No.5,pp.78-81. 关于电视征婚节目的问卷调查及思考. on Xiamen’s FloatingPopulation. 改革开放条件下中国择偶观念的变化及发展趋势 1010 Technology (Socia Comparing Mateselection 48 则征婚启事的量化分析. is ofthe1010MarriageAdvertisements. the Past50Years sin e SelectionCriteriain iteria inthePast15years:aCaseStudyon and MarriageofYoungPeopleLivingin Mate-selecting Standard Viewedfrom its , No.2,pp.13-18. ction Studiesinthe Recent10 years. ion ModelanditsAffectionFactorsof ese Family PlanningPo China PopulationToday l Science Edition) , No.6,pp.18-30. , No.4pp.21-27. , No.3,pp.46-52. ce the Foundation of New ce theFoundationofNew thePast50Years. 流动人口的择偶模式 criteria between first criteria betweenfirst Youth Studies, No.2, Youth Studies,No.4, 以征婚广告为分 , Vol.17,No.5, licy inthepast , Vol.5, 大龄 近 上 择 . CEU eTD Collection Vol.2, No.4,pp.614-621. mate selection of Chinese Men in thelast 15 years. Zhu, Song,Dong,Wei, Qian,Mingyi,Wang, Youth Studies Zhou, Xianghua.1990.SpouseSelectionof Legal SystemandSociety Zhou, Menghui.2012.RethinkingofthePost-80s’valueonMarriage.80

, No.2,pp.42-45. , Vol.2,No.5,pp.175-176. Female MilitaryDoctors. 49 Yiping andLiu,Xinghua.2004.Changesof Studies ofPsychologyandBehavior 女军医择偶观新趋向. 后婚姻观的思考 . ,