Chinese county’s plan to solve ‘marriage crisis’ by pressuring women into marrying single rural men backfires
- Women across China are outraged by a county government’s plan to pressure young women into staying in rural areas and marrying men who can’t find wives
- China has one of the world’s most unbalanced gender ratios in the world, with far more men than women as a result of the one-child policy
A Chinese county government’s proposed campaign to encourage local women to stay and marry local bachelors to solve their “marriage crisis” has been widely ridiculed after details of the plan appeared online.
The proposal by Xiangyin county government in central China’s Hunan province was referred to as “operation bed warming” in an article published on a website run by the local communist party. The proposal said the challenges facing rural men seeking marriage are: “a problem that’s turning from a personal issue into a societal issue”.
The four-point plan included increasing propaganda discouraging local women from moving away from rural areas, simplifying legal paperwork for people to stay, increasing matchmaking services and improving local employment opportunities and pay.
“Rural women must be educated to love their hometowns, build their hometowns, be encouraged to stay and change their hometowns, to bring down the unbalanced ratio between men and women here,” the proposal said.
There was immediate and widespread criticism of the proposal, with many calling it an insulting suggestion that infringed on women’s freedom.