'Runaway Bride' Scammers Hit China

Sadie — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EDT

China's one-child policy has resulted in a strikingly low ratio of women to men. In one rural area, some brides are taking advantage of the numbers.

One region of rural China has been hit by a rash of marry-and-runs,In 11 cases this year, women have travleed to an area with a surplus of young men, married guys, and then skipped out with the "bride price," a sort of reverse dowry customarily provided by the groom's family. Authorities wonder if they might be part of a crime ring, or just taking advantage of circumstances. and often driven up when potential "brides" are in short supply.

The crime spree is facilitated by the country's increasingly low ratio of women to men, the first generation to come of marriageable age since China's 30-year-old population-planning policy - and what the WSJ calls "customary preference for boys" - limited families to one, usually male, child. Now, Because young women are in demand as wives, in rural areas where traditional customs persist they can demand higher bride prices and bigger engagement gifts, and young men in these areas have apparently taken to saving up several years' worth of farm income so as to better their chances. A family profiled in the article had been "scrimping for years, growing their own vegetables and eating mainly rice and noodles, with little meat" in hopes of winning a bride for their son (pictured). After he met and quickly married a young woman (for a hefty bride price), two neighbors solicited her to find friends for their sons. All three brides vanished together.

This story makes us unspeakably sad - for everyone involved. And not least because the relative ease of the scheme, and the interaction of tradition and modern government control, means it will surely continue to happen. Whether it's desperate young women working alone, maybe perpetrating copycat crimes, or whether it's a more calculating ring of criminals, the human drama is the same. And tragic.

It's Cold Cash, Not Cold Feet, Motivating Runaway Brides in China [Wall Street Journal]

Can A Woman Cry & Be Taken Seriously?

Dodai — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 14:00:00 EDT

It was over a week ago that Ellen DeGeneres had a meltdown over a dog named Iggy. But the repercussions carry on: As Jocelyn Noveck reports in USA Today:"It can be easier for a crying man to be taken seriously than a crying woman." Especially in an election year. Tom Lutz, a professor at the University of California, Riverside, who wrote Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears, says "Bill [Clinton] could cry, and did, but Hillary can't." Apparently, there's a double standard: A recent Penn State study sought to explore the different perceptions of crying between men and women. They found that reactions depended on the type of crying, and who was doing it. Watery eyes were viewed more positively than sobbing, and males got the most positive responses. As in, crying women were viewed negatively.

"Women are not making it up when they say they're damned if they do, damned if they don't," said Stephanie Shields, the psychology professor who conducted the study. "If you don't express any emotion, you're seen as not human, like Mr. Spock on Star Trek," she said. "But too much crying, or the wrong kind, and you're labeled as overemotional, out of control, and possibly irrational."

So why is it that if a man has tears in his eyes, he's thought of as in touch with his feelings, and admirably so? And when a woman cries she's weak? On his talk show, comedian Bill Maher weighed in on Ellen's sobs by saying, "At this moment when the entire nation is saying 'Hmm, can we have a woman president? Maybe they're too emotional,' I don't think this is helping." "If I was a woman," he added, "I would be embarrassed right now. I would be embarrassed for all womankind." Actually, if he were a woman, wouldn't he just think that remark was stupid-ass thing to say?

'Big Girls Don't Cry,' But Big Boys Can? [USA Today]

Jezebel: sob story

'Runaway Bride' Scammers Hit China

Can A Woman Cry & Be Taken Seriously?