Photography︎ Marriage Market
Marriage Market
2019
The project was inspired by a news article with the headline "Women over 30 will become worthless houses." And men won't purchase the homes, even those who are in abject poverty. This title was inspired by a discussion between some elderly people (ranging in age from 55 to 70+) and a 34-year-old single female artist at the Marriage Market in Shanghai's People's Park. The elders' deep adherence to the norms of the traditionally patriarchal Chinese society, which grants men privileges, is evident in their conversation. Unwritten rules of traditional Chinese society state that it gets harder as a woman gets older to find a man to marry, and that if she reaches the age of 30, she is automatically "left over" because people think she is too old. The conventional wisdom also holds that men are simple to date at any age. Being a single female over the age of 25 will be somewhat stigmatised in a society where marriage is prioritised as the most important value, so many elders are rushing into the marriage market to assist their single female descendants in finding partners. The goal of this documentary's photographs of the elderly at the marriage market is to show how the widespread notion of gender inequality influences their actions.
In order to document the special occasions, I went to Chengdu People's Park blind date corner.
The photos shows that advertisements that publicize information of people who wish to find partners, such as personal profile (name, gender, age, height, diploma, property, family background...), and marriage requirements.
All advertisements but two are women above 25 that wish to find male partners. And the majority of contact numbers in the advertisements belong to parents and some advertisements even state that parents of the “advertised” women are at the marriage market, indicating that they areable to meet and talk with the person who is interested in their daughter. These two photos are thus evidences of gender inequality at the marriage market by showing that families that have single female relatives are more anxious to find partners for the female than those whose male relatives are single.
© Lerry Lai, all rights reserved.
In order to document the special occasions, I went to Chengdu People's Park blind date corner.
The photos shows that advertisements that publicize information of people who wish to find partners, such as personal profile (name, gender, age, height, diploma, property, family background...), and marriage requirements.
All advertisements but two are women above 25 that wish to find male partners. And the majority of contact numbers in the advertisements belong to parents and some advertisements even state that parents of the “advertised” women are at the marriage market, indicating that they areable to meet and talk with the person who is interested in their daughter. These two photos are thus evidences of gender inequality at the marriage market by showing that families that have single female relatives are more anxious to find partners for the female than those whose male relatives are single.
© Lerry Lai, all rights reserved.
[Introduce successful reward more than 20,000] Local unmarried female, born in December 1989, 21 years old Sichuan University graduate, 22 years old into a district court in Chengdu City as a judge, height 160cm, good temperament, good skin, good character, kindness and filial piety, with two houses. Parents has factory, the family has a car... Looking for someone in similar condition. Parent is here. Phone Number: xxx.
[Widowed female], born in August 1959, 157cm, from Zigong City, self-employed and unburdened, with medical and pension insurance, good image, good temperament, kind and gentle. The man is required to have a house, a stable income, a good character, an unlimited number of households, a comparable age and no vices. Phone Number: xxx.
