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Understanding Bachelorhood in Poverty-stricken and High Sex Ratio Settings: An Exploratory Study in Rural Shaanxi, China

Author

Listed:
  • Isabelle Attané

    (CEPED - UMR_D 196 - Centre population et développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - UPD5 - Université Paris Descartes - Paris 5)

  • Lisa Eklund
  • M. Giovanna Merli
  • Michel Bozon

    (INED - Institut national d'études démographiques)

  • Tania Angeloff

    (IRISSO - Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Sciences Sociales - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres)

  • Bo Yang

    (UGENT - Universiteit Gent = Ghent University)

  • Shuzhuo Li
  • Thierry Pairault

    (CECMC-CCJ - Centre d'études sur la Chine moderne et contemporaine - CCJ - Chine, Corée, Japon - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - UPD7 - Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Su Wang

    (Institute of Plant and Environment Protection - Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences)

  • Xueyan Yang
  • Qunlin Zhang

Abstract

Coupled with the social practice of female hypergamy, the male surplus within the never-married population means that today's Chinese marriage market is extremely tight in particular for men from a rural background and the least privileged socio-economic categories. Drawing on quantitative data from a survey conducted in 2014–2015, this article sheds light on the situation of single men who are past prime marriage age in three rural districts of Shaanxi particularly affected by this phenomenon. It compares single men's characteristics to those of their married counterparts and offers insights into the heterogeneity of single men with the aim of challenging some commonly accepted assumptions about bachelorhood in rural China. Results suggest a strong internalization of the various characteristics, centred on being able to offer social mobility to a potential wife, that a man is expected to have to be attractive to women in a context where women have more choice in mate selection. We conclude that mate selection is highly marked by class, social norms, social interactions, health, generation and age, and requires the mobilization of certain amounts of individual, social and economic resources. Unwanted bachelorhood would thus be better understood using an intersectional approach rather than mainly in numeric terms.

Suggested Citation

  • Isabelle Attané & Lisa Eklund & M. Giovanna Merli & Michel Bozon & Tania Angeloff & Bo Yang & Shuzhuo Li & Thierry Pairault & Su Wang & Xueyan Yang & Qunlin Zhang, 2019. "Understanding Bachelorhood in Poverty-stricken and High Sex Ratio Settings: An Exploratory Study in Rural Shaanxi, China," Post-Print halshs-02099030, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02099030
    DOI: 10.1017/S0305741019000390
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    Cited by:

    1. Yang, Xueyan & Wang, Sasa & Eklund, Lisa, 2020. "Reacting to social discrimination? Men's individual and social risk behaviors in the context of a male marriage squeeze in rural China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).

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