“Pretty girls do not need a lot of education to marry into a rich and powerful family. But girls with an average or ugly appearance will find it difficult” and “These girls hope to further their education in order to increase their competitiveness. The tragedy is, they don’t realize that as women age, they are worth less and less. So by the time they get their MA or PhD, they are already old — like yellowed pearls.”

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In 2007, the National Ministry of Education in China had released a statement for the definition of the word “Sheng Nu (剩女)” which literally meant a “Leftover women” and even added it to the national lexicon.

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Family gatherings on holidays are especially stressful for single women, the elders are always nagging and preaching about the risk of not getting married as soon as possible, and that an unmarried woman is an unfilially daughter. Such is the society pressure I am dealing with right now, and thus I wish to use my piece “Corrected” to bring to light and express the pressure women in China are now facing.