(ORDO NEWS) — A Chinese woman has sparked controversy online by saying she spent the last 12 years of her life raising enough money for her brother to find a bride.
It is no secret that finding a bride in China is more difficult than in most other countries. One unexpected consequence of the Asian country’s infamous one-child policy has been gender inequality.
For decades, many couples, especially in rural areas, have sought to have boys. Men are strong enough to work and were more likely to be successful enough to take care of their elderly parents.
All this has created a serious gender disparity in China, where there are more bachelors for every unmarried woman, making it very difficult for men to find a bride.
Therefore, in some cases, their families offer them financial support to increase their chances of finding a suitable bride.
But to really understand the need for financial support, it’s worth talking about “bride price.” This long-standing Chinese tradition that the groom’s family must give gifts to the bride’s family in exchange for her hand has changed significantly over the past few decades.
In the 60s and 70s, modest gifts like linens were the norm, then in the 80s it was consumer electronics like TVs and refrigerators, but after the economic boom that started in the 1990s, the situation has escalated to the point that bride price is now paid in cash, cars and houses.
Bachelors from poor families have such a low chance of finding a bride that some regions resort to “importing” young women from neighboring countries, but some families are so determined to see their single men find a bride the old-fashioned way that they sacrifice their own lives in the process.
A case in point is a 33-year-old woman from east China ‘s Anhui Province , who reportedly devoted the last 12 years of her life to making sure her brother had enough money to get a wife.
An unnamed woman told Miaowen Video that she ran a small Chinese pancake restaurant with a monthly turnover of 100,000 yuan (840,000 rubles). But instead of using the profits of the past 12 years for herself, she invested in a 129 square meter house and a new car for her brother, and also gave him her restaurant…
“I will think of myself after my brother gets married, my wedding can wait,” said the single woman.
“For the past four years, I have been so stingy that I saved on buying new clothes.”
The woman said she had not yet bought a house for herself, reiterating that her brother was a priority and that she would have more time to worry about herself after he got married.
The Chinese woman’s views sparked a heated discussion on Chinese social media, with the vast majority of people expressing their pity for her, with some even accusing her of setting a bad example.
In response to all the criticism, the woman simply said that people do not know what her family has been through over the years, so they cannot understand her motives.
“Life is different for everyone.
They may not have experienced the same difficulties as we did as children, so it’s normal to be misunderstood,” she said.
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