So, I first read this article about China's 'leftover' women and was appalled to say the least. I couldn't believe that unmarried women over the age of 27 were given this label of "leftover." This is an illustration of so many isms!!!! How rude!
But then it occurred to me - I'm around the age of the 'leftover women' and I don't live in China. I live in the United States where we're way more progressive, right? But why do I sometimes feel like a leftover? This kinda talk would never fly around here but that doesn't stop women from feeling inadequate for being unattached or single after a certain age. It's hard to admit that I feel this way because we're always talking about being in 2013 where women are independent, don't need no man, will get married when we decide we're ready or not ever and that's totally cool. But do we really live in this world where we can do what we want, when we want, or not? I want to believe it so badly but I just don't see any evidence of it. This is obviously subjective but when was the last time you picked up a woman's magazine and didn't see an article that had tips on how to get a man's attention or how to keep your man satisfied (so that you can get and keep him)?
I was once told flat out that I need to get married by 35 to avoid issues with pregnancy but also because "women don't age well, unlike men who just get better looking with age." And it's not just that. It starts in childhood and if you grow up thinking you want to have a family when you're older, it's gotta happen according to society's timeline. I mean, there is medical evidence -- the older a woman is when she gets pregnant, the higher the likelihood is of experiences complications. I'm too lazy to look up the numbers so okay, you get that one. But that does not explain why unmarried women should be treated like discarded trash. Is it maybe because we continue to value women based on their ability to reproduce? Hmm..doesn't look like we've come too far over at all.