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Leftover in China

The Women Shaping the World's Next Superpower

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Leftover in China

By: Roseann Lake
Narrated by: Janet Song
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About this listen

Forty years ago in China, marriage was universal, compulsory, and a woman's only means to a livelihood. Enter the one-child policy, which despite its horrors, resulted in China's first generations of urban only-daughters - girls who were raised without brothers and pushed to study, achieve, and succeed as if they were sons.

Fast forward to the present, where in an urbanized economic powerhouse, enough of these women have decided to postpone marriage - or not marry at all - to spawn a label: "leftovers". Unprecedentedly well-educated and goal-oriented, they struggle to find partners in a society where gender roles have not evolved as vigorously as the society itself.

Part critique of China's paternalistic ideals, part playful portrait of the romantic travails of China's trailblazing women, Roseann Lake's Leftover in China employs colorful anecdotes, hundreds of interviews, and rigorous historical and demographic research to show how the "leftovers" are the ultimate linchpin to China's future.

©2018 Roseann Lake (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books Asia China Gender Studies Social Sciences Women World Marriage Imperial Japan Capitalism China Women
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When I started the book I didn’t know what to expect. I found it is an extremely well documented recount of the position of women in Chinese society. The author tells the story of women she knows directly and explains data she collected. I’ve read many books on the topic, but I found this one very easy to ready, full of new pieces of information. Good read!

Chinese women and other women

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