Leiden University Student Repository

Grasdijk, Sarah (2018)

The Online Dating Game: What Leftover Women in Beijing look for in a relationship. A content analysis of women’s self-presentation on a Chinese online dating website

Master thesis | Asian Studies (60 EC) (MA)

The purpose of this thesis is was establish how the revival of traditional gender norms by stigmatizing women’s leftover status, has influenced educated women (labeled Shengnü) in looking for a future partner online. It does this by analyzing women’s profiles on an online dating website and researches women’s self-presentation and criteria for mate selection in finding a heterosexual partner. It argues that highly educated women in the workforce (in Beijing) are influenced by societal pressures, and therefore downplay their achievements, hide information and/or lower their demands to attract a suitable mate. To verify this hypothesis, a content analysis was conducted on profiles of women residing in Beijing on the largest state-owned dating website in China, Jiayuan.com.

leftover women

China

Dating

self presentation

mate selection

Author

Grasdijk, Sarah

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

East Asian Studies

Supervisors

Pieke, Frank

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en