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''Sheng nu'' (剩女; ''shèngnǚ''; common translation: "leftover women" or "leftover ladies") is a derogatory term made popular by the All-China Women's Federation that classifies women who remain unmarried in their late twenties and beyond. The term is most prominently used in China, including a state sponsored directive and program, but has been used to describe women across Asia, India, and North America. The term has gone on to become widely used in the mainstream media and has been the subject of several televisions series, magazine and newspaper articles, and book publications focusing on both the good and bad aspects of the term and surrounding culture. Xu Xiaomin of ''The China Daily'' described the sheng nus as "a social force to be reckoned with" while others have argued the term should be taken as a positive to mean "successful women". The slang term, 3S or 3S Women, meaning "single, seventies (1970s), and stuck" has also been used in place of sheng nu.〔 The equivalent term for men, ''guang gun'' (光棍) meaning bare branches, is used to refer to men who do not marry and thus do not add 'branches' to the family tree. Similarly, ''shengnan'' (剩男) or "leftover men" has also been used.〔 == Background == The one-child policy (Family Planning Program) and sex-selective abortions in China have caused a growing disproportion in the country's gender balance.〔〔 Since 1979, when the one-child policy was introduced, approximately 20 million more men than women have been born, or 120 males to 100 females born, and by 2020, China is expected to have 24 million more men than women.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting )〕 The global average is 103 males to 107 females. According to ''The New York Times'', the State Council of the People's Republic of China (Central People's Government) issued an "edict" in 2007 regarding the Population and Family Planning Program (one-child-policy) to address the urgent gender imbalance and cited it as a major "threat to social stability". The council further cited "upgrading population quality (suzhi)" as one of its primary goals and appointed the All-China Women's Federation, a state agency established in 1949 to "protect women's rights and interests", to oversee and resolve the issue.〔 The exact etymology of the term is not conclusively known, but most reliable sources cite it as having entered the mainstream in 2006. The ''China Daily'' reported in 2011 that Xu Wei, the editor-in-chief of the ''Cosmopolitan Magazine China'', coined the term. The term, sheng nu, literally translates to "leftover ladies" or "leftover women".〔 In 2007, the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China released an official statement defining sheng nu as any "unmarried women over the age of 27" and added it to the national lexicon.〔 The ministry expanded the meaning as a "failure to find a husband" due to an "overly high expectations for marriage partners" in a subsequent statement. According to several sources, the government mandated the All-China Women's Federation to publish series of articles stigmatizing unwed women who were in their late twenties.〔〔 In March 2011, the All-China Women's Federation posted a controversial article titled 'Leftover Women Do Not Deserve Our Sympathy' shortly after International Women's Day.〔 An excerpt states, "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 realise 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."〔 Originally at least 15 articles were available on its website relating to the subject of sheng nu, which have now been subsequently removed, that included matchmaking advice and tips.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sheng nu」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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