Photography︎ Marriage Market
Marriage Market
2019
Marriage Market is a documentary photography project investigating how deeply rooted gender inequality manifests in contemporary Chinese matchmaking culture.
The work was initially inspired by a sensationalized headline: “Women Over 30 Become Unsellable Houses.” The phrase emerged from a conversation between a group of elderly individuals (aged 55 to 70+) and a 34-year-old unmarried female artist at the Marriage Market in Shanghai’s People’s Park. The exchange reflects enduring patriarchal norms that equate a woman’s social value with youth and marital status.
In traditional Chinese society, women over 25—particularly those unmarried by 30—are often labelled as “leftover,” while men of the same age group are not subject to comparable stigma. These outdated expectations persist, especially among older generations, many of whom actively seek partners on behalf of their daughters or granddaughters.
To explore this dynamic further, I documented the blind date corner of People’s Park in Chengdu, capturing the visual language of matchmaking: handwritten advertisements listing age, height, education, property ownership, family background, and expectations for a potential partner.
The photographs reveal a striking pattern: almost all the ads are for women over 25, with contact numbers belonging not to the women themselves, but to their parents. Many state explicitly that the parents are present at the site—ready to represent their daughters to prospective suitors. In contrast, very few advertisements feature single men.
Through this photographic archive, Marriage Market examines how gender expectations shape social behavior in public space, exposing the implicit bias that compels families to “market” women while excusing men from similar scrutiny.
Medium: Digital Photography
© Lerry Lai, all rights reserved.
The work was initially inspired by a sensationalized headline: “Women Over 30 Become Unsellable Houses.” The phrase emerged from a conversation between a group of elderly individuals (aged 55 to 70+) and a 34-year-old unmarried female artist at the Marriage Market in Shanghai’s People’s Park. The exchange reflects enduring patriarchal norms that equate a woman’s social value with youth and marital status.
In traditional Chinese society, women over 25—particularly those unmarried by 30—are often labelled as “leftover,” while men of the same age group are not subject to comparable stigma. These outdated expectations persist, especially among older generations, many of whom actively seek partners on behalf of their daughters or granddaughters.
To explore this dynamic further, I documented the blind date corner of People’s Park in Chengdu, capturing the visual language of matchmaking: handwritten advertisements listing age, height, education, property ownership, family background, and expectations for a potential partner.
The photographs reveal a striking pattern: almost all the ads are for women over 25, with contact numbers belonging not to the women themselves, but to their parents. Many state explicitly that the parents are present at the site—ready to represent their daughters to prospective suitors. In contrast, very few advertisements feature single men.
Through this photographic archive, Marriage Market examines how gender expectations shape social behavior in public space, exposing the implicit bias that compels families to “market” women while excusing men from similar scrutiny.
Medium: Digital Photography
© 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.
